1/18/2021 Wash the Flour or Washed Flour Method of Making Seitan | Seitan Society

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Wash the Flour (WTF) Method

Don’t be daunted, the “Wash the

Flour” method is both easy and Read more seitan
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versatile!
BEAFHere’s a simple step-by-step
CHICKUN TURKEE PORQ SAUSAGE
guide to help you get going.
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Check out this list of the
Step 1 most highly-
Mix 3 parts of your favorite all-purpose (AP) recommended food
flour or bread flour (which has a slightly processors for
higher protein content and may yield a slight preparing your seitan
bit more gluten) with 1 part water. You can dishes.
really use any type of wheat flour, but ideally
you want it to have at least 11% protein
content. Avoid anything under 10% entirely, like
pastry flour. A good place to start is
approximately 6 cups of flour to 2 cups of water,
which should yield about 4-6 servings of seitan
a er washing. Knead this mixture enough to
Learn about the
come together as a smooth ball of dough. If you
nutritional values of
find it’s really sticking to your fingers, add a
vital wheat gluten and
little bit more flour. If you find it’s really tough
how to get the most
and crumbly, add a bit more water.
protein from your
seitan.

Step 2
Place the ball of dough in a bowl and cover it
with cool water for at least 1 hour, but not
longer than 8-10. Too short doesn’t give
enough time for the gluten strands to come
Are your seitan dishes
together. Too long and they start to fall apart
lacking something? Give
and become mushy. It is fine even in the
them the power of the
warmer months to leave it to rest out on your
5th flavor sense -
kitchen counter.
umami!

Step 3
Start washing! At this point move the bowl to
the sink and grab a colander. Discard the water
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cool, clean water. As the new water fills the If you're at all sensitive
BEAF CHICKUN TURKEE
bowl, begin stretching and kneading the dough.PORQ to theSAUSAGE
"gluteny"
Keeping your hands and dough in the bowl of a ertaste that vital
water, continue kneading and stretching
UNLAMB until
FLAVORING wheat gluten can
the water becomes very opaque. impart on your wheat-
meat creations, you'll
find yourself searching
for a way to get rid of it.
Step 4 Here are a few tricks to
Dump out your milky water, using a colander help tame that taste.
to catch the dough ball and any stray pieces.
Or you can reserve your starch water to make all
kinds of things, like this bacon! Cover your
dough ball again, this time using luke-warm
water, and continue to stretch and knead until
the water becomes opaque again. Alternating
cool and warm water a ects how the dough
breaks apart and comes back together again.
The goal of this is to hopefully lessen the
amount of times you need to wash. However,
you can do all cool water and get the same
result. It is not recommended to use water that
is too warm or hot, because your dough can
become stickier or more gluey and harder to
work with.

Step 5
Repeat steps 3 and 4, alternating between
cool and luke-warm water or just using cool
water. You will likely need to repeat this
process at least few times. You will see the
dough begin to look more stringy and feel a
little “squeaky” between your fingers. The more
starch you wash out, the more chewy your
seitan will become, so the end result is up to
you.

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BEAF Step 6
CHICKUN TURKEE PORQ SAUSAGE
Wash until the water is at least a little bit
cloudy. The cloudier you leave the water, the
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more “so ” the texture will be without adding
in any extra ingredients. I personally prefer my
seitan a little bit on the chewier side, so I wash
it until the water is just a little hazy. Seitan
resulting from totally clear water has o en been
described “rubbery,” but feel free to
experiment!

Step 7
Once you have finished washing to your
desired level of water clarity, let the dough
rest in the colander for at least 20 minutes.
This is to both drain the excess water and let the
strands begin to develop. If you are adding
additional spices or proteins, proceed to step 8.
If you are not, you should let it rest even longer
until the gluten becomes very elastic and you
are able to stretch it far without it breaking.

Step 8
At this point you can add in any seasonings or
proteins, or skip to step 9. A good rule of
thumb if adding proteins or liquids is to only
add about 2oz to this size dough ball so your
seitan does not become too so . I prefer just
adding in dry spices to keep the texture
chewier, but you can also add liquids such as
soy sauce or liquid smoke to boost flavor,
and/or additional proteins such as tofu or beans
to so en the texture of your final result and also
make your seitan a complete protein. My
preferred method
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into the dough or knead them in by hand. Then

BEAF CHICKUN
you will TURKEE
need to let the dough rest again until itPORQ SAUSAGE
starts to come back together and become more
elastic and stretchy. 
UNLAMB You want it strong enough
FLAVORING
to knot, even if you do not intend to cook it that
way. This usually takes about 20 minutes, but
can take up to an hour or so depending on what
you’ve added. You can also leave it sit overnight
so the gluten continues to develop, but that is
unnecessary.

Step 9
How you prepare your gluten for cooking
depends on how you’re looking to use it. For
the shreds you see in the top image, I stretched
and knotted the dough, then dropped it into a
well-seasoned broth in a slow cooker. For my
slow cooker, I had it set to high and this makes
it easy to keep at a low simmer. The broth was
already hot and I cooked the ball of dough for
about 2 hours in the simmering broth. You can
also cut the dough into cutlets and fry them to
help them retain their shape, then simmer to
fully cook. For the size of about 4-6 cutlets, you
should only need to simmer them for about 45
minutes.

Step 10
Let it rest in the fridge for at least 8 hours. For
most of us, the waiting is the hardest part. While
you can skip this step, the texture will not have
had a chance to completely firm up. A er letting
it come to room temperature, I started
shredding into chunks popped it in the fridge
directly in the slow cooker with broth. To finish
This pan
you can website uses
sear, cookies
grill, and fry,
sauté, thirdadd
partytoservices.
a OK
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casserole, the possibilities are endless. Happy

BEAF CHICKUN
cooking! TURKEE PORQ SAUSAGE

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Beginners, Washed

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About the Author: Jen

I created this website hoping to make it easier for people interested in seitan to be able to
find, share, and rate recipes. Through both research and my own experimentation, I hope to
answer some commonly asked questions in the "Helpful Tips" section, and you’ll find some
of my own recipes here, too. Happy cooking!

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BEAF CHICKUN TURKEE PORQ SAUSAGE

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