Thursday, December 10, 2009

Slow Cooker Seitan Experiment



I haven’t made seitan in the slow cooker since I developed my steam-baked methodology with breadcrumbs that my husband loves. However, when Sarah the Ordinary Vegetarian asked me what she could substitute for tapioca flour in this version, I decided to experiment. I love to learn new things in the kitchen so I offered to experiment with my original slow cooker recipe. The results were not exactly what I had anticipated.

Slow Cooker Seitan Experiment
Makes 2 large roasts - 5 servings each

Version 1 Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup water
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon marmite
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon tomato paste
½ tablespoon liquid aminos
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten

Version 2 Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup water
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon marmite
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon tomato paste
½ tablespoon liquid aminos
½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten

Cooking Broth Ingredients:

6 cups water
4 tablespoons onion flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste

Directions:

I am going to give the directions once and make notes where they differ by version.

Combine the wet ingredients in the blender (water, garlic, Worcestershire, tomato paste, and liquid aminos) and process to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into a bowl with either the breadcrumbs of flour. If using the breadcrumbs allow the mixture to sit long enough for the breadcrumbs to be completely saturated. If using the flour whisk it into the wet ingredients so there are no lumps. Now add the vital wheat gluten and knead the mixture to combine. If there is dry gluten left add a few tablespoons little water so the gluten is completely absorbed. However, if the seitan dough is too wet add a few tablespoons of vital wheat gluten. Form each seitan dough into a rough roast shape with your hands.

Combine the cooking broth ingredients in the slow cooker and whisk to combine. Place the two roasts in the slow cooker and set the cooker to high and cook for 12 hours. After twelve hours check the texture of the seitan. If it is too firm cook the seitan a few more hours. I tested the time with part of each roast and 18 hours yielded a similar texture to 12. I think you can safely cook this while you are at work and not worry about it overcooking even if you are delayed. I was very surprised that it could cook for so long with deteriorating.

Allow the seitan roasts to cool in the cooking liquid before refrigerating in the cooking broth. You can cut the seitan roasts into slices and wrap them in plastic cling film and store them in zip top freezer bags until needed. I defrost my seitan in the microwave and then sear it in a lightly greased hot cast iron skillet. Sometimes I dust the slices in a little whole-wheat flour before searing, and sometimes I don’t. Either with or without exterior flour works fine. The floured version has a crispier exterior.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 159.77
Calories From Fat (4%) - 7.13

Total Fat - 0.81g
Saturated Fat - 0.13g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 141.08mg
Potassium - 115.25mg
Total Carbohydrates - 13.75g
Fiber - 1.74g
Sugar - 0.35g
Protein - 25.32g

I am showing one set of numbers for the seitan because there was very little difference.

The results:

As I expected I slightly preferred the version with whole wheat bread crumbs since it was less firm. However, when the roasts cooked for 18 hours the difference in texture was minimal. So overall I would say it depends on how long you are going to cook the seitan and how you will be using it.

Additionally if you want to serve a piece of seitan on the plate (like meat) I still prefer the steam-baked version, one of which is posted here. However, if you are going to use the seitan in a stew or a braise either slow cooker version would work well there.

11 comments:

  1. You didn't say which version tasted better or whether the seitan tasted good at all? Will you make it again this way? Basically: Should I bother to try making it this way?

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  2. Shenandoah,

    The two versions of seitan taste the same since they are flavored with the same ingredients in the same quantities. The only thing I was testing was the texture of the slow cooked seitan using whole wheat breadcrumbs versus whole wheat flour since Sarah hasn't seen the tapioca flour I used in the original recipe.

    Taste is subjective, but we enjoyed the flavor, which was mild in character. Since you like my steam-baked seitan cutlets with a hint of worcestershire you will probably like the taste of this.

    Whether you should make this or not in my mind depends on how you plan to use it. I prefer the crisp exterior texture of the steam-baked cutlets that you also make, so most of the time I will continue to make those. However, if I need seitan for a stew or braise this version requires less attention than the steam-baked version so I would make it then. It makes an acceptable cutlet, if you sear it before serving as I did last night. However, I prefer the steam-baked version for cutlets.

    Alicia

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  3. I think there's an error? Both recipes contain whole wheat bread crumbs (actually, both recipes appear completely identical), but based on your comments I'm guessing one used whole wheat flour, not breadcrumbs?

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  4. PaganAngel,

    Good catch! Thanks so much for pointing it out. That should teach me not to copy and paste. I thought I had changed the one ingredient.

    I have changed it now. Thanks so much for the heads up.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks SO much for experimenting with this. I will be picking up the ingredients I'm missing on the next shopping night. I'll also be trying the steamed version to see which I fancy more. I've never had seitan of any kind, so I'm pretty excited!

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  6. Sarah,

    You are very welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Experimenting in the kitchen is how I relax. The results were different from what I anticipated. I completely expected the breadcrumb version to be vastly superior and it wasn't, which really surprised me. Additionally I was also surprised that I could cook it so long and the texture didn't deteriorate. I learned quite a bit from this experiment so I enjoyed myself.

    I think the crockpot seitan would be great used where an omni recipe called for braising pork, veal or chicken. That will be helpful to me now that the temperature has turned cold.

    Good luck with your seitan. It took me a few times to be comfortable with the process. But now I can practically make seitan in my sleep.

    Alicia

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  7. This is a great recipe, and looks pretty easy to use with different sauces and flavors.

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  8. K Hamilton,

    The flavor of this seitan has a mild character. If I had to compare the flavor to something I would say it is more similar to pork than beef or chicken.

    If you like seitan I would urge you to try my steam-baked beefy seitan cutlet. I think that is the best one I have come up with yet.

    Alicia

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  9. This looks and sounds so good! I'm very impressed with your experiment. I've never heard about slow cooker Seitan before so I'm quite excited to give it a try. I've all the ingredients waiting for me for such a long time.

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  10. Oraphan,

    Seitan is really easy to make. You only need to make it a couple of times to become comfortable with the process. My hubby loves seitan now and he was very skeptical a few years ago. If you have any questions when you are making it for the first time please don't hesitate to ask. I am happy to help.

    Alicia

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  11. If mild is not preferred, one can increase the boldness of seitan with spices.

    I have even stooped to buying the supermarket spice kits (McCormick's "RECIPE INSPIRATIONS") that I mix into the seitan ingredients with great results.

    Seitan is an easy, versatile main course and great thinly sliced in sandwiches the next day for lunch boxes.

    ReplyDelete

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