Flour – Do Asian groceries carry vital wheat gluten

These are two related, but different products.

Gluten is protein that is formed from two pre-cursor proteins, glutanin and gliaden, found in wheat flour in the presence of water and under enzymatic activity.

It forms resilient stretchable networks which give yeast raised bread its structure.

Whole wheat flour is... well... whole wheat berries, ground up. It is mostly starch, but contains all glutenin, gliaden, and the necessary enzyme to create gluten, which forms naturally when the flour is moistened, if given long enough or kneaded to accelerate the process. However, even a very "strong" flour (bread flour) will have no more than about 10%-15% percent protein by weight, so it cannot form more than that amount of gluten.

Vital wheat gluten is essentially concentrated, powdered gluten, without the rest of the parts of the wheat berry.

They are not freely interchangeable, as the gluten does not bring the starch, bran, and other components that flour does. You may, in specific recipes, be able to use just gluten, but not in the general case. And even if substitution is possible, you would have to determine the correct ratio to achieve the desired outcome.

Using vital wheat gluten in lieu of whole wheat flour, in most applications, will either fail completely (no thickening from starch, as in a gravy), or be dense and rubbery, and practically unpalatable (as in a bread).

Yes, and it is very easy. I do it all the time.

You only need a very simple calculation. You don't even have to be precise.

If you do want precision, you will have to find out 1) how much of your flour protein is gluten, 2) how much of your "vital wheat gluten" is gluten, and 3) how much gluten content you need for your recipe. Then use a simple rule-of-three calculation to get the amount needed to add.

I usually don't bother, because 1) and 2) is information which is very hard to find, and due to the large difference in gluten weight and complete weight, imprecision from not using true proportions is minimal. What I do is:

1. Look up the protein content of your flour (usually printed on the package), for example 9.6 grams per 100 grams
2. Look up the gluten content needed for your bread recipe. If it is not specified, 12.5% is usual for bread flour.
3. Add the difference in vital wheat gluten. In the example above, add 2.9 g of vital wheat gluten per 100 g of flour.

This doesn't produce exactly 12.5% gluten content, but I think that it is within the tolerance of most recipes; indeed, not all commercial flours are exactly 12.5%, they vary with brand and season.

I add the powder to the flour and mix it well before making the bread. If I am using a preferment, I add all the gluten to the preferment and make the non-fermenting part with AP flour only, so my gluten can benefit from longer autolysis.

I have no direct comparison with "true" bread flour, as I have never used it. But my breads requiring bread flour turn out good for my standards. There is no problem with bad distribution, the dough turns out very smooth and evenly elastic. There is a pronounced difference to using AP flour only.