Seitan - General Guidance
Well friends, I girded my loins and tried making my own seitan yesterday. I had trawled the Net for info and some of it was contradictory, others were confusing, but I did find out how to make it with gluten powder and when to freeze it--after the initial cooking.
I always follow the easiest recipe thru the way it says the first time and go from there. NOW I understand why they recommend you add seasonings, herbs, mushroom powder etc. to the gluten mix...it tastes of absolutely nothing, as is. I mean, imagine eating an eraser. OK as a chewing exercise...flavour, not so much! LOL I also understand why they suggest you work it very little (mine was almost as dense as me!) and if it weren't 100º out I might have tried baking instead of boiling it.
BUT...and it's a big but...after I had laughed at the way it swells up when you boil it and looks like something out of a biology lab, and tasted it and found it...well, completely tasteless...I sliced it up and marinaded it in an African barbecue sauce. And DH the carnivore tasted it and did NOT go "Gross!" or laugh at me about it. We agreed the recipe and method need "tweaking" and that I need to print out the instructions and follow them closely, but that we are definitely onto something, at less than a dollar a pound for pure food, no waste. No bones, no fat, no cholesterol...and cheap! He ate some and said maybe we should put it in a curry etc.
10 years ago or even 5 he would have laughed at me and made "cute" remarks all the time I was trying to eat it. Now he agrees we need to eat less meat and things like this will help that. From his point of view it is purely economic (he is facing disability retirement) but hey, any start is a good one. Now if I could just get him to eat things with leaves and roots... ::)
We usually mix it in a stainless steel bowl (we use our mixer), and it's still a pain to clean. I use the rough side of the sponge, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get off the steel wool. What a pain!
The slow cooker is a good idea! I'll have to try that some time.
How much sticks? I use stainless steel bowls and a bit sticks but it's not too bad. I've taken to scraping it off with a pan scraper I have and then cleaning the pan scraper with paper towel which I can toss. It's the only example I can think of where I use paper towels, but you'll end up tossing a sponge once all that gunk is embedded in it, anyway.
I never thought about using a slow cooker. That's genius!
Slow cooker!! That's BRILLIANT... I'll finally have a use for the darn thing!!
K^2
Ahhhhh, but I can compost a paper towel.... a sponge is going to sit in the landfill. I'll have to try that.
It's usually just a teeny bit that sticks, but even just a little bit makes the sponge all nasty.
I saw some recipes on line that use the slow cooker for Seitan Roast. Some brown the Seitan first. I don't bother. Slowing cooking is so much easier. After mixing I normally refrigerate the Seitan overnight first. Then I put it on the crock pot bottom, cover with broth and veggies, and let it cook in broth. It is much firmer and very very meat like I find. It also does not expand that much, but since I don't make it the old fashion way on the stove top I don't know what that Seitan is like. I slice it for sandwiches and also make stir fries, etc. Sometimes I just bring a chunk for lunch and put it in the microwave. It is all good.
I normally do not season my Seitan that much. I normally just cook it to prepare it for further cooking. Whether it be frying or just in the microwave with some sauce. It is just VWG, NY, salt, and water for me. I find that it does not matter much for my tastes.
My last batch I made a log in the fridge overnight and cut it into 'chops' and cooked those in the slow cooker. They did not stick together and it was so much easier to work with small chops for cooking than slicing from a log. Plus you can freeze it in portions for future use.
I recommend it to anyone who does not want to stand over a stove,like me. Plus when I get home dinner is ready!
I am tempted to try to mix the Seitan on my glass cutting board like you make pasta next time. Wish me luck!
Here's my re-post of a great way to "bake" seitan. I've been using this recipe from Vegan Vittles for years:
From Vegan Vittles: Seitan Salami, Pepperonni & Pastrami,
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I've left it out and it's fine with out it)
Salami & Pepperoni Seasaonings:
1 Tbl. paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. of dry mustard
1/4 t. onion granules
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
Pastrami Seasonings:
2 Tbl.paprika
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/8 t. ground allspice
Liquid Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
4 Tbl. tomato paste
2 Tbl. soy sauce
2 Tbl. olive oil (I double that amount)
3 cloves garlic pressed
1 t. salt
Form the gluten into one long log. Wrap the log in tin foil tightly and twist the ends.
dave...can you simply just use the liquid ingredients if you want a plainer flavor? or should i add SOME seasonings?
also, is there any way to avoid using aluminum foil to bake it in? im kinda ick! on using aluminum on my food.
and if i bake it...is it REALLY dense, like a log of salami? i kinda want it the consistency of store bought seitan...
i really have to try making my own,im so scared of screwing it up!
LucidAnne, the baked stuff is really dense. If you like the slightly fluffy stuff, do the boiling method like this one. FWIW, I've made that recipe many times, and it never sank the second time.
You could probably cut out most of those dry seasonings, but I wouldn't skip the garlic powder. But I eat garlic like there's no tomorrow, so that could just be me. :)
slow cooker like a crock pot? i've never made seitan before and you guys are making me want to try it out... especially after that amazing seitan gyro i had yesterday, mmmmmm
We usually mix it in a stainless steel bowl (we use our mixer), and it's still a pain to clean. I use the rough side of the sponge, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get off the steel wool. What a pain!
