Re: Does Vital Wheat Gluten Expire?
Posted by sharway on Nov 05, 2007 · Member since Mar 2002 · 1314 posts
Well, there's nothing in it that needs to be activated (like yeast or baking soda), so I doubt it. We buy tons of VWG, so there are always dozens of bags with like 1/2 c. left over in them that sit around, and we've never had a problem with old gluten.
What went wrong in the recipes? Gross flavor? Bad texture?
Yeah, that's what it sounds like. We've done that before, where the outside cooks too quickly.
I have some that expired, oh, a year ago? and it's fine. It's easy to get that weird texture when you don't bake it for enough time.
Ok...not really related but kind of...where in the supermarket do you usually find vital wheat gluten? I looked in the baking section and also the specialty "diet" section but couldn't find any.
It's a large grocery so maybe I over looked it. :(
I've never looked for it in a "regular" supermarket, but in my Whole Foods Market the vital wheat gluten is with the flours and in the bulk bins. It may be a little too "out there" for a regular supermarket, even ones with a health food section. ;)
Regular flour goes rancid, doesn't it? It'd be surprising (but possible, I guess) if flour could go bad but vwg couldn't. I keep mine in the freezer.
I keep all my flours and my vital wheat gluten in my fridge.
I keep mine in the freezer, but like Sharway, seem to have little baggies of VWG and nut. yeast hiding in corners.
When my vegan-roni goes wrong it's usually because it's a little too wet when I roll it up (I'm bad bad bad about precise measuring and I'm likely to arbitrarily add things wet or dry that deviate from the recipe and mess up the consistency). I've found the best "fix" for hard seitan to be the Chili Mole recipe from VWAV.
Regular flour goes rancid, doesn't it? It'd be surprising (but possible, I guess) if flour could go bad but vwg couldn't. I keep mine in the freezer.
Oh yeah, that's true! I think VWG has about the same amount of oils as flour (and the oils are what go rancid), so it probably could in theory. FWIW, I've never ever had flour go rancid on me... I think that's probably not something you really have to worry about unless you store it right near the stove in a non-airtight container or if you live in a tropical/very humid climate.
I've had it go bad. It smells hella gawdawful if it goes bad-- strong, foul, and stale. You would know.