I loooove my new tortilla press

16 years ago

I would also like to thank Jim for such great instructions per my previous post on corn flour. And great pictorial too AnnT. I guess I should thank Chardonnay to give me the patience to do it (even though it is super early afternoon). It went really well. Now, what to make with them. I was thinking of making a layered dish carnita style. Maybe layer pulled pork with cheese, tortilla repeated? My family is going to get so sick of tortillas as tomorrow I might try flour ones to see if they go as well.

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Comments (14)

grainlady_ks
16 years ago
If you think a press is exciting, I have a tortilla press AND baker. All done in one swoop - smash the ball of dough into a tortilla and bake it. It's also one kitchen tool hubby likes to use. He'll volunteer to make a batch of tortillas for the freezer, or for making a batch for baked tortilla chips. He takes sandwich wraps in his lunch and likes to make flavored tortillas for wraps. Any gadget that gets a guy in the kitchen is well worth the price - although my tortilla press/baker was a gift - a much used gift.

-Grainlady
User
16 years ago
Congratulations Cookie. Glad your corn tortillas were a success.

Just so you know though, the press really isn't great for flour tortillas. I roll flour tortillas out by hand.

Ann
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I use the mission brand only. I make what you describe a lot in the summer for my family. I think you simply got a bad batch. The only thing I do differently is to use foil to wrap them tightly, and then I only refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Toothpicks help hold them together if needed. I don't love them the next day either, they get too gummy from the moisture of the ingredients. But I know exactly what you are describing--occasionally it happens to me when I open a new bag of tortillas and some stick together. When I pull them apart, they sometimes peel. Heating in a microwave between moistened paper towels helps. jo
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Excellent tutorial. Easy? Yes and no. I need to get everything set up, lots of counter space. And pay attention. No zippy-speedy motions. Calm and easy pressure with the press. Most important is to get the masa dough a good consistency. Rick Bayless has a good easy y-tube tutorial. I also use my rectangle griddle on front burner lower and back burner higher. Two cast iron skillets works also. I have MaSeCa and Bob's masa. I think you may have purchased MasaRepa that is grainier almost like a cross between cold polenta and cream of wheat. Delicious but a different animal. Those are stuffed and formed like a hockey puck, then grilled. This time of year I have less patience than the Winter months. I have a local place that makes fresh and I freeze in packages of 6 for quick weeknight meals. (sun sets so late we would rather be outside than cooking). Prepping some quick sides and toppings is enough. I have two and a salad with all the toppings and DH has four. Been that way for years... Presses can be such junk. My new one I got lucky. But it is junk. Not true cast iron. Some reviews it was broken out of the box or the handle snapped off first use. DH bought it to surprise me. My old one from Mexico needs a piece of cardboard like what is on the back of a legal size note pad. It was making them uneven. When I was first experimenting, I made two small batches of dough to get the mix perfect. Now I know how it should feel but it took a couple tries.
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cookie8
Original Author
16 years ago
What? Is this all in one. Kicking myself if it is!!!
jimster
16 years ago
I'm happy to hear of your success and your pleasure with the press. More people should experience homemade corn tortillas. Sure, some of us can buy a decent tortilla ready made from the store. However, that's analogous to purchasing decent bread from a bakery. Fresh from your own oven has that extra something.

So far as what to do with the tortillas, there are hundreds of answers. Start with just rolling up a fresh, warm tortilla and munching on it.

A simple and very tasty dish is carnita tacos. Fold a pair of tortillas in half and fill with carnitas (little well browned fried cubes of pork) and a little salsa. More complex and saucy dishes such as enchiladas move the taste of the fresh tortilla to the background, so I suggest saving the leftover ones for those dishes and using the freshly made ones in a simple way which allows them to be enjoyed fully.

Jim
partst
16 years ago
Last night when DH walked in the door I had pictures of AnntÂs tortillas on the screen and he looked through her tutorial and asks why I didnÂt make them! Today I ordered the tortilla press from City Chief Kitchenware so we shall see. He is retiring in a few months and I think I will give him the press and have him make them. I know he used to cook but that was 30 years ago and he hasnÂt been in a market for years. I think my life is about to change! Last weekend he wanted pancakes, I havenÂt made pancakes in years, so I told him to make some. They were good but he was appalled that I didnÂt have a griddle LOL so he ordered one from Amazon.

Claudia
jhmatheson
16 years ago
who makes the tortilla press and baker? i would love to have one of them.
jimster
16 years ago
There we go! More converts to homemade corn tortillas!

I would dearly love to pat out tortillas by hand as this Mexican woman does. However, despite years of pottery classes, the dough is too fragile for me to handle that way. I use a press, as do most Mexicans.

BTW, I want to pull noodles the way those Chinese guys do too.

Jim
annie1992
16 years ago
jhmatheson, ArabellaMiller has one, I sent it to her in one of the swaps, and I know she's mentioned using it.

I don't remember what brand and I don't know how well it works, but I got it from Amazon. Just search for "electric tortilla press".

Annie
User
16 years ago
I have this cast iron Tortilla press ordered from City Chef out of Vancouver. They ship to the US.
User
16 years ago
I forgot to mention. The important thing to remember when buying a tortilla press is you want one that is made from cast iron. Not a light weight aluminum.

Ann
cookie8
Original Author
16 years ago
Do not buy the aluminum one. That was my first one and it bends so it barely flattened the dough. I love the cast iron heavy one. My husband went to exchange it after a hockey game at the other end of the city so it was probably a 20 min walk to the store from the rink - with three 8/9 yr old boys with him and lugging my iron press. Let's just say he thinks I owe him - hmmm, tortillas!!
jimster
16 years ago
OOPS!

The link to the Mexican woman making tortillas got omitted. Here it is.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Tortillas
jimster
16 years ago
I found a better video of a woman patting out tortillas by hand. Even when using a tortilla press (cast iron by all means), the proper consistency of the masa and how it is handled is the way you see it here. Masa has no elasticity. None. If it appears that it is at all elastic that is an illusion due to the woman's skill in handling it. Notice how it must be supported on the palms of her hands when it gets thin. We use plastic bags to support it easily without tearing.

So far, I have found no videos which show puffing of the tortillas. See Ann's pictorial for that. The tortillas in this video appear a little thicker than I would expect. Maybe that is an illusion.

Pay close attention to the consistency of the masa seen at the start of the video. Then, notice the charred spots on the baking tortillas which create the wonderful toasted flavor and aroma.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Tortillas in Guatamala
jimster
16 years ago
OK. This is it.

This video shows to perfection the process of making tortillas in a modern kitchen using an iron tortilla press. The tortillas puff beautifully.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Tortillas at Home

I loooove my new tortilla press

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I loooove my new tortilla press

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