Amount of Wheat to Vital Wheat Gluten?

So I am just daydreaming about a vegan homestead, and I was wondering how much wheat it takes to produce wheat gluten. Thinking ahead of how much land to look for down the road, and it would nice to be able to know I could get X number of pounds of vital wheat gluten per acre

Unfortunately, it's easy to get stuck daydreaming and end up 10 years later with nothing to show for. Just start where you are. Buy a 5lb bag of flour and make VWG... compare weights from before and after.

Most good wheat is around 10%-14% protein. Vital wheat gluten is the protein. Depending on extraction methods, VWG is about 70-80% protein by weight, the rest being nutrients that aren't easy to remove.

Therefore, per pound of flour: (1lb flour * 0.14) * .75 = VWG/lb wheat ... So for 1lb of flour you're looking at a ~10% yield, or barely 45 grams of VWG. That is why the stuff is worth its weight in gold.

You're better of sticking to the grocery store or co-ops where people can produce things in bulk more easily for vegans, unless you're whole food vegan, in which you'd need to grow a lot of legumes if you want to feed yourself and remain healthy. I am a vegan, but if I had a homestead, I would not be. Veganism is more suitable for those living in modern society. I do not believe it has a big place in the wild or on a homestead. For those of us estranged from our food sources, it is the best option, in my opinion.

Well, back of the envelope, hard red spring wheat is 13ish percent protein (can be higher, but for conservatism). This is the highest protein of the wheats, and about 75% of the protein is gluten. Call the yield 45 bushels per acre, or 2700 lbs.

2700*.13*.75 = 263 lbs of gluten per acre. How feasible it is to get that yield on a homestead scale, I'm doubtful, but there's an order of magnitude for you.

Jeff Steez wrote:(1lb flour * 0.14) * .75 = VWG/lb wheat.

That would make 10% yield if I follow?

Ian Påf wrote:

Jeff Steez wrote:(1lb flour * 0.14) * .75 = VWG/lb wheat.

That would make 10% yield if I follow?

Yes, sorry about that, I should've stuck to just percentages or decimals instead of combining them in my head.

Riley Smith wrote:So I am just daydreaming about a vegan homestead, and I was wondering how much wheat it takes to produce wheat gluten. Thinking ahead of how much land to look for down the road, and it would nice to be able to know I could get X number of pounds of vital wheat gluten per acre

Much of this will depend on location of the homestead and varieties of wheat adapted for that region.  Note general location of global wheat production away from tropical zones and associated more with temperate climates.  Map below from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_wheat_production_statistics .  Durum and hard red spring wheats are highest in protein/gluten and are principally used in pasta and bread-making, respectively.  Varieties within those two groups could be chosen to maximize your objective of VWG recovery for seitan products.

John Weiland wrote:

Riley Smith wrote:So I am just daydreaming about a vegan homestead, and I was wondering how much wheat it takes to produce wheat gluten. Thinking ahead of how much land to look for down the road, and it would nice to be able to know I could get X number of pounds of vital wheat gluten per acre

Much of this will depend on location of the homestead and varieties of wheat adapted for that region.  Note general location of global wheat production away from tropical zones and associated more with temperate climates.  Map below from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_wheat_production_statistics .  Durum and hard red spring wheats are highest in protein/gluten and are principally used in pasta and bread-making, respectively.  Varieties within those two groups could be chosen to maximize your objective of VWG recovery for seitan products.

That's true, in Florida, the only type of grains or pseudo-grains that'd possibly grow here are rye, due to its rugged nature, and sorghum due to being tropical yet able to be widely cultivated in arid regions.

As a fellow vegan, I still couldn't imagine trying to do something like this. You would realistically need your own seitan/vital wheat gluten company to make it worthwhile, at which point it makes far more monetary and time-based sense to just buy it from a bigger company that produces it organically. Do you have any examples you can find online OP, of individuals doing this? If not, I wonder why...

I would be more interested in rice and soybean cultivation, but depending on the specific tropical zone it can be quite dry. That way you can eat the staple of rice and quite easily turn soybeans into tofu, tempeh, miso, shoyu, amazake, sake... (all done in tropical regions, like Indonesia and of course Japan).