Protein Noodles

[D.Klatt]

Auto generated link to page (Please do not remove): http://www.lowcarb.ca/recipes/rrecipe026.html

what is the diffenence between wheat gluten and gluten flour? and where can I find gluten flour......found wheat gluten at my local food store but no one seems to know what gluten flour is.

[Sharon]

Check this out and see if this tells you what you need to know...if not let us know.

http://www.lowcarber.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5612

[cdoleshal]

I just got my pasta machine (new toy!), does anyone know if this will work in a machine? Or is will it be too heavy?

[cdoleshal]

This was too thick for the machine, has to be done by hand. I used the wheat gluten flour. Has anyone had any luck answering the original question?

[Karen]

The vital wheat gluten used in the recipe is at least 80% protein and the carbs 24 grams per cup. Gluten flour has a lower amount of protein and a higher amount of carbs. A popular and easy to find brand is Bob's Red Mill.

This recipe works with a hand cranked machine. Automatic machines need softer dough to go through the extrusion process.

Karen

[astrocreep]

I spotted wheat gluten at an asian market the other day, so check your's out.

[rsmith8367]

I made these tonight and they were really yummy....I used them in a nice Italian seasoned beef dish with mushrooms and black olives and a small can of tomatoes and a zucchini .and a little onion and garlic and celery.........anyway..my husband said if that was an example of low carb we could stay on it forever......he went back for seconds.......

One note though......I needed a lot more than 1 TBLSP of warm water.....I lost count after 4 or 5 and just kept adding until I got a consistancy I could knead and would stick together.I use a manual pasta roller and it did work finally and came out great....but I could not get past level 4 on my machine or it shredded.... so they were a little thicker than I usually make with regular flour........I had plenty of ther noodles left for another meal and will try to invent some other new dish with the rest of them.....and you are right ....they are very filling......you really need only a small serving.......but they tasted fine........Rosey

[CooknCajun]

The vital wheat gluten used in the recipe is at least 80% protein and the carbs 24 grams per cup. Gluten flour has a lower amount of protein and a higher amount of carbs. A popular and easy to find brand is Bob's Red Mill.

This recipe works with a hand cranked machine. Automatic machines need softer dough to go through the extrusion process.

Karen

Do you have any recommendations for making the dough softer for automatic machines? Someone just gave me a pasta machine (go figure). I'm excited to know I may be able to use it.

Thank you for having this recipe available!

Cooking Cajun

[rsmith8367]

When I made the soy noodles, I added more water than was called for in the recipe....ok...I confess....I added another egg and some extra olive oil too.......I did eventually get them to the right consistancy and they were great.........I have a Pasta Queen noodle maker......I used to have a Ronco machine ( Extruder) and I don't think these would work in it very well..the dough is pretty stiff even with the extra water.......

Now I am exploring the world of the Shirataki noodles....they are supposed to be good tasting and have a very low carb count and are also high fiber.......I am going to see if the Asian store is open tomorrow and check them out........the ones online are expensive but I don't remember the ones in the store being expensive at all.......I have seen them there......I know they have them.... I was just too chicken to buy them because I had never used them before...now......I am excited about trying them in a meal sometime this week......

[CooknCajun]

When I made the soy noodles, I added more water than was called for in the recipe....ok...I confess....I added another egg and some extra olive oil too.......I did eventually get them to the right consistancy and they were great.........I have a Pasta Queen noodle maker......I used to have a Ronco machine ( Extruder) and I don't think these would work in it very well..the dough is pretty stiff even with the extra water.......

I suppose that what I have is an extruder machine, if it pushes the dough through a pasta shape creator. So yeah, I guess I really need to know how to modify the recipe. I wish, but I can't go out and buy and hand crank model.

Now I am exploring the world of the Shirataki noodles....they are supposed to be good tasting and have a very low carb count and are also high fiber.......I am going to see if the Asian store is open tomorrow and check them out........the ones online are expensive but I don't remember the ones in the store being expensive at all.......I have seen them there......I know they have them.... I was just too chicken to buy them because I had never used them before...now......I am excited about trying them in a meal sometime this week......

I use shirataki/konnyaku all the time and enjoy them very much. They are great. But I do someday want to use my pasta machine as well.

