There have been several messages lately concerning vital gluten,
what it is and how to use it in bread baking. Most people don't
realize that you can actually make your own!
As discussed in other messages I've posted, gluten is the elastic
net formed by kneading the hydrated proteins present in wheat flour.
This elastic net then traps the carbon dioxide released by yeast
fermentation of the sugars & starch in flour, causing the dough to rise.
You can isolate the formed gluten in a dough through a relatively
simple, albeit slightly tedious procedure.
First, make a very simple non-yeast dough of flour & water (no
salt or anything else, either.) Take 1/2 cup water (tepid or cool is
fine) and knead in approximately 1 1/2 cups of bread flour. (All
purpose will work, too, but won't yield as much gluten.) You then
have to knead this dough extremely well. It doesn't really matter if
it is a sticky or dry dough since you will be washing the starch out
of it anyway. I used my Kitchenaid mixer to knead the dough for
at least about 5 or 6 minutes at high speed,
Start your kitchen sink faucet running with cool or tepid water at a
medium-slow flow. Take the kneaded dough out of the bowl. In your
hands, hold it under the flowing water, gently pressing it flat, turning it
over, and moving it from hand to hand, squeezing gently. You will see
a milky white residue flowing out with the water. This is the starch
being washed out of the dough. You will need to continue this process,
occasionally squeezing the dough back together, for probably 10
minutes or so.
The dough ball will get smaller & smaller as the starch is washed out.
The dough will get rubberier and rubberier, reducing to about 20% of
its original size, and the water will begin running clearer.
You will now have a very rubbery, elastic ball composed mostly of gluten.
This can now be mixed in with another whole grain dough for added gluten.
You can refrigerate or freeze it, or dry and powder it like commercial vital
gluten.
Personally, I've never used vital gluten in my baking. However, I had an
interesting discussion with another member of the list this weekend and
thought it'd be an interesting experiment to make vital gluten again. Even
if you don't plan to routinely make your own, it is a fascinating way to
isolate and examine one of the most important components of yeast breads.
It'll give you a whole new appreciation of the role proper gluten development
plays in bread baking.
- Mitch