The slow cooker is a good idea! I'll have to try that some time.
I have a vegetarian slow cooker cookbook that has a recipe but I have not tried it, I think the name of the cookbook is "Fresh from the vegetarian slow cooker" or something like that. It is a really good winter cookbook.
For people who want to see how to make seitan, Everyday Dish has a video on it for Corned Beef Seitan. It's interesting because they shape into a traditional corned beef shape and hold that shape during simmering by tying the "raw" seitan in cheese cloth.
Instructional Video:
http://www.everydaydish.tv/Videopages/Seitan_corned-beef_%26_sandwich.html
Corned Beef Seitan Recipe:
http://www.everydaydish.tv/Recipe%20Pages/seitan_corned_beef.html
Here's my re-post of a great way to "bake" seitan. I've been using this recipe from Vegan Vittles for years:
From Vegan Vittles: Seitan Salami, Pepperonni & Pastrami,
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I've left it out and it's fine with out it)
Salami & Pepperoni Seasaonings:
1 Tbl. paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. of dry mustard
1/4 t. onion granules
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
Pastrami Seasonings:
2 Tbl.paprika
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/8 t. ground allspice
Liquid Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
4 Tbl. tomato paste
2 Tbl. soy sauce
2 Tbl. olive oil (I double that amount)
3 cloves garlic pressed
1 t. salt
Form the gluten into one long log. Wrap the log in tin foil tightly and twist the ends.
dave...can you simply just use the liquid ingredients if you want a plainer flavor? or should i add SOME seasonings?
also, is there any way to avoid using aluminum foil to bake it in? im kinda ick! on using aluminum on my food.
and if i bake it...is it REALLY dense, like a log of salami? i kinda want it the consistency of store bought seitan...
i really have to try making my own,im so scared of screwing it up!
Hi LA,
Sorry I missed this yesterday...I was too busy ranting about other stuff here on vegweb. ::)
You can add or subtract any of the dry ingredients. I always do. I pretty much "eyeball" most, if not all of my cooking, and play around with spices all the time. I think the real trick to getting it to come out moist is make sure you go really liberal with the amount of oil...and since you're not wanting to use foil (I can so understand)...you have to wrap the log really tight while it's baking to keep all the moisture in. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction....I'll just have to personally bake one for you and have a carrier pigion drop it off on your roof! :D
Good Luck!
-d
One question I have to all you fellew Seitan makers is this: when you develop those seasonings to make your seitan taste like 'corned beef' or 'salami' do you find that when you use the liquid heating method that you have to over season since some may be lost to the liquid? So if I were to try to to make that pastrami seitan in my slow cooker would I have to look at over seasoning it to get the same taste?
I've tried the oven method and I did not like it that much. I also found the tomato paste overpowering for my tastebuds. More sweet that anything else.
I don't know. Most of the recipes out there are for the simmering method, so they already take those things into account. The seitan is rubbery and kind of water resistent, so I'm not sure if the flavor in the seitan leaches out. Plus, you simmer it in a broth, not just water, so that might compensate for any loss.
I usually do overseason with herbs/spices a little bit with the simmered kind, but I do not oversalt it. You can always sprinkle salt/Braggs on later, but I hate oversalted food.
That's so funny that you didn't like the tomato paste-- I always add tons of tomato paste to mine because I love love love the flavor and texture it gives it. To each her own, right? :)
I found that Tomato paste, like soy sauce, can over power whatever else you add to the mixture.
!
Hi LA,
Sorry I missed this yesterday...I was too busy ranting about other stuff here on vegweb. ::)
. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction....I'll just have to personally bake one for you and have a carrier pigion drop it off on your roof! :D
Good Luck!
-d
no prob... i'll leave my skylight open ;D
i think im actually going to break down and do it! methinks, you gurus have all given me enough info, that i just need to bite the bullet and DO IT!
thanks.
!
Hi LA,
Sorry I missed this yesterday...I was too busy ranting about other stuff here on vegweb. ::)
. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction....I'll just have to personally bake one for you and have a carrier pigion drop it off on your roof! :D
Good Luck!
-d
no prob... i'll leave my skylight open ;D
Might get awfully cold inside while you wait.....those lazy pigions might take a long time to get there! :o
Has anyone made that vegan corned beef a few posts back? It looked good on YOUTUBE (just search for vegan corned beef) and the ingredients sounded very appetizing. I did notice that it is just cooked in water, not broth.
I am planning to make it this weekend!
Has anyone made that vegan corned beef a few posts back?
I haven't. I'd be making it this weekend, too, if I wasn't on a cleanse which goes through Sunday night. It's as much the corned beef that had me drooling as the Reuben sandwich the guy makes at the end. I’ve never had one, but it looked really good. **drooling**
:D
I just wanted to say that I solved the sticking problem with making Seitan. I made my batch today in my teflon-coated pot and it did not stick at all and it was easy to kneed and blend. Clean up was simply wiping it clean. Problem solved!
;D
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