Tortilla press to make pita bread

7 years ago

Right after lunch, I made dough for pita bread (or lavash), and I had the idea to use my tortilla press to shape the pita bread. Does this sound like a good idea?

How do you bake your pita? I made lavash with this recipe before, and I rolled it out too thin, and it came out more like a huge cracker. I think my oven will get to 500, if necessary, and it is fairly cool today, and so I left the dough on my counter, where it will sit for three hours before I get back to it. Since the kitchen is cool (about 69-70°), I do not think that will be a problem.

Any other tips on baking pita? I made hummus yesterday and then realized that we did not have bread, and so we ate it with TJ rice crackers, which I bought by accident - I thought they were going to be wheat crackers, and it was not at all obvious that they were brittle crunchy rice crackers until I ate one and then checked the ingredients. They are okay, but they taste like Chinese rice crackers, which is okay with hummus but not exactly what I wanted.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

Lars
7 years ago
Here's how my pita looks after being formed in the tortilla press. I'm letting it rise now and will see how it bakes after it has risen. I plan to let it rise for at least an hour, but I'm not sure how long to bake it. I will bake it at the highest temp I can get in my oven and use convection.

If it doesn't come out, at least I only invested 2-1/4 cups of flour and a small amount of yeast, etc. It was very fast and easy to form the dough in the tortilla press, and so I hope this works. If it does, I will make this again.
tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
7 years ago
I actually do pita on a very hot cast iron griddle, kind of like tortillas. I have always just hand rolled my pita because it seems easier to me as I have never gotten a good rhythm down with the press. I have not always gotten a good pocket in all of my pitas on the griddle but they have always tasted good. My problem with doing them in the oven was that opening and closing to do them on the pizza stone would lower the temp and be hard to move through (I do not have a peel).
Related Discussions
Making Corn Tortillas?
Q
Comments (15)
I use tortillas in several ways: As a meal accompaniment like bread. It's nice to have one of those shallow baskets made for the purpose to keep them warm, covered by a napkin. For a taco, just rolled up around a shredded meat and salsa filling. For making enchiladas, which I love. In chilaquiles (a casserole sort of like a Mexican lasagna or a rustic form of enchiladas). Making your own tortillas is not complicated, but it takes a bit of a knack. I've seen Mexican women pat them out between their palms. Masa is a soft and tender dough. No gluten or stretchability at all. I can't form a tortilla by hand, even after several years of working with clay in the pottery studio. I have to use a tortilla press or improvised substitute. Bakeries use automated machinery. The critical part is the temperature of the comal (griddle) and timing the baking. When done well, they puff like pita bread, making a pocket inside. You help that along by "tickling" them, touching them with your finger tips, which presses them against the hot comal, creating a burst of steam inside. Are the ones you get solid or hollow? Commercial ones I have had usually were solid and not tender like tortillas casero (homemade), but are better than no tortillas at all. Good ones have just the right amount of charred spots, which gives a wonderful flavor and aroma. And I mean *wonderful aroma*. Driving through Mexican villages at a certain time of evening, the whole place smells of corn tortillas baking. I'm starting to salivate. So much goodness from two ingredients, masa and water. Yellow or white corn tortillas? I go for the white, but I can't give you a clear reason except that I think it is most typically Mexican. Jim
...See More
Pita Bread Crisps or Chips
Q
Comments (9)
I just make mine with my homemade pita or the storebought stuff. I know someone just asked this question too, in the last week or so, so it must be something in the air. LOL Anyway, I just split the pita into two rounds and cut the rounds into wedges, then brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt or herbs or parmesant or whatever I like. An oil mister would be faster, probably, or you wouldn't have to put anything on them. Put them in the oven at 400F until they toast and they go quickly from "not toasted" to "charcoal" so watch them carefully. I do the same thing with whole wheat tortillas, equally yummy. Annie
...See More
Help with pita appetizer
Q
Comments (9)
