Seitan Made Easy

Seitan, or wheat-meat, is a commonly used meat substitute. It is made up of wheat protein, and doesn't taste like much when not flavored. Many vegetarians dislike it because its texture is too meaty.

Lots of people seem to fear making seitan because it takes too long and the kneading process is quite tedious. However, with a few simple tricks, you can quickly make Seitan the easy way, and save money by creating it at home.

Step 1 Ingredients & Tools

You will need:

--Water
--Whole Wheat Flour
--Vegetable Broth
--Food Processor
--Crock Pot / Slow Cooker
--Large Pot

NOTE: The Flour and Water need to be in a 2:1 ratio.
This means if you have 2 cups of flour, you'll need 1 cup of water.

The amount of flour and water depends both upon the size of your food processor and how much you want to make. I used slightly more than 2 cups of flour and about a cup of water. These measurements don't need to be very precise.

Comments

[grim.sleeper]

SuperGreat!

this worked perfectly. The only thing i missed in the instructable is that at the end you'll have about 40% of the weight of the flour in seitan.

So when you use 500grams of flour you get 200grams of seitan.

[zombiedave]

I found this instructable and wanted to try it ASAP. However, all I had in the house was white flour(unbleached) but attempted it anyway. I kneaded the dough by hand (don't have a food processor/mixer with bread hooks) and rinsed according the the directions. And it worked! Came out pretty close to what I've bought in stores.

[suayres]

I have made Seitan myself, long ago, before the age of home model food processors (if you think it's tedious now, just think about developing that gluten by hand!). anyway, since you apparently don't want the bran (what about the germ?)', why not start with white flour (which is the recipe I used)? Am I wrong in thinking the germ will go the way of the bran?

[MrGreggan]

I've been a vegetarian (sort of, I do eat fish & eggs), for 20 years now. As meat substitutes go, seitan is my favorite. When spiced well, it tastes very good. Friends & family have tried food with seitan without knowing it was used instead of meat. They couldn't tell the difference. Most important is the flavoring added!

[cortes.lilia]

You're referring to a pescatarian. A vegetarian does not eat meat, including fish.
However, I do agree that seitan is the best meat substitute.

[paulhogan]

I am that same type of vegetarian.

[mikeinternet]

If you can get "vital wheat gluten" you can basically skip having to wash out the starch.

But this is way cooler! Will try this.

[punkhead58]

Ah, yes, I enjoy eating Satan as well.

[Snerdguy]

This an interesting food alternative. Especially if wheat is grown in the area where you live. A bushel of wheat purchased directly from the farmer is dirt cheap compared to what wheat berries cost at the store. Do you happen to know what the nutrition value is? It would help me plan the exchanges in my diet.

[blodefood]

Hey!  This is really great! One thing I have done with seitan is to break it into smaller pieces before putting in the broth.  If you have used soy sauce in the liquid to make the dough, it is darker giving it the appearance of little meat balls suitable for adding to pasta sauce.

[Logan D]

This looks delicious, I have been looking to limit my meat intake due to the large energy wasted in shipping meat products(such as that tasty argentine beef) over vegetable products. This might be a great option, thanks for the idea

[paulhogan]

My main concern is soda and bottled water... which is even worse than meat in terms of being shipped around the world...

[mossDboss]

What type of grinder do you use? Do you think it would of benefit to modify a grinder to grind finer? *There is an instructable on modifing a coffee grind I figured same principle for wheat* Thanks for this instructable, we have 3+ month supply of wheat we need to use, and I did not know I could make Seitan in my image.

[paulhogan]

I am not sure how/if that would affect the texture of the seitan. I don't understand the science behind the gluten-forming process. However, my mill has different fineness settings, so I'll grind up some small batches and attempt to report back in a timely fashion.

To tell you the truth, I am completely scared of the wheat grinder- it is electric, the size of a small trash can, and sounds like a small jet engine. I think it's a "WhisperMill", but I am not certain. I don't think that I feel like modding it. But, if your grinder (or one you are looking to buy) grinds it very coarsely, then I would at least look into modding it, because it seems to me as if coarser would not be better.

[rickharris]

Yep, What your doing is washing out the starch component of the dough leaving behind the gluten. If you mixed in a little lecithin (E322) you will form the gluten faster and free off the starch easier. They do this in commercial bread making to make the bread mix faster. As always at your own risk. IMHO it will never replace meat!

[lemonie]

It's gluten then? L

[paulhogan]

Pretty much.

[Megax29]

good post iv never heard about this but you learn new thing everday