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Sunday, July 08, 2007

Gluten Steak Recipe

Gluten Steak Recipe

This is a preemptive effort for me to remember how to make my gluten steaks. A staple of many Adventist whether vegetarian or not. This is the recipe that came from the packages of Vital Wheat Gluten from Andy's Market in College Place, Washington. It is the best recipe I have found for gluten steaks. Though I use a different beef seasoning and I don't really measure precisely the amount. Here is the recipe.

Gluten mix:
2 cups warm water, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 3 teaspoons Geroge Washington Broth (a beef broth type stuff) 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon oil, 3 cups vital Wheat gluten flour. Mix quickly (start with sturdy fork then use your hands) shape into roll and slice, (I make two rolls) cook in broth for 1 hour (stir occasionally as they will tend to expand and float to the top and above especially in a boiling broth. I let them sit in the broth till they cool down and then put them in freezer bags with extra broth.

Broth:
8 cups of water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 teaspons George Washington Broth, 1 Tablespoon oil, 1 Bayleaf, 1 teaspoon Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder. (I tend to use more onion and garlic powder in the broth) Once water is boiling place cut slices into broth and cook.

2018 Update

I don't really use this recipe anymore. What I have found is just get the ratio of water to vital gluten correct and boil for 1 hour in water. Then instead of putting flavorings into the gluten before boiling where I think it just dilutes out, marinate the cooked gluten for a few days. I just find meat marinates, some come in resealable bags so it is real easy to marinate with. Or of course, you can make your own the recipe above if you used the seasons and broth as a marinade would work well.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I made your gluten steaks recipe as described and within the first 5mins of boiling, my patty-size gluten steaks fell apart and now i have little bits and chunks floating around. In your experience in making gluten steaks, has this happened to you before? Did I under-knead the gluten?
Barbara

Ron Corson said...

My guess is that you did not use vital wheat gluten. possibly you used some other high protein/gluten flour. I don't know the specific differences but the vital wheat gluten flour is different and when mixed with water binds together very naturally. So naturally that even cleaning up the bowl or measuring cup the water turns the flour into gluten.

Brian Hobbs said...

so, this is the 3rd time i've made these steaks using your recipe, and every single time they turn out better than the last time!

Anonymous said...

My glutens fell apart like this once. I'm always messing with the recipe so never know what I did wrong. Perhaps it was the addition of 1/2 cup of barley flour or the fact that I forgot to stir and kneed the dough. Anyway, I let it cook for about an hour anyway, dipped it out with a sieve and it made WONDERFUL burger! All the goodness was still there. Now, do you think I can ever recreate that?
Lynn

Ron Corson said...

The more additional things you put with the gluten flour the less the steaks will hold together. I have found the best way to flavor them is to marinade them. Takes longer but works better and boiling them in just water helps reduce the lingering glutton flour taste.

Carrie said...

I have a recipe similar to this, but it also uses a tablespoon of soy flour, and I've been told that soy flour is really good for binding things, so I've started using it in more of my cooking. If you keep having trouble getting them to hold together you could try that.
I have had the occasional problem with gluten steaks falling apart, or sometimes being too tough. I think the gluten flour can vary slightly and sometimes if the mixture is a bit too moist, I add a little extra flour to help it hold together. Usually when you mix the dough, you can tell if it's too soft that it will fall apart.
Just my personal experience :-)

Unknown said...

Add 3 or 4 tbsp of tapioca that would do the trick

LightPaige said...

This recipe (or something almost identical) has been in my family for decades. I thought it was lost when my grandmother passed away last year so i am thrilled to no end to find this! The recipe turned out perfect! But i recommend, after the steaks are boiled, to roll them in Italian breadcrumbs and fry in a skillet in EVOO. Eat with a side of mashed taters, and a streamed green veg...reduce broth to a gravy (add corn starch)...and.... Soooooo yummy!

Moo66 said...

Fry them off first before adding to the broth. This method is especially good when cutting the gluten flour with ground nuts or other flours.

Betty Bennett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Betty Bennett said...

I have made gluten flour steaks for years. using pretty much same recipe. I had issues with texture early on. A friend recommended kneading the dough once the liquid had been distributed evenly. This has worked well for us. When using generic high gluten flour add 1/4 cup more. The worst that can happen is that it won't be taken up.

Lisa Neuharth said...

This is a wonderful recipe. I have found it depends batch by batch on my gluten flour. When my gluten flour is really fresh just out of brand new sealed bag, gluten is a little more tough. Best is if it is aged a bit. And if the gluten flour ages too much, it falls apart, but makes great burger pieces!

For Thanksgiving casserole fry them. Then we put condensed mushroom and celery soup around gluten steaks. Also we put some onion, mushroom, and celery slices around it, and then bake it all in the oven.