Seitan-Making Methods

• If you make seitan in your home kitchen, you can choose between two methods. The first method is considerably more involved and time consuming but uses ingredients that might be easier to find. You start with a high gluten flour, such as bread flour. The flour can be either whole wheat or refined. The amount of water you add to the flour determines the final texture. More water makes a softer seitan while less water gives you a firm, chewy wheat meat. Instead of using standard bread flour to make the seitan, you can skip a few steps and start with vital wheat gluten flour.

Knead Out the Starch

• Making seitan with bread flour requires washing the starch away from the flour. While starch is water soluble and will separate and dissolve when wet, gluten is not water soluble and will remain intact during the process. To make the seitan, combine two parts flour with slightly less than one part water and mix together to make a dough. Let the dough sit for up to an hour. Knead the ball of dough in a bowl full of water. The water will turn white as the starch breaks away from the flour. Pour out the water and refill the bowl and keep kneading. The gluten is ready when the water in the bowl stays clear as you knead. The dough will be stretchy, rubbery and feel firm in your hands.

Take a Shortcut

• Vital wheat gluten is a type of flour without the starch. You can find it in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, as it's commonly added to bread recipes. Using vital wheat gluten instead of bread flour means you don't have to rinse or knead the dough under running water. You should still knead the dough a bit after mixing the gluten flour and liquid together, though. Kneading the dough for a few minutes will help the gluten flour absorb water better, resulting in more dense and chewy seitan.

Cooking Affects Texture

• You can end up with a fluffy and soft seitan or a firm and chewy seitan depending on the way you choose to cook the gluten. For a chewy texture, cook in water or vegetable broth that is barely simmering for a few hours. If you want seitan that's soft and similar in texture to a dumpling, use a pressure cooker. The high heat of the pressure cooker will cut cooking time drastically, to less than half an hour. You can bake seitan if you want a firm style of wheat meat.