I bought 50 lbs of gluten from a restaurant store and have been making a lot of seitan. The finished product is roughly $1.25/lb. Below is the recipe I've arrived at. It's probably as fast as seitan can get, and the braiding is really easy because the dough isn't sticky. There is plenty of room for refinement but I've been too lazy to experiment.

Makes about 2 lbs.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups (276g) vital wheat gluten
  • 1/4 cup (16g) nooch
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp simple syrup (or honey, maple syrup, etc)
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 to 1.5 cups (enough to form a dough) veg broth or water

Steps

  1. Add all dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well.
  2. Use your tablespoon to press a little well in the powder. Pour all the liquids but broth into the hollow so they combine.
  3. Add one cup of broth and mix just until it forms a tough dough. Add broth as needed until it's fully wet and sort of workable. Don't knead more than necessary.
  4. Move dough to a clean counter or large cutting board. Squash it down into a big rectangle, about a quarter inch thick. If this is difficult, let it rest for five minutes and try again.
  5. Cut dough into three strips, but leave them connected at the top. Tightly braid these together to make a muscly, springy rope. Tuck the ends into the braid. Video of stretch and braid technique
  6. Tie the rope into one or more knots starting from the middle. Goal is to put it under a lot of tension.
  7. Place in a steamer basket in your instant pot with some water. Pressure cook it for 45 minutes with a 10 minute "natural release".

You can eat it fresh, but it's better if you first refrigerate it overnight. I put it in a container and cover it with water. You can tear it into pieces or slice, then cook however you would cook storebought seitan. There's no fat in this so it's good sauteed or deep fried in oil.

Spices are based off Connoisseurus Veg's "pork" flavoring. Use a food scale to minimize dirty dishes.