Enjoy those noodles

CC

[rsmith8367]

I have now tried both the clear looking yam noodles and the regular looking tofu noodles.......I like them both but honestly think the tofu noodles are more......."noodley" to me........the texture is a little closer to a wheat noodle and they go great with red spagetti sauce........so I will probably use the others but will mostly stick to the ones that look and taste more like what I expect..........that water they come in is pretty nasty smelling to me..so I rinsed all that away and then tasted one right out of the rinse water and it was great............just.......a noodle............so I am for sure going back to my asian market and get more of them ...........

[deb34]

Karen, would there be anything that would replace the soy in these noodles? I can't have soy but would like to try these noodles too...

[rightnow]

The ordinary Shirataki noodles at miraclenoodle.com do not have soy. That is an 'extra option' of another type though they call it the same thing.

The ones at miraclenoodle have a variant that adds in the tiniest bit of some kind of seeweed... still basically zero carb in the end (close enough) but allegedly the 'black' noodles (not really that color), sauce sticks better to.

I bought one of everything on that website, so we will soon see how good the stuff is. ;-)

PJ

[deb34]

Hi rightnow, i'm able to have easy access to the Shirataki noodles because i live in the asian community of my city.

However, i would love to be able to make my own noodles using the recipe "protein Noodles" at the top of this thread. I don't know how to replace the soy though. Would rice protein powder be able to take the place of the soy?

[CooknCajun]

Getting back on topic, I'm still in need of ways to adapt this protein pasta doughrecipe (http://www.lowcarb.ca/recipes/rrecipe026.html) to use in a pasta extruder machine.

If anyone has ideas or tried techniques, please post. Or if you have a LC pasta dough recipe for such a machine, please post!!!!

Mahalo plenty (many thanks)

CC

[IslandGirl]

...i would love to be able to make my own noodles using the recipe "protein Noodles" at the top of this thread. I don't know how to replace the soy though. Would rice protein powder be able to take the place of the soy?

MIGHT work; rice and bean/pea protein powders have some "flour-ish" qualities, which is what is being looked for when using the soy flour. VWG is added to add a little bit of stretchiness.

Consider seriously trying a very small batch, adding egg and water as needed, and trying the very old fashioned (but still used in Asia) method of rolling out the dough -- you want to get a dough texture that WILL roll, so easy on the gluten -- and then slicing thinly to get noodles.

:wave:

[IslandGirl]

Getting back on topic, I'm still in need of ways to adapt this protein pasta doughrecipe (http://www.lowcarb.ca/recipes/rrecipe026.html) to use in a pasta extruder machine.

If anyone has ideas or tried techniques, please post. Or if you have a LC pasta dough recipe for such a machine, please post!!!!


I know it's not an easy or fun answer, but I've never seen an home-extruder-weight :D LC noodle recipe in my travels over the many forums.

There is a homemade pasta recipe using Carbalose over in the lowcarbfriends forum, at
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=353916
but it's done using the knead & roller method, though there's no harm in checking it out. Possibly it will soften up a bit more than the soy/gluten recipe...I remember WAY back when, when I cranked up the extruder machine, that I had the opportunity to add stuff and keep "stirring" until I felt the texture was right, before engaging the extruder screw. Any harm in trying that? If the dough is too heavy-seeming, you can always pull it out and then roll it out...

Ya know, it's about time I dug out that nice secondhand Atlas Marcato roller I found on eBay a couple of years ago :lol: and used it for something...

:wave:

[rsmith8367]

I have been researching "noodles" a lot .....I am facinated by the different kinds of pasta type things from all over the globe.....which may be why I am back on Low Carb and not fitting in my jeans again....AARRGGH!......today they made almond flour pasta on TV.....made a low carb lasagna that looked pretty tasty to me.... they must have had a very fine almond flour though.....mine is a little grainy.....like cornmeal......but I might try it anyway.....almond flour is so good that you know it will taste great even if it has an odd texture.............so.......it would seem to me that if you really want to use the extruder........you are just going to have to play around with the amounts of liquid and oil and whatever til you get it to work.........Pasta is a simple thing..... .......some kind of flour or a mixture of several kinds.......and egg and water and maybe a little oil...........I have made it from just about every kind of flour I could find in the health food store......didn't care for amaranth so much.......I used to make cornmeal noodles that were fantastic in mexican soups......I don't do that now....too carby..LOL...........I started out with the Ronco Pasta maker that was an extruder but I got so frustrated with it that I gave it to Goodwill and got the pasta roller machine on Ebay........mine is a hand cranked gizmo but it works fine...........I have made noodles from Buckwheat and also from whole Wheat and from corn meal and also from rice flour( I added some wheat gluten to that one) and I have made it from soy.........all of them were good tasting and fairly easy to make.......the soy flour absorbs a LOT of water........I had added over a cup of soy flour and I ended up with enough noodles to freeze a bunch........but I also added another egg and some olive oil and more water than that recipe called for and it was still a very stiff dough..........you cannot screw up pasta.........it is ok to experiment........you just have to keep up with what you add so that you can accurately guage how many carbs per serving........I was not that particular since I didn't add anything that was really "carby".......an egg was not gonna hurt...though it did change the texture a little......nor was a little olive oil............nor the extra water.........so I just kept adding til I got it to stick together like it was supposed to..............and then I let it rest a while......roll it up in a ball and cover it........by that time my hands were tired anyway from the kneading ............and then I came in and cut it into 4 pieces and rolled each separately..........worked like a champ for the most part but it was such a stiff dough that it shredded on the thinner settings and so the noodles were a little thicker than I had hoped for......but they were good.....next time I will just keep on adding liquid til it is even more pliable.......that is part of the fun............experimenting..........whether you make it with a roller or an extruder or with a knife and a cutting board......as long as you put good tasting things into it then it will taste good............

