Question about seitan: texture problems
I have very much enjoyed making seitan from vital wheat gluten lately. I usually add all the ingredients together, briefly knead the seitan, wrap it in cheese cloth and steam it for about an hour. Then I take it out and let it cool. When sliced it is a fabulous firm, chewy loaf that resembles Tofurkey. Afterwards it is wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.
Here is the problem: The loaf is fine the first day; it has that nice chewy springy texture. But by the second day it has started to become soft, crumbly and mealy. I suspect that I am either adding too much liquid or I am not steaming the loaf long enough. The recipe usually ends up being 1 for 1 ratio of dry to wet ingredients. OR it could be that I am adding too many adjunct dry ingredients, i.e. soy powder, ground sesame seeds and nutritional yeast so that somehow the gluten doesn’t hold together. I am a bread maker so I know that fats and salts can affect the behavior of the gluten strands. Perhaps I may be adding too much oil as well- usually up to 1/3 cup of the liquid is a combination of sesame and canola oil.
Is seitan even supposed to be kept for more than 2 days? I figured it could since Torfurkey hangs around forever.
I would certainly appreciate comments from regular seitan loafers to steer me on the right path. Thank you.
Also I would like to add that I am new here. I have done a search of the forums to see if this question was already answered and although I found a lot of info on seitan nowhere did I see this particular issue addressed. My apologies if it has already been discussed.
I'm not sure about this, but maybe the problem is that you wrap it in plastic? I know that when I do that to anything, it tends to retain too much moisture and then will start to get gross. But I could be totally wrong about that too.
I am by no means an expert, but I made this: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/09/hickory-smoked-veggie-turkey-lunchmeat.html and stored it for at least a week in a plastic container and the texture remained firm and chewy. Maybe it's because it's baked after steaming? (BTW, the flavor was bland; so I'm not necessarily recommending this recipe.)
I have noticed that seitan tends to significantly dry out if kept in the fridge. I think tofurky is different because it's seitan + tofu. If I've made seitan in some sort of sauce/marinade/stew, it stays moist though. Usually when I make seitan I keep the leftovers in the freezer and defrost as necessary for this reason :/ I have also noticed that this is (slightly) less of a problem when the seitan is baked in a bain-marie rather than steamed.
Are you adding any other flours? I'm no expert, because my seitan always comes out strange. The last one was pretty grainy, and not chewy, so I'm wondering as well. I don't think it has anything to do with storage (at least in my case it doesn't), because it wasn't stored.
If you wrap the seitan it won't dry out.
The last time I made it (fake chicken tenders), I pureed firm tofu, crimini mushrooms, molasses, turmeric and other spices before mixing in the gluten. I added no water but added low-sodium vegetable broth until I got the right dough consistency. I boiled it for a hour and the texture was wonderful. It held together really well but was tender and a little spongy. It absorbed a lot of water so I let it drain/dry on paper towels and pressed out the water. Then we cooked it like barbecued chicken. Yum!
I made an interesting seitan yesterday. My omnivore DH likes it the best of any seitan I've made so far. I used the Post Punk Kitchen seitan recipe:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=112
minus the lemon zest and added a tablespoon of tainhi. Then after I had kneaded it up, I flattened it out as much as I could get it flat. Then I sliced/tore it into small pieces and baked it at 375 degrees F on a cookie sheet. Inspiration for doing that came from furrysgirl's '"Beef" Teriyaki Stir Fry'. I let it bake for about 7 minutes on a side then turned it over and let it bake again. I think I let each side bake about 3 times until it was slightly crisp and a little golden brown on the outside. I store my homemade seitan in a plastic storage container and I've never had any problems with the texture changing.
Hope this helps.
It is my experience that you want to only use enough liquid to bring the dough together. Oil is important but you dont want to make it too moist or too oily. The dough needs to be firm and difficult to kneed while not being sticky or gooey.
Try adjusting the ratio of liquid to VWG and then store it in a plastic container instead of wrapped in foil or cling wrap.
I made some seitan today. The recipe said that you could also bake it afterwards for about 30 minutes to help keep it chewy. I used a faux chicken recipe and I did not try this.
I like the suggestion of adding less liquid and baking it afterwards. I will cut back on the oil as well. I will make some today and check back in on how its holding up by day 2.
When I made seitan satays I skewered strips and then put them under the broiler and they were REALLY chewy, almost too much. Shoe leather actually. That leads me to believe a little bit of baking after the steaming will help.
Thanks for the recipe suggestions folks!
EDIT
I made the following changes which vastly impproved the seitan: I added less liquid so that the ratio of dry to liquid was approximately 1 to 0.9. I steamed the seitan for an hour, then wrapped it in foil and baked it for about 35-40 mins. When storing the seitan I sliced it and then placed it in a plastic container.
Day 2 it is nice and chewy. I think preslicing prior to storage has allowed some more of the moisture to dry off. But I am more than ever convinced that I was undercooking the seitan before.