Disappointed
Posted by CandiceLM on Apr 21, 2007 · Member since Apr 2007 · 54 posts
I tried making seitan. I think it came out as it was supposed to, but it was bad. It had a texture like meat fat. I filed Dave's instructions from a previous thread. It wasn't chewey or rubbery. I really just didn't like the texture. I have some left. Will baking it make a difference? I fried it in bread crumbs this time.
The seitan should not be too chewy or rubbery. The only times I've had that happen is when I have let it accidentally boil too rapidly.
I do bake it sometimes after I boil it. One way I bake it is to marinate it with Annie's Organic BBQ Sauce for a few hours in the fridge. Cover it with foil and bake it at 350 for about 25 minutes, and then remove the foil and bake it for another 5 minutes.
Maybe try that, I hope you have better luck!
-dave
Baypuppy...I boiled it, not too rapidly, for about an hour. After this, I took two pieces, leaving the rest in the veg. broth, coated them with bread crumbs and fried in olive oil for approx. 15 minutes on med/low heat. My pieces of seitan got very thick when I boiled them. So the texture inside was sort of watery, rather than meat-like. A bit like eating a sponge. I think it most accurately like meat fat, but maybe also like jello or jelly inside. Not tough, but has a definite desire to stick together inside. I ate exactly one bite and then discontinued. Do you think baking the remainder still in the broth would be good or should I just try a new batch? Thanks.
Candice
When you made the dough, did you tear it into little pieces or leave it the three big chunks? I made some this weekend, too, with success, but I'm not sure if the other thread said anything about tearing it into chunks. If it was the large chunk, I could see how it became watery... I tear mine into small pieces and end up with a pot full of chicken nugget sized pieces. And I always cook it a second time after the boil. I look at it like the boil turns the dough into seitan and then I make dinner.
Try this: dice the remainder into grape sized pieces and bake it (375 for 30 min, stir and see if it dried enough, maybe lightly spritz with oil) and use it like a chicken salad or TVP chunks, or maybe in a gravy over some kale or other veggies.
Ours this week was a bit denser more sausage-like (I used 1/2 tomato juice, 1/2 veg broth); we had some with biscuts and gravy for breakfast this morning. It was yummy.
Good luck. I think it does take some practice, it isn't supposed to suck :P I thought it tasted like beef fat when I first made it, too. Then I got the hang of it; it's not supposed to taste like beef fat.
thanks! I did make it into 6 patties...but they got HUGE. I will try cutting the remainder into smaller pieces and baking. Thanks again!
I like seitan better when it's baked rather than boiled. Try the baking method as in this recipe: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12040.0 and then use the seitan to do whatever with.
I tend to add too much water, too fast, so go easy. If you need say 1.5 c water, add about 2/3 of it first and then gradually add more at need.