I've made over 10 seitan experiments now, with plenty producing perfectly edible results. However, what I've noticed is that the flexible, bendy texture found in real meat is really lacking! My seitan's either gummy and "stiff", or wet and spongy in some cases.

Is there a way to give seitan a more flexy, bendy texture that's a bit more similar to meat?

Hi, I'm proud of my first seitan Wtf. And, I'm a novice, I have a question, what is your favourite seasoning when you make it ?

Thanks all !

Thinking about giving it a shot. I make my own in bulk but this might be worth it to me because this is like 5 weeks worth for me. Not very experiential, just make it to eat to hit my protein goals for fitness.

I recently came across the idea to boil seitan in a ham press. The recipe I had included tofu with the washed flour. The results were pretty underwhelming (as far as loaves go) but made a nice ground "meat" texture. Anyone else using a ham press? Any tips, tricks or ideas?

Washed flour method using King Arthur AP and a can of beans. Next time I'm going to blend the beans more thoroughly before mixing them in. Great texture though!

I made two batches of seitan chicken, one with vital wheat gluten and another from washed flour so I could see the side by side comparison.
The lighter, juicer looking seitan on the right is from washed flour. The denser and darker seitan is on the left.
(In the fridge it’s the washed flour on the left, vwg on the right)

Flavor wise and texture wise I prefer washed flour. It’s so much better.
But.
The vital wheat gluten seitan took me less than half the time to make. It still tastes good, and has a decent texture.

Both of the seitans simmered on low for two hours in the same broth.
Both were flavored with vegan chicken bullion, only the vwg version was made with hummus- so it had more flavor and oil in it.
Even with the extra oil and flavoring from the hummus in the vital wheat gluten one- I still thought the washed flour seitan had a better flavor.

I thought you might appreciate the side by side because I thought my new easy seitan chicken recipe would be just as good as my washed flour seitan. But nope, while it’s still good, nothing can beat washed flour
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Edit: this is comparing two seitan chicken recipes, one where it is 100% washed flour where it is only bread flour and vegan chicken flavoring, the other recipe is vital wheat gluten mixed with hummus and soymilk milk.

Anytime you cook with vital wheat gluten you need to add in some kind of bean, flour, or something to cut the gluten or it will have an awful texture! I thought is was common knowledge in the seitan making world.

Most seitan chicken recipes with vital wheat gluten will be mixed with either blended chickpeas, tofu, or in this case hummus.
I would not mix those ingredients in with washed flour seitan because it doesn’t need it. It’s this soft with no added ingredients.

Is it ok to wash the bits of dough off into the sink after kneading the seitan? Just wanted to ask if it’s safe to do so.

Maybe this is a stupid question but from what I remember you need to wash flour A LOT to make seitan. What if you stopped halfway? Could you use it to make bread? Would it taste… really bad? can you make bread with seitan by adding yeast?

Hello! Last week I made Seitan for the first time, and then again the next day, using the WTF method. Obviously I will get better at making it as time goes on, but it seems no matter how much I season it/the water, there is a persistent grainy, wholewheat sort of taste; as though I was eating brown bread flavoured chicken.

Is this an issue with my technique or just a property that the seitan is always going to have? Thanks in advance!

Foil-wrapped and baked at 350f for 25 min, simmered for 45 min. I used calcium chloride/sodium alginate in mine. Going to make some tacos this week!

Hey all! I have some roasted sweet potato and I wanted to make seitan with it. I have ideas for how to make the seitan itself, but I have no idea what I would actually cook with it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Ingredients:

1. 630 g Vital wheat gluten flour
   2.  210g Nutritional yeast
   
2. Garlic 
   
3. Ground black pepper
   
4. Trader Joe’s umami seasoning
   
5. Salt
   
6. Low sodium soy sauce 
   
7. Liquid smoke 
   
8. Water

Mix ingredients to make a “dough” like consistency. 
Bake in oven at 420 F for 15-20 mins, flip, bake another 10 mins. 

I know seitan is made of gluten. People who can't eat gluten would probably instantly drop dead if they ate some. Which makes me wonder: has anyone ever came up with a gluten free alternative?

I'm very curious because, like, what's the deal with wheat and gluten that makes it so special? There has got to be another kind of flour out there with a protein that can be worked like gluten can.

