Dick Margulis wrote:

>
>
> Raj V wrote:
>
>> Under what conditions would one use "Vital Wheat Gluten" in a bread
>> recipe?
>> I haven't looked at bunches of recipes, but I've never seen one that used
>> this ingredient.
>>
>> TIA
>> Raj
>>
>>
>
> Another name for vital wheat gluten is "gluten flour." It is important
> to understand that this is different from "high-gluten flour." The
> latter is bread flour with a high protein content of the right sort to
> produce more gluten than typical bread flours when it is made up into a
> dough. Gluten flour, or vital wheat gluten, is an additive used in small
> quantities.
>
> Gluten flour is made by mixing flour with water to make a dough and then
> washing away the starch and drying and grinding what's left. There is
> also a more modern process that accomplishes the same thing.
>
> Gluten flour is added to doughs to give the baked goods more volume and
> a lighter texture. For example, if you want to make a commercial whole
> wheat bread (nominally made with 100% whole wheat flour) and have it be
> as light and fluffy as Wonder Bread, you are allowed to add up to 2%
> gluten flour. Another place it is used is in Kaiser Rolls (the real New
> York ones, not the star-imprinted soft rolls that you see in most of the
> country). These have a fragile, flaky crust and an airy crumb.
>
> A lot of amateur bakers try to compensate for their difficulty in
> properly developing the gluten in a dough by adding some vital wheat
> gluten (gluten flour). Mostly, this is a cop-out. It's preferable to
> learn better technique, instead. However, you do sometimes see recipes
> for heavy multi-grain breads that call for a little gluten flour to help
> compensate for all the non-gluten-forming flours that are used. This
> undeniably helps the dough hold together and makes for a somewhat
> lighter, tastier bread.

My esteemed and ever knowledgeable colleague, Dick is right on the money
with this one (as usual). I use about 1/2 teaspoon of vital wheat
gluten in my rye (especially my pumpernickel) and multi grain breads to
give them better "gluten" development and a lighter texture. But, it
really doesn't buy you much in a well made, properly kneaded white/wheat
bread. King Arthur's Baking Companion has a nice section on vital wheat
gluten and when you may want to consider using it and when you should
try to avoid it and rely on technique.

All the best,
Mary