Vital Wheat Gluten??

Another name for vital wheat gluten is "gluten flour." It is important to understand that this is different from "high-gluten flour." The latter is bread flour with a high protein content of the right sort to produce more gluten than typical bread flours when it is made up into a dough. Gluten flour, or vital wheat gluten, is an additive used in small quantities.

Gluten flour is made by mixing flour with water to make a dough and then washing away the starch and drying and grinding what's left. There is also a more modern process that accomplishes the same thing.

Gluten flour is added to doughs to give the baked goods more volume and a lighter texture. For example, if you want to make a commercial whole wheat bread (nominally made with 100% whole wheat flour) and have it be as light and fluffy as Wonder Bread, you are allowed to add up to 2% gluten flour. Another place it is used is in Kaiser Rolls (the real New York ones, not the star-imprinted soft rolls that you see in most of the country). These have a fragile, flaky crust and an airy crumb.

A lot of amateur bakers try to compensate for their difficulty in properly developing the gluten in a dough by adding some vital wheat gluten (gluten flour). Mostly, this is a cop-out. It's preferable to learn better technique, instead. However, you do sometimes see recipes for heavy multi-grain breads that call for a little gluten flour to help compensate for all the non-gluten-forming flours that are used. This undeniably helps the dough hold together and makes for a somewhat lighter, tastier bread.

Very helpful and informative post, Dick. As a beginner, these kinds of informative comments are encouraging. Thanks.

-- Hitachi HB-A101 bread machine, 1 pound Email: Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com (01/10/05)

Good info. Thanks for passing that around.

My esteemed and ever knowledgeable colleague, Dick is right on the money with this one (as usual). I use about 1/2 teaspoon of vital wheat gluten in my rye (especially my pumpernickel) and multi grain breads to give them better "gluten" development and a lighter texture. But, it really doesn't buy you much in a well made, properly kneaded white/wheat bread. King Arthur's Baking Companion has a nice section on vital wheat gluten and when you may want to consider using it and when you should try to avoid it and rely on technique.

All the best, Mary

VWG is also used in greater amounts to make low carb "bread". By using a high proportion of VWG (which is essentially protein) you can reduce the starch content of a loaf.

I've had the unfortunate experience of creating a low carb recipe for the bakery I work at -- the dough is like rubber and behaves quite strangely. VWG is a terrible product, IMO, and should rarely be used. Even heavy seeded multi-grain breads can be made without VWG if you're careful.

Trevor

Ah, this probably explains the texture of my WW/Rye Bauernbrot, well cooked but slightly chewy. In my ignorance I added 1/4 cup of it to my flour mixtures. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Thanks for the information, Raj

In article , Dick Margulis writes

non-gluten-forming

I find a small amount makes a big difference to Rose Levy Beranbaum's Ten-Grain Torpedo, which has a heavy soaker including large seeds and chops. Without it this bread is a lot denser. This is the only bread I make that uses it, other than my lowish carb bread.

In article , Trevor J. Wilson writes

What did you use? Did you try cutting the VWG with whey to make it less rubbery?

I never tried whey. Does it work well? I used some oats to keep it moist, olive oil to "soften" the gluten, but the big texture improver was flaxmeal. An earlier recipe used a large percentage of flaxmeal and the texture was almost bread-like, but that stuff tastes like cat food and so did the bread. The current recipe uses enough flaxmeal to give it decent texture, but not destroy the flavor. It has a few other ingredients and is a sourdough low carb bread. It's decent as far as low carb breads go, but it still sucks and shouldn't really be called bread.

Trevor

Maybe it would be good as cat food? Have you done any taste-testing = with cats? You know that average human is a very bad judge of cat-food = taste.

It is well known that cats do not like bread very well, but it is also = true that their gastronomic evolution is such that they thrive poorly on = low-protein diets.

Perhaps if we could pack in enough stuff like whey and vital gluten and=20 flaxmeal we could make acceptable cat biscuits. Well, maybe a can of sardines mixed in to make it interesting.

Most domestic cats are unaware that they are carnivores, and quite a few vegetarian humans who keep cats are in denial about that, as well. Commercial success can be predicted for the one who comes up with vegetarian cat food.

-- DickA

In article , Trevor J. Wilson writes

It works a bit. You aren't going to get a low-carb bread to taste great, but it does make the bread less rubbery. Flaxmeal is good in small doses - one can make fairish pancakes using it, for example. Sourdough is also a great element - not only because it always feels more real, but also because the wild yeasts have part-digested the carbs in flour, reducing the carb content and so allowing you, the baker, to add more flour in that form. You doubtless know all this.

Its been good talking with you. Like you, I'm a keen baker worried and perplexed by the problems low-carb presents to bakers. The good news is that Montignac and South Beach allow wholemeal....

in article snipped-for-privacy@purkiss.demon.co.uk, Jane Lumley at snipped-for-privacy@purkiss.demon.co.uk wrote on 15/1/05 3:11 AM:

If you "part-digest" the carbs in flour , don't you just get more carbs ( sugars), or am I missing something? Ellen

And yet many of them are REALLY fond of yeast.

Our very large tom cat (15+lbs of all muscle, vim, and vigor) is quite fond all things fowl and fish, receives a regular dose in the form of chicken and sardines as treats AND sits at my feet when I'm making bread waiting for his little ball of dough; which he bats a bit about the kitchen, pounces on and then promptly consumes. In addition, he is treated to homemade cat treats containing a bit of flour, a bit of yeast, and bit of tuna. Then again, he also greets the pizza delivery guy at the door and is known for a fondness of bologna as well. I guess proving there are no "well known facts" about our pets outside the family in which they reside.

Good postings all about vital wheat gluten and I always enjoy reading everyone's additions and opinions. I learn something from them all.

There is the buzzer on the oven, Mary