Vital Wheat Gluten at Wal-MartI had recieved several inquiries via e-mail from readers
where to find vital wheat gluten, an ingredient
I use in most of my yeast bread recipes, such as the
Pan de Sal, click here,
Reduced Eggs Ensaymada, here,
and Basic Sweet Dough here.
and other bread recipes.
Usually regular grocery stores don't carry them, so
I buy them at our local baking supply store
and are made here in Utah.
Yesterday as I was in one Wal-Mart store,
I spotted the Vital Wheat Gluten on their shelves at the baking aisle.
I thought I'd take a picture to post it here so my readers
would know what to look for.
I'm just hoping Wal-Mart will not sue me over this.
Hello Mely: Kamusta? I am soooo happy, the ensaymada really worked for you. For those not too familiar with wheat gluten. It is used in conjunction with usually all purpose flour to increase the gluten content when APF is used to make breads esp. pizzas. I use this when I make my thin crusts pizza...all purpose flour + vital wheat gluten + a bit of whole wheat flour....you have to try it, Mely. It gives it a nice texture much like the New York style ones. I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT FROZEN PIZZAS AGAIN !!! The key is the way you bake them even without pizza stone. An inverted cookie sheet is what I use.....got sidetracked!....so sorry! However, bread flour is what we call hard flour and has the gluten content (i forgot the percentage!) necessary when making bread. So, mga Mrs. you can omit this if you are using bread flour when making your ensaymadas or tinapays.
ReplyDeleteNow, about dough enhancers or improvers or softeners. These are mainly used by commercial bakeries to extend or improve the shelf life of their baked goods. If you want to use them to make your ensaymadas, I would suggest befriending your friendly neighbourhood bakery owner. Then ask him/her if they could sell to you some dough softeners or improvers....now, make sure you specify DOUGH SOFTENERS OR IMPROVERS for soft rolls or sweet dough and not for hard rolls. If you intend to use this for the next 10 years, wholesale bakery suppliers carry this...minimum quantity I think is 10 kg. ...or I think 20 kg! But if there are about 20 or 30 people over there who would use this, then you can share them cutting the costs down.
Oh, I went back to your black rice bibingka. That water that you soaked the black rice...DO NOT THROW IT AWWAY!!!! When I make suman, I use that water when I make PUTO BUMBONG or PUTO UBE to intensify the color of the Puto UBe. It is an excellent substitute for gel purple food color or ube flavouring.Then I freeze the rest and use it ...for instance PURPLE PICHI PICHI!!!!
ReplyDeletebetty, Ohhh, salamat! I thought i lost you cuz you didn't respond to my last e-mail. did you get my card? I'm soooo glad you found me here. did you see the endsaymada? my G'kids think they are glazed doughnuts. this happened just recently...one of them refused one when offered but he had a bite from another G'kid. OMG!!JUST ONE BITE was all it took for him to grab one plus another one for the road! they are all fussy eaters but he is the fusseist one of the bunch.That is enough testimonial that this ensaymada is excellent.
ReplyDeletethank you, teacher! I haven't got "that crown" yet though, ha-ha!
There you go, you heard it from the pro!
ReplyDeletebetty, if you don't mind, may i ask what is your proportion for the pizza crust ingredients? You got me excited about thin crust...it is my fav. I had the best pizza at a place in New york state...I think in Syracuse? when me and hubby went for a drive..from utah to Illinios and to Maine, but didn't make it to maine. we stopped in syracuse and turned around. there was a family-owned resto and they made thin crust pizza which I sooo love. I never had some like it anywhere else again. It is incomparable.I'd like to make it if I have your recipe.
wow, that is a great idea about the purple pichi-pichi...will have to try that one too!!
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, Mely as I lost your e-mail as well. Maria Clara sent me an e-mail telling me about yoour blog and the ensaymada. Wow, they really look good ..done like a pro! And to think you had coiling issues before, remember? Since you have wheat gluten, you might as well put it to good use! So, here is the pizza crust.
