Does vital gluten go bad? urgh!

[keljonma]

I usually make bread twice a week; using the same two recipes every time for our "daily" loaves. So feeling in a rut, I used a different version of one of these recipes. The new version called for vital gluten to be added.

The loaves are on their second rising and still only about 1 inch above the bread pan. I'm hoping, if I let them rise for another 30 minutes before I bake them, that they will turn out okay.

I do have a couple recipes that call for vital gluten, but because it is expensive (to my thinking) I omit it from the recipe. The vital gluten was on sale (usually $3) for $1.49, and a friend talked me into getting it. The use by date is Dec 2009 on the box, so I would think it is okay.

I've been cooking and baking for years, and love to experiment and try new things. However, this is the second time this year that I did something different (using vital gluten this time and using pectin to make jam the other ... ) where the results were dissappointing. And I just realized the friend who told me to use pectin is the same one who said she never makes bread without vital gluten! I need to stop taking her cooking/baking advice!

Any one else have any experience with vital gluten not "making a perfect rising loaf" (from the box) ????

 

[dacjohns]

Last spring I was experimenting with bread making and decided the bread machine was worthless for whole wheat bread, the dough wouldn't raise properly and would fall. I tried the gluten and it didn't help. I did get good results from using regular bread pans.

So between gluten, whole wheat flour, yeast, bread machine vs. oven, I'm back to the beginning.

I know this isn't much help but I do keep the gluten in the refrigerator.

I've seen a few recipes that don't use gluten but they were for more than two loaves of bread. Two loaves at a time is about all I want to make and I didn't fell like converting the recipes.

 

[patandchickens]

No idea what the problem could be -- I've had the stuff kicking around for sometimes six months or more, never refrigerated or anything, and not had a problem with it ever. Is it a "real brand" or some funny imported thing? Sorry not to be more help,

Pat

 

[ScottyG]

I would probably blame the new bread recipe and not the gluten. Gluten is just stretchy protein bits, so if it was "bad," it would just be like adding nothing at all, it wouldn't mess anything else up. I could be wrong, depending on the specifics, but I can't see how adding gluten would mess up a good recipe.

 

[FarmerChick]

sorry on this one I don't have a clue. no help here. I just am learning to make bread decent. I try, get frustrated and stop, and try again..LOL

I know someone will help ya on here cause there are bakers extradordinare here, with you being one I am sure!!

 

[Zenbirder]

I buy my gluten flour on the days my co-op has member appreciation discounts, twice a year. I keep it in the pantry in a glass jar. I have never seen a bit of scent change or other sign that it goes bad, and I swear by the stuff in my baking. It really just adds the bit of help to whole wheat flour to get good bubble structure.

Causes for low rising that I have experienced:
Not enough sugar or other sweetener for the yeast to eat.
Too much salt.
Dough too dry, it needs to feel on the wetter side of workable rather than the dryer side.
Old yeast, don't necessarily discard, just use more.
Not enough yeast in the recipe, use more.

Hope that helps a bit!

 

[Beekissed]

I must say that I've never even heard of adding gluten to flour for breadmaking. Apparently my mother never did it. Why is it needed?

 

[Zenbirder]

I must say that I've never even heard of adding gluten to flour for breadmaking. Apparently my mother never did it. Why is it needed?

There are different types of wheat for different cooking. Some wheat is for bread, and has a high gluten content to allow it to make a lot of structurally sound bubbles, thus a nice light loaf. Some wheat has low gluten content, like the cake flour wheat, no structure and lots of crumb. Also wheat for pasta doesn't want a high gluten content. I buy a hard red winter wheat and grind it myself. It has a medium gluten content, and thus diversity. I add gluten to the breads to get better structure and rise. The whole wheat you would buy in the store is like this, multi-purpose. There is whole wheat bread flour, which has a high gluten content, but it is more expensive. Many recipes add gluten flour to suppliment the gluten content. You can also special order a high gluten wheat berry if you want it only for bread baking.

Here is Wikipedia on gluten if you want more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten

 

[Beekissed]

The all-purpose flours in the store don't seem to need any help with rising. I also use the red turkey wheat and grind my own and that flour practically makes itself into bread! Bubbles and works all the time I'm kneading. Lovely, light whole wheat bread!

 

[patandchickens]

To a considerable extent it depends on the characteristics of the flour you use and what sort of recipe and process you're using, how much benefit you'll see from adding gluten.

I only use it because I'm a lazybutt and find it provides more margin for error. With bread-machine bread, as long as I get the flour/water ratio basically correct, vital gluten encourages the loaf to rise well and stay there.

My mother, with a bachelors degree in home ec A Long Time Ago, also swears it makes the bread keep a little longer before it molds (like, by a day, maybe)... I dunno one way or the other from personal experience.

Keljonma, how much did you use?

Pat