[deb34]

i will try the recipe using rice protein pwdr in place of soy. If it difficult to work with in making small noodles, it may work well to make lasagna or manicotti type pastas....we'll see

[CooknCajun]

Thanks for the input folks, very helpful. As a fan of cooking and global cuisines, I generally love to experiment.

I often explain in my posts here that my resources are somewhat limited. My cost of living is much higher than I once enjoyed. This is not a complaint, rather a explaination of what I'm working with. In fact, the need for creativity and ingenuity has usually produced good results in my kitchen/

Having said this, my experimentation is limited to what I can afford to "waste" in the event of disaster. I have made spelt parpadelli in the past (LC maintenance plan), I could always just make that with handrolling and handcutting instead of using the extruder. Since the extruder was given to me by a neighbor, I want to be able and try to use it. I don't have a hand crank pasta maker.

Because of tips and suggestions that you've shared, I feel a little more confident in just giving experimentation on the pasta a try.

MANY THANKS!!!

[stacianbob]

CooknCajun: I have not tried this recipe. However, it is very similar to one that you would use for traditional pasta. Flour, oil, eggs, water......so, to make a softer dough, to need to make it "richer" - by adding fat. If you can afford to experiment, try making the same recipe with increased oil - maybe 2 tbsp to start, and go up from there. ALSO, I would try making it with egg yolks only instead of whole eggs. Try it with two egg yolks (in place of the one egg) and increase the oil. With only these slight changes the dough should come out much softer. If it is still too soft, try adding oil (knead it in) or make a new recipe with 3 or 4 yolks and 3 tbsp oil. (Maybe test with a 1/2 batch to start).

Let me know if you try this and if it works

Stacey

[IslandGirl]

What an interesting idea...weekend's coming up, I let loose a LITTLE (from attempted hardcore Induction ;)) on weekends, I'll see if I can take a crack at a richer pasta dough...should roll out thinner as well as POSSIBLY extrude. I keep having dreams about, ahem, ravioli... :o

Thanks for the info!

:wave:

[stacianbob]

Just to be clear, in my last sentence I meant too hard, (not too soft) so you can continue to make it softer with the addition of oil and egg yolks.

Let me know how it goes!

Stacey

[IslandGirl]

I figured as much...about the too soft bit, that is.

:wave:

[MyJourney]

Has anyone ever tried this with carbalose?

[IslandGirl]

There's a comprehensive "noodle" or "pasta" thread over on lowcarbfriends about this. You're in that forum, aren't you? CarolynF's recipes, if you want to go dig it out...I'd do it but I have to run now...

:wave:

[MyJourney]

Ive browsed through that forum a couple of times but I never signed up. I'll go check it out.

[MyJourney]

okay... I am gonna leave it to you to find the thread. I searched in their recipe forum under pasta I believe and I got 13 pages of results. I searched through about half of them and while there were many interesting threads I didnt find any by CarolynF

I will probably surf around there some more today and maybe get the hang of things.

[IslandGirl]

When I looked for it last (and posted, now that I think about it), I searched on noodle and CarolynF, narrowed things down a bit... (the right keywords are always the thing in these searches).

Let's see.

~later~yup, came up as the first link of only 7 threads...most recent at the top, dated January 30th or thereabouts.

pasta and noodle recipes (http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=471037&highlight=noodle+CarolynF)

Sheesh, clearly I am suffering from some kind of mid-life crisis, I posted some actual recipes belonging to CarolynF back on there, when others were looking for it (then promptly forgot that I have them somewhere on my hard disk!

