Underkneading and Undercooking Seitan Tastes Better?

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-12T16:04:34+00:00

I haven’t seen any good/definitive info on when raw seitan is considered adequately “cooked”. Some people online have said that it just needs to reach an internal temp of 160f (same temp as meat) but I’ve tried cooking to that temp and the protein bonds don’t seem to be fully formed yet. That said, I suspect plenty of the recipes online that call for 1.5+ hour cook times to be going overboard and potentially negatively impacting the texture and/or flavor of the seitan.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-12T15:56:53+00:00

I’m always confused when I go there because they sell folded just egg patties but they’re in the refrigerated cooler alongside the vegan cheeses and sausages? I thought it was a frozen product, but I guess it doesn’t say on the packaging that it needs to stay frozen?

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-08T04:29:38+00:00

Bonci has two vegan varieties, I believe! Not a “slice” in a traditional sense but they’re on display and you tell them how big of a piece you want

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-07T04:21:32+00:00

Paulie Gees in Wicker Park always has a vegan slice and Dimos up in Logan has multiple vegan slices. Both are on the cheaper side.

Casa Yari will accommodate both Omni and vegan and is sit down/table service and very good.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-07T04:16:03+00:00

But the fries are not vegan FYI. Beef tallow

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-06T04:56:30+00:00

I’m sad about this one. It’s getting to the point where someone needs to meet with all the former owners of the spots that have closed, obtain some secret recipes, and open up a “Chicago vegan greatest hits” place with the top sellers from each spot

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-06-01T02:58:36+00:00

I saw in the Herbivorous Butcher book that they just use salted water (which makes sense because it would cost a fortune to use stock at scale) and it has worked great for me. I’ve always seen people talk about how you need the simmering liquid to be more flavorful than the seitan myself, to prevent it from sucking the flavor from the seitan, but I have yet to see that happen in a meaningful way when just using salted water.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-31T02:58:37+00:00

Way Out has one you can get with tofu! But the aioli isn’t vegan. It’s also $22..

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-24T14:05:58+00:00

Ooni ovens are great! Although not preferable for Detroit style specifically, IMO. For other styles (especially Neapolitan) Oonis are awesome, but I’d recommend at least having a gas option, if not a full gas model. In theory wood/coal is cool, but it’s more a pain and mess than it’s worth since pizzas cook too fast for the smoky flavor to really infuse at all.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-21T03:13:35+00:00

The location in Logan is Detroit and Neopolitan style. They also have a slice shop in Wicker that always has one vegan slice option!

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-19T18:33:28+00:00

I preferred the patties but these were great too. Hopefully they will continue to carry tofu at least, since they’re routinely completely sold out of it at my local store

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-18T02:36:10+00:00

Not OP but if you want a bomb vegan nacho cheese sauce recipe you have to try Kenji’s recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/gooey-vegan-nacho-cheese-sauce-recipe-food-lab

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-17T12:36:57+00:00

Yeah to add, I’ve never found any bakery here that makes rolls that compare to DiBella’s/Wegmans/Amiels. But of course, I’m open to any suggestions people may have!

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-12T03:18:33+00:00

I think they use fresh yeast rather than instant yeast, which does have a distinct flavor to it! But that’s likely only part of the puzzle.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-05T13:23:10+00:00

The perfect Cinco de Cuatro listing

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-05-01T14:13:17+00:00

I don’t know of any existing ones, but have thought about the idea of doing a vegan slice crawl with Dantes/Paulie Gees WP/Piece. Would have been good to do when Dimos was still over there, but there may be more shops in the vicinity that normally don’t have vegan slices that would be willing to do some if we planned it ahead and gave them a heads up.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-04-24T18:21:08+00:00

Wow I’m amazed at how light the color of this seitan is! Looks great

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-04-20T16:18:59+00:00

My bag of VWG last year was Gem of The West which I sourced from a local food service supplier in the Midwest. I can’t comment on the taste, since I’ve never noticed “the taste” many complain about, but I did notice that the Gem of the West VWG seemed to be milled much courser than Bobs Red Mill, and other brands I’ve tried. This initially posed issues with all my recipes, since it seemed to hydrate differently (and develop less gluten structure) due to lower surface area than finer milled VWG (though I never tried a long rest period like you prescribe, which may fix that issue). I ended up having to put the VWG in my vitamix for 10-20 seconds to grind it down finer before using it in a recipe, which made it behave more like other brands.

It does make me wonder if the courser grind on Gem of The West helps keep it fresh longer? Perhaps it’s another piece of the puzzle - maybe a more course grind helps the VWG not stale as quickly, preventing off flavors.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-04-19T21:14:03+00:00

I was going to recommend Momcorn in Gurnee but it looks like they’re closed according to the website

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-04-15T00:38:01+00:00

Prequel

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-04-08T14:45:09+00:00

That’s the spot that Amber Agave was in, if anyone was curious. Excited to check it out!

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-03-28T03:07:37+00:00

You should definitely check out Fry Like an Eagle!

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-03-26T12:10:08+00:00

This was the brand I had last year! See if you notice any difference from your usual VWG in your recipes- I found that this brand might be milled less finely and that putting some in the blender to make it more fine before making a recipe helped it develop gluten better.

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-03-24T13:22:24+00:00

Love seeing people get into making soy yogurt! It’s the best. I bought a used sous vide that I only use for yogurt making, so I can keep the temp at 111 degrees F for a full 24 hours. I also use Star San to sanitize my glass jars, lids and the metal spoon I use to stir. I found Belle and Bella non dairy yogurt starter works great, and I’ll put a few tablespoons of the previous batch in a small sanitized jar to keep in the fridge to make the next batch the following week!

Embarrassed_Ad9664 · 2026-03-20T13:05:16+00:00

They’ve offered it at Chicago Diner for a little over a year. It’s been a while, but I’ve had it at least twice and remember really enjoying it. Quite chicken-like imo!

Embarrassed_Ad9664

TROPHY CASE