ReplyDelete2 to 2 1/2 cups APF, unbleached or bread floour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 to 3 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
a little over 1 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
3 tbsp. olive oil (for the dough) + 1/2 tbsp. to rub over the dough
Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Sprinkle sugar and let it rise until foamy. In a bowl, combine the flours and the salt. Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil. Knead until smooth and elastic adding more flour if necessary. Rub the 1/2 tbsp. olive oil over it and place in XL zip plock. Place in refrigerator overnight punching dough occasionally. I usually start this dough at about 8 p.m. and punch it down before I go to bed at 11 p.m. Let it rise in the refrigerator. Next day, the dough is nice and relaxed. Divide into 3 balls . At this point, you can wrap each ball and FREEZE! When you want to make pizza, take out 1 ball form freezer and let it thaw in the cooler.
To shape the dough, preheat youroven to 450 degrees. Place a heavy inverted cookie sheet on rack. If you are making 2 pizzas, place a rack on bottom third and another rack on upper third of your oven and place 2 inverted cookie sheets. Then get parchment paper and dust with flour. Roll 1 pizza ball on top of dusted parchment paper to about 10 inch rounds. If it pulls while rolling, let it rest for a while to relxx the dough and then continue rolling. Then using your fingertips, sort of make DIMPLES on the surface dough. Now, we are not tomato sauce people! We much prefer rubbing the surface of the dough with cut garlic then lightly brush with olive oil. Next, add a layer of cheese. Top the cheese with caramelized onions, sauteed oyster mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, torn basil, and sliced bocconcini. Then I was horrified when the boys did this....drizzled their pizzas with RANCH DRESSING but I have to admit, it tasted good! If you have pesto, it tastes even better.
Now, when the cookie sheets are hot, slide the parchment paper pizza on top of the cookie sheet. Bake about 8 minutes and reverse the cookie sheets if you are baking two pizzas...like top to bottom and vice versa. Bake a few more minutes until bottom are nicely browned.
Mely, I tell you ...this can compare to your New York ones! Let me know how it turns out.
I forgot to tell you...it might seem that the vital wheat gluten is quite a bit compared to your ensaymada...the vital wheat gluten gives the pizza crust it characteristic chewiness?. i don't like a crust that is airy or like sandwich bread.
ReplyDeleteThank you betty, I'm glad you lost my e-mail ad, not galit with me!
ReplyDeletethank you very much for this recipe. I will absolutely try making it..I don't know which one to do first though as I have few of your recipes i have lined up from MM's...my next on the list is the sui mai. now that i have this pizza recipe, maybe i will move this to the top of my list.
Check out the cutchinta..it's your recipe too. my friends love it.
betty, i'm glad you clarified the amount of wheat gluten you use in the crust. yes, I just put a little amt of it in my breads as I see a difference in rising. you're right about the dough enhancer. the bread have longer shelf life than the ones without the dough enhancer and they are not crumbly...they're still somewhat stringy even when they are few days old.
ReplyDeletethere are 2 companies here in utah who makes the vital wheat gluten and dough enhancer and are sold in several baking suply stores here. they come in 20 oz. canisters for around $7.00.not bad really.
I will definitely let yu know the result of the pizza. i'm very confident that it is a good one as always..if it fails, then it is my fault, not the recipe.
Thank you again, have a nice day!!
I just re-read your comment about coiling...yes, i had difficulty with coiling at first, but as I've done it few times coiling is not that difficult at all. Even the 4 hours spent on the process is not all work but waiting time in between the process. Maraming utang na loob ako sa iyo dahil my family and friends really love it.I've recently used the ensaymada dough (the 4-eggs one)in making pani popo. OMG!!!my friends from Tonga love it. they said they went to buy some from a Polynesian bakery but the father didn't like it. he begged the mother to call and ask me if I would make them a pan of it. REALLY AWESOME!!! of course I did. It's an honor! I owe it to you!!
ReplyDelete