Sorry MJ. Anyways, there's your link. Please forgive me. :D

:wave:

[CooknCajun]

After finding a used hand crank pasta machine, I finally tried this recipe over the weekend with disasterous results :help: . I'm sure its due to my unfamiliarity with working with a LC dough versus regular white flour or spelt flour dough. I wish to try it again, but am looking for any hints or tips.

When mixing as per the recipe, I tried kneading the dough after adding just a couple tablespoons water over the 1 called for in the recipe. No problems with stickiness, dough as a ball looked good. But when kneading, big chunks just cleanly broke off. I added a couple tablespoons of water, trying the kneading again. Periodically, I let the dough set per the recipe, then tried to cut and put pieces through the pasta machine on the lowest (largest space) setting. Never could get it to go though in one piece.

I am hopeful and look forward to trying this again. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

CC

[IslandGirl]

After finding a used hand crank pasta machine, I finally tried this recipe over the weekend with disasterous results :help: . I'm sure its due to my unfamiliarity with working with a LC dough versus regular white flour or spelt flour dough. I wish to try it again, but am looking for any hints or tips.

When mixing as per the recipe, I tried kneading the dough after adding just a couple tablespoons water over the 1 called for in the recipe. No problems with stickiness, dough as a ball looked good. But when kneading, big chunks just cleanly broke off. I added a couple tablespoons of water, trying the kneading again. Periodically, I let the dough set per the recipe, then tried to cut and put pieces through the pasta machine on the lowest (largest space) setting. Never could get it to go though in one piece.

I am hopeful and look forward to trying this again. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

CC

So, like, um, which recipe out of the many linked here, CC?

Sounds like you need a stretchy gluten sub or some such, though.

:wave:

[CooknCajun]

Its the recipe in this thread subject on message one, page one:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/recipes/rrecipe026.html

Thanks for the suggestion IslandGirl but, went by the recipe including the gluten. If I remember correctly, you are a culinary artist. Have you prepared this abovementioned recipe? Any other tips would be appreciated.

Mahalo! :-)

[IslandGirl]

No, I haven't, but DoreeenT has! I wonder if she can remember that far back... ;)

[stacianbob]

From your description of your experience, it sounds like the dough needs more flexibiility. I completely agree with IslandGirl that you need more gluten. Not necessarily gluten flour in the dough, but you need to increase the stretchy gluten component in your pasta recipe. If you are willing to try again, I would personally add more gluten than the recipe calls for, maybe double, and cut back on the soy flour. Kneading is the action that will produce the flexibility.

I would mix it all, knead it until it's tough. Let it rest for 20 minutes (to relax the gluten) and then knead again. Rest again, and try rolling it. If that doesn't work then perhaps it is the sluten you are using? I don't know if gluten loses effectiveness over time or not!

Thanks for posting your trials....

Stacey

[CooknCajun]

Many mahalos!

The gluten I have is called, vital wheat gluten, my hopes are its just the gluten proteins.

I bit the bullet and bought some spelt flour recently. My understanding is that its not low carb at all. I've spent alot of time looking at all the flours at the healthfood store, going over the carbs, still wondering why some people are using oat flour in LC cooking....;-)

But I'm diverging!

I thought that perhaps I would try adding more vital gluten into recipe and trying more kneading as advised. I'm at my "last ten pounds" stage where nothing short of induction is going to get those last pounds off. But since my goal is to create a permanent LC maintenance menu, perfecting this recipe would be very helpful. Having said this, I have some spelt flour on hand in the event adding SOME to the recipe might help.

Part of an effort to keep my weight off post-Atkins 10 years ago was to eat only the pasta I made from spelt flour and eat the potatoes I grew (purple peruvian). It worked for awhile, the spelt parpiadelle with homemade pesto was great! The purple peruvian potatoes I grew and stored made eating those carbs more satisfying not to mention the money saved. Over time, my LC discipline waned and the weigth came back. With the improvement in support, recipes and online community, I wish to keep my WOE low carb for the long haul!!!!

So I realize that using spelt in this instance would be cheating. But if can make a successful batch of pasta that is at least lower carb, perhaps I can improve the carb count and better perfect my preparation technique to make a truly LC pasta.

Many mahalos for the hints and support, in this case I feel that there can't be too many cooks in the kitchen. There is much we can learn from each other's experience and its GREATLY appreciated.

CC