Why does my seitan suck? Why does it never turn out like the store-bought stuff? How do I make it not sucky?

It might help if you tell us what sucks about it.

Is it the flavor? the texture? What's wrong with your seitan exactly? And what's right about the store bought stuff?

I dunno. I mix the gluten, BLA, little bit of flour, garlic, water and sometimes liquid smoke together, then I either boil or bake it. It always comes out tasting very... gluteny. :/



I've pretty much figured out how to get the texture right, but how do I make it not taste weird?

Maybe use vegetable stock instead of water.

Use the tiniest bit of lemon zest in your gluten, seriously it helps cut the "gluten-flour" taste. Experiment with spices, I use more than most recipes say...

Are you following an established recipe?

This actually sounds like a good idea.



I tried using the seitan recipe out of "Vegan with a Vengeance" last night. Not so good. The texture always seems way off when I use nutr. yeast.

Try adding a little chickpea flour. It makes it more tender.

Adding a cup of sliced mushrooms will accomplish this as well.



I will have to try that lemon zest thing...I am also not a fan of the "gluteny" taste...

There are a number of factors.

Seasoning needs to be strong with the addition of both an acid (lemon juice) and a sugar (maple syrup). For 2 cups of flour I would use 3 TBS of herbs and spices (chilli, sage, oregano, cumin etc), 1 stock cube, 1 tbs each of miso, acid and sugar + 2 tsp each of salt and pepper. You also need a fat like 2-3 tbs veg oil.

Secondly, you need to cook it for a lot longer than you think or most recipes suggest. Baking wrapped in foil in the oven or steaming is about 90 minutes, flipping halfway through. Simmering in broth is generally hard to do as it easily gets waterlogged -- I just don't do it and stick to baking or steaming, tightly wrapped in foil.