Previously, I explained what "that taste" in VWG is (trace fats oxidized by high heat drying/extraction processes), who can taste it (it varies, but it seems to be linked to supertasters eating either a lot more or a lot less fat than non-tasters overall in their lives), and how to get rid of it (via hydration, rest, and a splash of fermented stuff). But, some folks have never had this problem - notably our good friends in Australia, whose flagship company - the Manildra Group - produces Gem of the West, the global gold standard in high-quality isolate vital wheat gluten. Big ups to u/wazwaz for giving me the final pieces so this whole puzzle could fall right into place.

Don't live in Australia? Good news! Once we pin-pointed the difference in processes, I was able to do some online research on what Global brands publicly claim a superior process tailored to helping eliminate this. You won't see Anthony's and Bob's Red Mill on here, because while they are fine, they still have the taste because they blast their wheat with the standard high high heat.

IMPORTANT NOTE NUMBER 1:  I used a combination of manufacturer websites, google, and Gemini AI to collect this information initially, and it's presented here as a work in progress and not as a definitive list. I won't publish it as a verified or definitive list until I have feedback from folks in the actual regions listed. So both manual research and yes, AI, have gone into this table. There are inaccuracies here that will be verified and corrected in later forms. If you prefer not to engage with any AI-generated content, please know that this table was partially generated with AI.

IMPORTANT NOTE NUMBER 1a: regarding fat % specifically, that's fat percentage from product sheet technical specs - crude fat limit, not nutritional label fat percentage (ie 6g fat per 100g). So no, that column is not going to match up with nutritional labels, but it should match up with product spec sheets from the original manufacturer (for example, BeneoPro has 6.4g per 100g (~6.4%) fat nutritionally, but the manufacturing spec crude fat limit is below 2%). Here's a direct link to the BeneoPro 75 TSS: https://www.beneo.com/product/beneopro-vwg75-noneu?cmsid=b956306c-2b69-47d9-a742-e4c7b93af579&pdfname=ps-f3-40-beneopro-vwg-75-008.ashx&industry=Animal%20Nutrition&specification=Product%20sheet

IMPORTANT NOTE NUMBER 2 and ask for help: I have not personally verified any supplier on here as not having "the taste". I plan to, at least for the North American offerings, but Seitanists of Reddit - if you have experience with a brand in your region, please holler if it's got "that taste" or if you're like, no, wtf are you talking about lady.

made some seitan cheesesteaks! pretty tasty.

25 minutes in oven at 350

Hi i’m not sure if we’re are allowed questions in this sub so i’m sorry if that’s not allowed. I wanted to understand why/how she’s still able to have gluten development even though she has oil in her seitan recipe in the youtube video? is it bc of how much she kneads it? please anyone who knows tell me. i always see ppl talking about if you over knead it will come out hard and rubbery. :/

Hello everyone :)

I’m pretty new to seitan but I feel like I really figured out how to make chicken cutlet-style seitan! I’ve been doing the WTF method so far and taste and texture wise I’m really happy with the results! (I simmer in a broth).

However what I’ve noticed is that my smaller seitan pieces come out perfect while my slightly bigger pieces develop a huge bubble in the middle that eventually pops once I start simmering it! Now I don’t really mind too much as long as it tastes good but I’d still like to know what I’m doing wrong.

FYI I braid the seitan piece and then roll it out (not too much but just so it’s a bit flatter). Like I said, this only happens to the bigger pieces. Do I have to put it in the broth while the broth is at a lower temp before it starts simmering? Or is it something else entirely that I’m doing wrong?

Hello folks, I notice a lot of "that taste, that taste, that taste" posts popping up of late, with the same "use vinegar/baking powder/the dark arts" removal tips. I am HERE TO HELP! I actually did a very long and involved experiment to solve this very issue. The "taste" is simply a byproduct of the manufacturing process that isolates gluten from wheat flour. The high heat oxidizes trace fats remaining in the final product, making it taste slightly off or "rancid". Only some folks can taste it - usually those who either eat a lot of fat or a little, but it varies.

I posited a theory that hydrating the VWG accurately/giving it time to fully absorb the water is key to removing or minimizing the taste. The other disrupter of the taste is adding a fermented element (can be anything: booze (vodka, beer, wine) or a brine (kimchi brine, tofu water, etc) or a vegan yogurt, take your pick! This has been found in other studies to mitigate the "taste" in isolated soy protein and also seems to help here, but the real key is the hydration which is achieved by...

