Power to The Bakers.What Is Vital Wheat Gluten And Why Do You Need It
You might have come across the term — Vital wheat gluten several times when you are reading a baking recipe. Or when you are looking at a cookery video of an item that usually requires different types of flour. So have you ever given a thought to what exactly is vital wheat gluten is? The expert bakers consider it as an essential and handy powder that can be easily used for creating everything that is highly nutritious. It is also used as an alternative to animal meat. Vital wheat gluten is one of the most essential protein foods that come directly from wheat and is used widely by the baking industry. You might consider vital wheat gluten to be flour, but technically it is not so. Then what exactly is vital wheat gluten?
What Do We Mean By Vital Wheat Gluten?
Vital wheat gluten that is available in the powdered form is prepared from wheat grains. The grains of the wheat are initially hydrated or soaked in water in order to activate the gluten present in the grains. These soaked wheat grains are then dried and processed rigorously to remove the gluten from the grains and then converted into powder form. Vital wheat gluten is usually consumed by individuals who are looking for plant protein instead of animal protein in their daily meals consuming The vital wheat gluten is used in the preparation of seitan which is baked perfectly.
Gluten can be used for several purposes, such as:
#1 When you Want To Increase The Elasticity Of The Dough
You might have noticed that while preparing any baked item, you need to add yeast to it so that the baked item becomes fluffy and soft. But not when you are using whole wheat flour. The wheat gluten is already present in whole wheat flour, and you do not need to add extra yeast to get the fluffiness. If you are using any other flour, you can add the power of the vital wheat gluten, as it will act as the swelling agent. It will help the dough to rise because the protein content in it will trap the moisture and air to help the dough to rise.
#2 You Can Use Vital Wheat Gluten When You Want To Enhance The Quality Of The Dough
Many kinds of research have revealed that when you make use of the vital wheat gluten in any type of flour apart from whole wheat flour, then it helps to improve the overall quality of the dough. You can prevent the dough from getting spoiled, and it can be used even after preservation.
#3 Vital Wheat Gluten Is Also Needed When You Want To Improve The Shelf Life Of The Baked Items
Whenever you want to purchase bakery products, you have to keep in mind that they do not have a long shelf life. Thus you will not be able to store them in the refrigerator for long. When you use vital wheat gluten in the baked products, it will directly increase the life of the bakery products. It is good even for the products that are known to have a very low shelf life. When you are adding vital wheat gluten to the baked item, you will be able to increase the length of time they can handle the room temperature. After a very long time, you will observe that the quality of the baked products will start losing out on their quality and taste.
#4 Vital Wheat Gluten Is Used When You Want To Reduce The Level Of Fat In Your Body And Keep A Check On Your Weight
If you observe the nutritive value of this, you will get to know that vital wheat gluten has an extremely low amount of fat present in it, and due to this reason, it is a great product that will help you in maintaining your weight and cholesterol level. In this way, it will help you achieve your health goals.
Summary
Now you have all the information about what exactly is vital wheat gluten is and why you will need it while baking or for any other purposes. You can get the vital wheat gluten from various online stores or even physical grocery stores and use it as per your requirements. All you have to ensure is that, if you are allergic to gluten, you must avoid it completely, even though it is highly nutritious.