The Fresh Loaf

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Vital Wheat Gluten question

TMB's picture
TMB

Vital Wheat Gluten question

I have an interesting question..... 

 

Does anyone here know what percentage of VWG to flour is?

I made some low carb bread using 3 cups of alomnd flour & 2 cups VWG plus other things

but interested in knowing what the percentage of Flour/VWG folks go by??

clazar123's picture
clazar123

It is easier to talk about ratios and scaling a recipe if you weigh rather than volume measure the ingredients. It is also easier if a full recipe and technique is shown.

Is this a yeasted or chemically leavened (baking powder or soda) bread? Any other requirements? (Vegan,keto,paleo,etc)

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

I don't mess with this kind of stuff. But, off the top of my head your ratio seems way off.

Bread flour is going to be 13-15% protein, and gluten tends to make up 75-85% of the total protein.

So given 120 grams per cup of flour. Your 3 cups  = 360 grams.  So of that, it is about 50 grams of protein which would be about 40 grams of gluten. Your 2 cups is 260 grams of gluten so over six times the amount from wheat flour.

How did it turn out?

TMB's picture
TMB

Turned out really good, hard to tell it was lower carb almond flour

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

.

Bob S.'s picture
Bob S.

In bread formulas that need an added boost of volume (when hi-gluten flour or clear flour are not available), it is common practice to use 2% to 3% vital wheat gluten of the wheat flour weight.

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

and typically add about 1.5% VWG to my flour as I don’t have access to the strong american or canadian flour.  so for a small loaf it is usually about 5 g depending on formula , hydration and flour I am using. 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

So is the percentage the same for a low carb dough?

TMB's picture
TMB

VWG is low in carbs per 1/4 cup serving.   So mixed with almond flour it is low car when you add it up.   

A normal pizza crust is 3 Tbs almond flour 2 Tbs VWG and 2 Tbs starter that I have going.  I added up the whole (dough only) and it comes to 12 carbs for the entire 10 in crust 

 

Fatadapted's picture
Fatadapted

Hi Clazar123, I've been trying to find the answer to this question myself for bread making with low carb flour such as almond flour, flax seed meal and even sesame seed flour. For regular wheat flour everyone recommends small quantities of 1 or 2 or so, spoon fulls of vital wheat gluten.  As an example with the bread recipe on youtube by Ketoking ( Deadre's  original recipe) . They say to add as 190 g Vital wheat gluten flour to 70 grams flax seed meal +41 g oat fiber, which is a lot of gluten flour in proportion to other dry ingredients in this recipe.

So 190 g Vital gluten to 110 g of other dry ingredients. I'd like to know what the percentage of vital wheat gluten flour needs to be used ? Probably have to experiment ourselves...Please let me know if you have an answer.

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I was re-reading this post and, correct me if I'm wrong, the original poster is actually asking about VWG ratios in a low carb bread. The VWG provides the structure rather than xantham gum or psyllium. The trick is to get structure and enough bubbles to provide a nice chew without being tough and rubbery. Since there are few carbs, yeast would not have enough food to digest to produce CO2. Some recipes actually use a small amount of sugar (maple syrup,sugar,etc) in a recipe that is "eaten up" by the yeast and is not calculated in the final carb count. I have never seen any scientific documentation about that. If anybody finds some, please post a link!

TMB-Next time you make this recipe, weigh out your 3 cups of almond flour and 2 cups VWG and make note of weight in grams. It is so much easier to calculate the ratios. As a comparison-

VWG=128g/cup (googled it) x 2 = 256g

Almond flour= 96g/ cup x 3 = 288g

256/288= 0.89

VWG 89% 0f almond flour to achieve the texture (always dependent on other ingredients but this is a place to start)

Now you can scale it up or down.

Remember that the key components in ANY bread are structure,filler,bubbles. The ingredients and the technique of handling these ingredients determine how well these 3 components interact for a pleasing outcome. Same in low carb bread.

SO....in a lowcarb bread....

STRUCTURE:  VWG/xantham gum/psyllium/ guar gum/ egg white/almost any protein provides structure

FILLER:   ALmond flour/starches provides filler

BUBBLES:  Leavener (chemical or yeast) provides gas bubbles

ACTIVATION/FLAVOR:  Liquid provides structural activation and flavor and possibly leavener activation (think buttermilk and BS or BP). Sometimes liquids provide bubbles directly-as in seltzer water.

Oil.salt,sweeteners,flavors all have impact to assist the key components. The success of achieving a pleasing low carb bread is more sensitive to the ingredients,ratio and handling. A major reason as to why wheat became king-it is so much easier to work with.

So experiment and have fun.  Low carb can be delicious but it takes experimentation.  It is definitely a journey!