A How-to on Making Gluten

I was raised a vegetarian till I was 11 years old. Then my Mom had some health problems and the Dr thought that if she added meat to her diet - that it would help her. My very first time I had meat - I had Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. I remember her not telling us that it was meat till we were done eating and then being shocked that #1 we had eaten meat and #2 that I have actually liked it. Well I still am not a real big meat eater. I usually only like chicken breast, turkey breast and roast.

My husband was brought up totally differently than I was. Meat was at every meal. And he loved/loves it! But I am so lucky because he is ok with us not having meat at every meal. I do try to have meat at last half to more than half of the meals I make.


So today I want to share something that I enjoy making that helps our budget and gives us something good to eat - that is NOT meat. Meat is pretty expensive and the fake meats are getting very expensive as well. So I have gotten back to making Gluten. I love to make Gluten.

Gluten is the protein of wheat. So it takes the place of protein in your meals just fine. And there are a lot of ways you can use it. However; I usually like it one way - battered and sautéed in olive oil - or as Racheal Ray would say - EVOO.

Yes- there is a lot of work involved in making it but it is well worth the effort.

Let's begin.
First I measure 8 cups of flour into a bowl.
"8 cups hard-wheat flour(high gluten content) (may try using 1 cup gluten flour with 7 cups white flour OR half white flour and half wheat flour OR all wheat)" info from "Cooking By The Book" cookbook by: Marcella Lynch. Or you could just use all white flour - what ever combo will work.


I am using my Large Thatsabowl from Tupperware - a favorite of mine. Then I add 3- 4 cups of water - I usually do just fine with 3 cups. Then stir it together. Once it starts coming together then get your hands right in there and knead it for 5 minutes. "Kneading develops the gluten and is important." Then I put the ball in a smaller bowl and I cover with cold water. Directions say to let sit for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
While the gluten is sitting, I will work on getting my broth together. You can really use any type of seasonings to use as your broth. This is what flavors your gluten. This cookbook that I have has 2 different recipes and if anyone is interested in them - let me know and I can get them typed up. But I have not tried these recipes yet because I started making gluten before I got this book and I have have a recipe that I use.

Ok - here is my broth. Normally I use more onions but I was out so I had to use dried chopped onions.



So after your gluten has had a chance to rest covered with water for at least an hour. Then it is time to begin to work again. This time you will take your bowl to the sink, dump out the water and sit it down in the sink under the faucet. As you can probably tell - I switched back to my Big Thatsabowl.
Then add fresh water and start kneading the dough. You will do this and change out the water until the water becomes more clear. At first the water will be pretty milky looking. But your goal is to knead it till the water is about clear. You will lose part of the dough - but what you have left is actually the gluten. And it should have a more rubbery consistency now. You will want to put your dough on a cookie sheet (or something that will hold the water that will drain out of the dough) and let it set for a few minutes. And then you will want to turn your broth up to a boil.
Now for this next part - I use a tortilla press or you can use to plates- the idea is to flatten the dough a bit. You will divide your dough into smaller sections.
I think that the gluten pieces that I let sit and rest for about 5 -10 minutes while I was rinsing out the next batch did much better at holding their shape. And take the little pieces into the tortilla press and press it flat. Then you will take the gluten out and put them into the broth. Once you have put all the gluten into the broth - you will want to turn the temperature down to a simmer. And cook the gluten about 45 minutes to an hour.
Then you will want to use a spoon with slots to get your gluten out - put them into a bowl or onto a cookie sheet to cool.

Then you once the gluten is cool - you can bag them up in amount that will be useful to you. I will write on the bag the date and also how many gluten patties I put into the bag.



My family likes it best when I treat it just like fried chicken and batter it and fry it. Yum-Yum!!


Truthfully, there is ALOT of work that goes into making gluten but the results are well worth it. And when I make it, I kind of feel like Ma in "Little House on the Prairie" because I am working hard to provide food for my family. Today I made two batches. I wish I could have made more but my neck was hurting - like between the shoulder blades. Since I knew that it would take about 10 minutes to knead the starch out of the gluten on each of the 2 batches that I made, I decided to stick to just the two batches. And I knew that was probably enough for one day.