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... ::)
Adamcrisis, that's weird that your Seitan O' Greatness came out bready. Mine wasn't bready at all. Did you wrap it really tightly in foil? I double-wrapped mine just to make sure it stayed nice and tight and didn't explode out.
Sometimes if we cook ours at too high a temp, it gets a little bready.
JessaCita, that Country Fried Seitan Steak & Gravy sounds delicious. I've had this recipe saved in my box for a while, but haven't got around to trying it yet. (JessaCita, this may sound like a silly question, but how do you make your words into actual links like you have? I've done this on other sites, but for some reason, I'm not sure how to do this here.)
Not a silly question at all! I had to have TKitty show me! :)
I just tried to copy & paste Dinkfeet's wonderful explanation, but when I did so, it took out all the bolds & colors that made it more understandable... So, please click on this link & refer to post #22 to see how to do it! ;)
JessaCita, that Country Fried Seitan Steak & Gravy sounds delicious. I've had this recipe saved in my box for a while, but haven't got around to trying it yet. (JessaCita, this may sound like a silly question, but how do you make your words into actual links like you have? I've done this on other sites, but for some reason, I'm not sure how to do this here.)
Not a silly question at all! I had to have TKitty show me! :)
I just tried to copy & paste Dinkfeet's wonderful explanation, but when I did so, it took out all the bolds & colors that made it more understandable... So, please click on this link & refer to post #22 to see how to do it! ;)
Hey thanks!
hmm, im pretty sure my stoves temp is way off...and Ive been procrastinating on getting an oven thermometer
maybe Ill get off my ass tomorrow and buy one and give it another chance
It is yumyumyumyum! :D It also makes AWESOME breaded "chicken" fingers. Not healthy, but delicious! And, I think this Country Fried Seitan Steak & Gravy recipe is one of my favorite things to do with seitan! Soooo good!
Wow! I never liked country fried steak and gravy when I ate meat, but for some reason, I really want to make that recipe. It's like I'm craving it now. Weird.
It is yumyumyumyum! :D It also makes AWESOME breaded "chicken" fingers. Not healthy, but delicious! And, I think this Country Fried Seitan Steak & Gravy recipe is one of my favorite things to do with seitan! Soooo good!
Wow! I never liked country fried steak and gravy when I ate meat, but for some reason, I really want to make that recipe. It's like I'm craving it now. Weird.
I have never had country-fried steak, and it actually grosses me out to think about it... But this country-fried seitan is so good! My boyfriend rates it as one of his 5 favorite meals ever. :D We made it with garlic mashes potatoes, and it was such a delicious, unhealthy treat!
I know there have been a couple of threads regarding homemade seitan and the different versions but I have a question. I've made seitan both ways, baked and boiled. My question is that the boiled versions end up well really really wet. I know, duh, it's boiled so it will be wet right? I tried to drain them. I even breaded and fried the seitan to make cutlets and when i ate them they were still really wet and it was kind of gross :P. I froze the rest of the cutlets and ate them later and that seemed to help and they were actually really good but what can I do in the short term? This may sound like a stupid question but do you like, squeeze it or press it like tofu? Or what?
Bake it, uncovered. That'll take out some of the moisture. You could even bread them!
I know that if I boil my seitan it is less dense and sort of "wetter" so make sure that it simmers gently, that might help, and start it in cold water, and then let it cool in the broth, until the broth is cold, it helps firm it up a bit.
I had luck one time with seiten. I boiled these little seitan balls until they were almost done, then I finished them up by boiling them in some spagetti sauce that I was making so that they would be like meat balls. That turned out really good. But then I tried to bake it, and they puffed up on me resempling little hard buscuits. I am not sure what I did wrong when I baked them, maybe the seitan I am using is wierd.
ew! i hate boiled seitan. especially one brand. i've found that different brands end up different. try out a couple different brands until you find one that works.
I had luck one time with seiten. I boiled these little seitan balls until they were almost done, then I finished them up by boiling them in some spagetti sauce that I was making so that they would be like meat balls. That turned out really good. But then I tried to bake it, and they puffed up on me resempling little hard buscuits. I am not sure what I did wrong when I baked them, maybe the seitan I am using is wierd.
it tends to puff when I bake it too, but if you leave it at room temperature, it reduces in size once cooled. I think it is the same chemistry behind leaving it in the broth until the both is cool. Seitan is sort of a mystery, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I'm trying it again tonight with a recipe I got from PPK. It's in the broth now and it's all puffed up. It has another half hour then I'll let it cool. I think I'll try healthymomma's suggestion to bake it a little to dry it out. Thanks everyone.
my boyfriend and i made this video this morning. it was mostly his doing. you can also see my dog, licking everything and watching the screen. shes so silly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovsp3926QXc
That was awesome! I have always been super intimidated by seitan. I think I might try it now though. That looked SO easy! :D
Great video Kelsi! I have made seitan numerous times but was not aware that you could proceed immediately to frying after mixing the gluten up. I have always baked or boiled it. I think I will try your way tomorrow! ;D yum yum
Thanks! it was michaels idea and hes the seitan maker of the house. mmm his seitans good. i hope you enjoy it!!
Awesome Kelsi! I'm definitely gonna try that!
i also didn't know you could go straight to frying, heh. cool!
now i want to try, but i don't have gluten.. poo...
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