How to use vital wheat gluten...

[bexi]

Heya everyone :).

After much wondering about the mysteries of seitan, which I have never tried, and searching health food shops for "vital wheat gluten" to no avail, I have finally ordered some from http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/.

I was wondering what your favourite use for this mystical substance is? Any particular recipes that I should try once my gluten arrives? :D I'm def going to try out the v'con chickpea cutlets which everyone seems to like... but what else?

[pavotrouge]

Julie Hasson's Italian sausages in any variation, recipe and video at www.everydaydish.tv, are divine!

[bexi]

Hey thanks pavotrouge - will have to give those a try. Thats a pretty good website :)x

[pavotrouge]

plus Julie is super cute <3

if you've got v-con, try making the beanballs, they're good!

[vava]

I have been looking for a while as well - thanks for that link to the wheat gluten and to the sausage site - I am going to have some fun with that - OMG did you see how much garlic went into those sausages???????:satisfied:

[pavotrouge]

it's healthy!
btw I got a delivery of 5 kg vital wheat gluten on Thursday... somehow it didn't sound that much but now I don't know where to put that huge bag...

[bexi]

Ooh yeah I just noticed the garlic! 6-8 cloves. My breath is gonna smell lovely :D.
*makes mental note to try beanballs too*

[bexi]

My gluten arrived! And I made Julie's sausages yesterday... they turned out brilliant. Very sausagey and spicy and yummy. Thanks for the reccommendation Pavo! I impressed my omni family too :]

[vava]

My gluten arrived! And I made Julie's sausages yesterday... they turned out brilliant. Very sausagey and spicy and yummy. Thanks for the reccommendation Pavo! I impressed my omni family too :]
Hee hee I wonder if you were making them the same time as me? :) I put the chilli in and - my are they hot - each bite I took my mouth was more on fire - waiting until today to try them again cos I may have to chuck them if they are too hot. I won't care tho as they are so much fun to make. That gluten is weird stuff isnt it? Mixed it all round beautifully and left it thinking it was a bit soft and then when I came to shape it it was a huge gloop - fantastic! I can see I will be doing a lot of experimenting with this recipe!:dizzy:

Thanks again Pavotrouge from me also. :D

[pavotrouge]

you're both very welcome (to my seitanic sisterhood :D) !

[bexi]

Seitanic sisterhood - love it :D. Hehe, maybe we did make our sausages at the same time, vava. Synchronised seitan sessions! :tongue_ani: Yeah tis really weird gloopy stuff... great fun lol.

I'm going back to uni in a few weeks & am not really meant to cook. But I'm sneaking my steamer/rice cooker in & plan to secretly make seitan in my uni room :devil:. I might mix together a big batch of the dry ingredients so I can just add a little bit of the wet ones and make individual sausages.

[vava]

I'm going back to uni in a few weeks & am not really meant to cook. But I'm sneaking my steamer/rice cooker in & plan to secretly make seitan in my uni room :devil:. I might mix together a big batch of the dry ingredients so I can just add a little bit of the wet ones and make individual sausages.

Neat idea - mine are fine - I really like these - I was gunna try it on a sarnie but I had it open ready to slice on the worktop and I was floating around the kitchen doing other things and somehow the sausage sliced itself and disappeared before it got to the sarnie. Then of course I had to get another one out of the freezer..... heh! Yum. Yay Pavo:thumbsup:

[3inthecity]

Do you know you can make your own vital wheat gluten? Its in "The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook" by Robin Robertson. Also with recipes like shepards pie, and pot pie. I definitely recommend this book, and the recipes are easy to turn to vegan.

[confusionisben]

I don't really want to buy in bulk or on the Internet, so does anyone know a fairly easy substitute for Wheat Gluten i can get in shop? I really want to try the cutlets and beanballs from Veganomicon.

[pavotrouge]

there's no substitute for vital wheat gluten. they only other option for seitan is kneading and washing it out of flour, but not alle vital wheat gluten recipes work with that.

if you've got to mix more than two or three spices into the dough, there's not other way.
I can't remember how many times I have suggested this on here, but find a nice old-fashioned bakery that does their baking themselves. I don't know how common this is outside the German and Francophonic area, but they'll be very happy to sell you a small bag of pure gluten flour for less than a buck/quid/whatever (I once got 5kg for 2 €!).

[scarlet begonias]

La Dolce Vegan's Faux Fried "chicken" is an amazing use for vital wheat gluten. I've never used the instant stuff & making it yourself is kind of a drag if you don't like to spend time in the kitchen.

Has someone who's tried both tell me if there's a significant difference in taste/texture between the instant stuff and homemade?

[pavotrouge]

there's no difference, since both is made of pure gluten. but it's easier to knead spices into the "instant" (pure gluten) variety.

[scarlet begonias]

there's no difference, since both is made of pure gluten. but it's easier to knead spices into the "instant" (pure gluten) variety.

Thanks :bigsmile2: I picked some up for the first time the other day. Sooo much faster than making gluten from scratch.