Wheat Gluten: Its available in stores to help in bread making. Got any comments on using it?

Wasn't there a wheat gluten issue when all the dog food became dangerous and suspicious?


What does wheat gluten do to a loaf of bread anyway? One answerer today said the loaves will double in size... What's the skinny?


Thanks very much.Wheat Gluten: Its available in stores to help in bread making. Got any comments on using it?
I used to bake bread from all purpose flour, which is low in gluten. It is good for sauces and pastry, but not for bread. I added 60 grams per kilogram of powdered gluten and my bread ended up like the best loaf I have ever made. Gluten is like very slack chewing gummy stuff that forms little bubbles in the dough to capture the gas produced by yeast. Flour low on gluten yields crummy, cake-like bread.





Check out my favorite site about baking bread.Wheat Gluten: Its available in stores to help in bread making. Got any comments on using it?
Gluten is a protein which gives bread dough its elasticity. Adding a lot of it will make your bread tough, like a true French baguette versus a croissant, which has shortening, which ';shortens'; the gluten and makes a tender product. I don't see any reason gluten could be harmful to anyone not allergic to it or without celiac disease.





I think one reason you can buy gluten is to add it to dough to make whole grain breads more like their refined grain counterparts. Bread flour is high in gluten, cake flour is (relatively) low in gluten, pastry flour is in between and whole wheat flour is full of other things like bran and germ to displace the amount of starch and gluten.