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no more spongey homemade seitan

4K views 45 replies 21 participants last post by  Joe 
#1 ·
after years of trying to figure out what i was doing "wrong" with my homemade seitan, i've done it. i've made my first batch on non-spongey seitan! i knew it had to be possible because i've been eating nice, firmly textured seitan in asian restaurants all along, but i could never get anyone to explain how they did it.

first, i stopped trying to mix and knead the vital gluten flour etc. with liquids by hand. i put it all into my electric breadmaker and let it do the work on the "dough" setting. i actually put it through the dough setting twice. i think the double kneadings and long resting times really helped. then, i did NOT cut the resultant lump into "steaks" or "cutlets" before simmering it. instead i wrapped the whole big blob up very tightly into a big swatch of cheesecloth and tied it up firmly with kitchen twine. i cooked it in a huge pot filled with veggie stock and spices overnight over low heat, just enough to maintain a very slow boil. when i took it out and cooled it slightly and then cut off a little slice to try, i was incredibly impressed with the texture. so excited i made everyone in my house try a piece even though it was only seven-thirty in the morning.

i am going to try doing all sorts of interesting things to this new technique, like adding ground nuts or cooked lentils into the bread machine to be kneaded into the gluten, different spices and maybe things like sundried tomatoes or olives. i'll try slices up the resultant "roasts" and pan-frying them, or breading them and baking them, or just serving thin slices on bread as sandwich fillings. i can now safely say that everyone in my home thinks i am truly the seitan goddess. hooray for kitchen witchery!
 
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#8 ·
For what it is worth, I had a discussion with my vegan chef friend G. about seitan. When I asked her about it, she looked at me as if to say, "What? Are you crazy?" In her experience, it is very difficult to make and very time consuming. She told me that another mutual friend, a macrobiotic cook, used to make it. She is throwing a Christmas party on the 18th, and I'll talk with her more then.

Bottom line: If you've figured out how to make this well, you are way of most vegan chefs, as far as I can tell.
 
#12 ·
That's awesome, Kreeli. We don't have a kitchenaid or a bread machine, but I'm sure we can come up with something... if anything, it'd be a good upperbody workout
The cheesecloth thing is a great idea. Did you simmer it in a crockpot/slow cooker, or just on the stove in a huge pot?
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by vgnwitch View Post

Vegan cookbook author Bryanna Clark Grogan has an entire file of seitan recipes using the bread machine/slow cook technique. It's been around for a while.
i love bryanna and i'm pretty sure that anything i've come up with in the kitchen was done by her 15 years ago. that doesn't mean i can't be excited when i "discover" something new (to me), and share it here. i've been using my bread machine dough setting for about a year, but only running it once; AND i've been "slow cooking" the cutlets (for 2 - 4 hours) since i first started making seitan, but the whole "wrapping it up in one blob and simmering it overnight" thing was new to me.

i really don't know if anyone can knead the gluten lump as strongly or for as long as my bread machine does, but if you want to go for it, more power to ya!
 
#15 ·
OT: i sure would like to know why, every time i post here lately, i get at least one person pulling a "snark" on me. it's why i haven't been around here much in the last while, and why i'm considering not hanging out here anymore. it's just so boring and tired.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kreeli View Post

OT: i sure would like to know why, every time i post here lately, i get at least one person pulling a "snark" on me. it's why i haven't been around here much in the last while, and why i'm considering not hanging out here anymore. it's just so boring and tired.
Actually I almost snarked right back at *that* person. I don't get that either. I'm trying to be nicer, but people need to stop pissing me off.
 
#19 ·
I dunno Kreeli. I wouldn't put too much energy into it from this thread. She's joined a year ago and has only 26 posts, so maybe she wasn't trying to be snarky? But yeah, I see snarky here more than I used to. :shrug: I just ignore it basically.

Don't go. The unsnarky folks like you and want you to stay.


ETA: Oh, I'm still curious. What's it taste like? What do you eat it with? Where can I get some already made? Help...
 
#21 ·
I'd probably use a bread machine if I had one or the money to buy one. However, I just bought plane tickets for 4 people over christmas
So, my arms will have to wait to be rescued. I'd really prefer a KitchenAid mixer though, those are the bomb (my mom has one "jealous*)

oh, and a side note: I am not being snarky, nor am I being snarky by saying that I am not being snarky.
 
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