Seitan beginner

[Undead Molly]

Hello! I am going to try making my own seitan patties for the first time this weekend. I like to cook with it but the prepackaged stuff is prohibitively expensive! I am going to use the method in which you:

1. Combine one part vital wheat gluten and approximately 3/4 part water.
2. Knead, rest, knead again.
3. Separate and form into "cutlets".
4. Simmer in large pot of water for about 45 minutes.

I wasn't going to use any spices or broth for this initial attempt so that I can properly observe the results of future additions and modifications. I figured that even if it is terribly bland I can still marinate it (this looks good!)

Does anyone have any tips, tricks, advice, recipes, any suggestions at all for a neophyte seitan-maker?

[JasonFrishman]

Undead,
how'd the seitan making go? i am reading this on monday morning for the first time...

i have lots of experience with seitan, i love the stuff!

i would definitely experiment with both adding seasonings/oil/other flours/seeds-nuts/other extras to the vital wheat gluten, the water added to the VWG and to the broth its cooked in.  i always add a good amount of nutritional yeast. it is yummy and really good for vegetarians (albeit a bit expensive).  you can also experiment with the amount of time that you knead, the amount of resting time that you give it and the temperature of the water that you add to the vwg to make the dough.  there is also a difference in the final product depending on whether you put it in the broth when the broth is cold and then bring to a boil or add as the broth is already boiling. 

i can add more later, but i'd be really curious as to how it came out for you!
-jason

[Undead Molly]

Jason,

Thank you for asking - it came out great! As I had planned I added no spices or flavorings to either the seitan or the broth - just wheat gluten and water - so we could note how future experiments change it. I marinated it in red wine, garlic, and herbs/spices along with portabello caps, tomatoes, whole garlic cloves, and broccoli, oven broiled in kebab form, served over wild rice mix.

The seitan was very pleasantly dense and "meaty"! Not rubbery. I was worried because as I was mixing/kneading it I showed it to my boyfriend and commented that, "it's like a giant rubber cement booger" and fretted that I'd done something wrong. Not so. The lack of seasoning wasn't a problem since it so beautifully took up the marinade. I was careful to do a couple things that I've read are good for the texture: I kept the water at a low simmer as opposed to a boil or near-boil; I let it cool in the broth rather than fishing it out right away.

I'm so excited! Like so many other times when I've made my own version of something I'm wondering, "why didn't I try this before?". I think it's maybe because recipes I'd seen before were the rinsing, rinsing, rinsing ones and I was scared off. One of the reasons I'm anxious to try this out is that I want to convert our household to vegetarianism in 2010. My boyfriend is agreeable to this, but he doesn't care for tofu (unless it is uber-firm, marinated, and grilled). I need to expand my non-meat protein repertoire. He loved the seitan last night!

I would be very grateful for any recipes you'd care to share. I definitely want to try the nutritional yeast. The next thing I was going to try is the "simple seitan" recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook (which includes nutritional yeast).

[JasonFrishman]

Fantastic that it came out well!
i can post somethings after the holidays, but this link
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/recipebox/wheaties.html
is where i got the beginnings of a lot of my stuff from...
there's a recipe for 'pastrami' on there that is amazing.
(don't be fooled - it is NOT pastrami and doesn't taste anything like that; personally, i don't like calling veggie stuff 'fake meat' and this stuff does not taste like meat, but that 'pastrami' recipe is pretty tasty in and of itself - basically it makes a pretty nice deli slice for sandwiches and can be modified in lots of ways.....)

[Dani]

Ooooh I'm glad I came across this thread, I've never tried making seitan either b/c a friend did a rinsing recipe and had a terrible time with it, but now maybe I will try what you did!  I do prefer seitan over tofu or tempeh...has anyone tried freezing homemade seitan?  Does it change the texture?

[Undead Molly]

I have not tried freezing yet because I've been too anxious to try it in recipes to set any aside for that. But I do have a big bag of vital wheat gluten in the kitchen right now and I'm going to be trying to freeze some of my next batch.

The only bad result I've had so far was one batch when I used a recipe that included too much water and the result was wicked yuck. It was like a wet, mushy, dish sponge.

When I was doing research to get ready to do this I looked at a lot of forums and websites. A lot of them said, "do x, y, and z and you will get perfect results!". Others said that it doesn't matter so much what recipe you use, just to try things and find out what ingredients and techniques work best for your preferences through trial and error. So far I've found that the trial-and-error people are right! Our favorite flavorings so far are soy sauce, nutritional yeast, minced garlic, and/or this seasoning mix (I've actually never seen the Emeril show, I found out about this very useful blend from a vegan food blog!): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-essence-recipe/index.html

[JasonFrishman]

Seitan freezes really well.
i would take it and put it in a good container and then pour in the broth you cooked it in until just covered.  since that takes a long time to thaw, i usually make sure that i freeze in small portions. but it is definitely worth it to make a lot and freeze.