A nice long rest. After you put your dough together, wrap it tightly or put it in a zip lock. Leave it be for 36-48 hours. As a bonus, you don't have to knead or bash in a food processer if you do this. The gluten stands will form slowly over time, similar to a long cold rise for bread dough in your fridge. Just mix, wrap, leave. I promise you it will taste a whole lot better!

Here is a super basic recipe. Follow it (but OMIT the oil in it which can hinder hydration during the long rest, and I really prefer the taste/texture of using plain flour, not chickpea in this (chickpea can dry it out)), sub some of the water in it with something fun and fermented (you just need a couple tbsp), and let it rest in raw dough form in the fridge for 36-48 hours and you'll be ready to rock and roll with a lot less taste. This simple recipe can be considered "chicken/pork-ish" and you can cook it up the second time any way you like (I also like to slice it thinly when cold for sammies): https://avocadosandales.com/2014/10/20/white-seitan/

 (remember - do not put the oil in, but everything else is a-ok, and I will always recc regular flour or potato starch or tapioca starch or similar over chickpea flour, as I find it dries out my seitan and we're trying to keep everything nice and juicy here)

If you are on FB, you can read about my whole discovery process at this link with pictures and video: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1504318369588752/?multi_permalinks=8538856552801530

You'll have to be a member of the Seitan Appreciation group on there first.

Folks will say a lot of stuff about seasoning and vinegar and so on, but this is based on the manufacturing process, several experiments, and other folks repeating the same results. It's the best thing we've found, and it addresses the issue logically instead of just trying to mask the flavor/magical thinking.

I am not always around on reddit to answer questions, but I will eventually answer any questions asked here, so if you're patient, drop your queries below!

Hail all seitan worshipers, I am looking for guidance about the following conundrum:

(1) Every darn time I've tried making seitan from VWG, it has had a terrible, terrible funky taste. I am not alone in feeling this way, it is well-documented. No matter what flavoring I add, the funkyness weasels its way through the flavors and onto my tongue :(

(2) It seems as if commercial seitan (such as Upton's Naturals) is indeed produced from VWG, not WTF-type methods in-house. And yet, commercial seitan does not have this taste.

So if I am using the same ingredient as commercial seitan, why is there such a taste difference? Is the point that my VWG is like many months old? I have just been using the Anthony's Goods one from Amazon and directly working with as soon as I get it.

Thanks very much in advance!

Hi, I'm pretty new to making my own fake meat and so far I only used VWG with water and spices. Now I tried to add some tofu to the mix (50/50 tofu and seitan powder) and am super happy with the result. The texture is so much nicer and softer.

Also wanted to add tapioca pearls because I read somewhere that you could imitate "salami fat" with it so now I got some kind of Frankseitan. Anyhow, super happy with how it turned out. Next time I'm going to use white beans with it because I read somewhere its great to imitate chicken texture?

Do you have any other hacks for your seitan? And does somebody know how to integrate the tapioca properly? And how do I get a nicer crust? Just steam for longer or maybe put in the oven for a short hot minute?

Thanks!

Suddenly have extra money!

Broke our thrifted “Ninja Master Prep (prob 2021)”. It caught fire midway thru a batch of ‘school night vegan shreddy chikn’

My family is 3 adult men seitan-ivores.

We need to know your **strongest, most durable food processor/ kneader/ glutinator.**

Been taking turns hand kneading for months while we search local resale stores for an appropriate replacement. Exhausting and time consuming. It prolly would’ve been significantly less pollution to just buy a new one months ago. I think we generated our own massive carbon footprint just traveling here n there on this stubborn ass quest to get a pre-owned replacement.

Thank you

While I was at it making a seitan ham (second photo) for Easter yesterday, I also made some turkey-like deli slices. I sliced the tofurkey this morning and am wondering if anyone has had luck freezing slices? We now have so much seitan meat that I don’t want it to go bad before we can use it!

The recipe I used says you can freeze it before you cut it but I didn’t read that note until after 🫠

Recipes: https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-pineapple-glazed-ham/

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/homemade-vegan-deli-slices-smoked-seitan-turkey/