Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Does anyone know how to make a denser/heavier seitan? A technique or added (or lessened) ingredient to make it more solid? I used the simmer method (seitan was more "fluffy") and the steam in tin foil method (a little more dense, but still "squishy"). I would love to make a seitan in more the consistency of Tofurkey lunch "meat" slices or pepperoni, but it always ends up too squishy. Any ideas?

baking seitan in foil makes really dense seitan

Yep, you want baked seitan. I don't know if you can find the seitan o' greatness in the archives, but that recipe lives up to it's name. Vegan dad may also have a baked seitan on his blog.

Baking! Ok, I will give it a try. Thank you!

Oh, and I found the recipe on Vegan Dad Here. He steams and bakes the seitan.

Yep, you definitely want baked seitan.
Don't forget to check out all the awesome seitan sausage recipes out there. I made some for MoFo, and now I'm hooked.

I checked out your recipe, and you didn't steam first? How does that change the consistency?

Nope, I wrapped them in foil and directly put them in the oven.
They turned out really dense, but not gummy-chewy (the way my Seitan of Greatness fail turned out).
The week after, I made another batch with slightly more beans which turned them quite fluffy again.

adding flours to your seitan can make it denser, too. loaves that are pure or mostly gluten are much chewier.

vegan dad has some lunch meat style seitan recipes that can be sliced pretty thin.

Sounds like fewer beans = less fluffy.

Yes. beans = soft mushy texture = fluffymaking.

Are you letting your seitan cool completely before serving? It gets much more firm/dense after sitting overnight.

Yes, I usually make it on the weekend and have for dinners during the week.

Adding in some chickpea or soy flour and/or some pureed tofu in the liquid makes it more tender, which can be beneficial with very dense seitan.