I dunno, the package says pita bread and it is hollow with two sides, but very thin. This is the type of pita they sell at the Syrian bakery where I live. I have seen something called "pocketless pita" in the grocery store, which seems like an oxymoron to me, but this is not that. If it was pocketless pita I wouldn't be so worried about it flopping over when cut. I almost always make baked pita chips with dip for parties and no one ever eats it, but I think it is because of the set up and the way I serve it. I usually put a basket of baked chips and dip on the coffee table in the center of the room. I'm not shy about cozying up to the table and eating away, but apparently my guest are, lol! This time I think I am going to take some advice from here and season the pitas and then put them on little trays next to all the seats, (I have enough TV trays to do this) along with some of them having a dollop of spinach artichoke dip already on them. That way folks can just pick them up and eat them. I like the idea of spinach dip because it is a "green" which is something lucky to have at New Years and also looks festive if I mix in some roasted red peppers. I make my spinach dip with mostly tofu so it won't be too cheesy. I'm also serving a bean salad much like "Texas caviar" but made with blackeyed peas. That I think I'll serve in endive spears. So the two will go well together. The main meal will be ham, scalloped potatoes (BF said our guests just finished off a big pan of lasagne at home so that has been switched out), green beans almondine and apple pie for dessert. Thanks for the help and suggestions. I'll report back on how it goes. Wish I could take pics but my camera is broken and gone for good I think. Here is a link that might be useful: Chow.com hummus pita chips appetizer
...See More
LOOKING for: Yeast Free Breads (Pita bread, flatbreads, etc.)
Q
Comments (9)
I know this is a little late to respond, but I make Rotis all the time. I try to limit the amount of wheat I eat, and using flat breads makes that simpler. I always use whole wheat flour, I find King Arthur the best, because it is finely milled and it makes for a smoother dough. Rule of thumb 1/2 as much liquid as flour. So if I am using 1 cup of flour, I use 1/2 cup water (I often use a tablespoon of whey or even yogurt or kefir - adds a little more flavor to the roti) and salt usually between 1/2 & 1 tsp. The dough is always going to be a little different. If the dough is sticky, I add a little more flour, just enough to make sure it is not sticky. I roll it in a ball and coat it in olive oil then let it rest for at least 15 minutes but usually overnight. (Soaking the dough helps remove the phytic acid, making the nutrients more available. This also makes for a more flavorful roti, as it will sour a little.) I knead the dough briefly to mix in the oil, then roll into little balls, which I flatten and roll in flour until I roll them into disks about 6". The trick with rotis is to make sure your pan is in the right heat zone. Too cool, and the roti will just sit on the pan without puffing, too hot and the roti will burn. I normally use a medium hot...it will be different on every stove. Often my first roti wont puff. If it doesn't puff a little, it will be too dense and a little unpleasant to eat. I just remove it and raise the temp before adding the next roti. Once I have the right temp and the rotis puff before burning, I add the original roti back on. Usually within a few seconds it will puff. I use a spatula to press down on the areas that don't puff, to encourage them to puff. ( I only press down on the cooked side, so not until I have flipped the roti at least 1 time.) I think I generally get about a dozen rotis per cup of flour. I don't usually try seasoning them with anything until they are cooked, because I use them for everything. I have slathered with peanut butter, and sprinkled choco chips and covered with a second roti, back on the grill. I make grilled sandwiches with them, eat scrambled eggs in them, use them for tacos/burritos, heat them, and coat them with cinnamon and sugar, they make great quesadillas, and I even throw them back on the griddle on low heat/or in the oven until they get crispy, and use them for crackers.
...See More
Lars
7 years ago
I guess next time I will try cooking them on an iron griddle, as these did not come out of the oven the way I wanted them too - they came out more like crumpets than like pita bread. They were edible, but they were not pita. I do think that the tortilla press is a good way to start flattening the dough, but I think perhaps they did not get thin enough, and so maybe they need a bit of rolling out after being pressed. However, before I made them too thin, and so it is definitely a balancing act. It's possible also that my oven was not hot enough, as they took eight minutes to get done.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Looks good.

I roll my pita with my rolling pin.

I learned, through trial and error, to bake them on a HOT pizza stone, that I keep in the oven. I usually keep two pizza stones HOT in the oven when I make pita bread.

Yes, I have to open the oven and turn them after a few minutes, and then take them out and let the stone heat up again for a moment or two before I put the next couple of pieces in. But it works. And it takes maybe 4 or 5 minutes, at most, to make them.

They always come out looking like pita. Which usually shocks me because most of the stuff I make never looks like the photos or the real thing.
Lars
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I have a pizza stone in the oven, but I didn't use it, as I left the dough on the baking sheets. This video bakes them as I did

but this video shows how mine came out:

and so maybe I made Greek pita, although he baked his in a skillet.

This video looks eaiser:

and perhaps one of my mistakes was using whole wheat flour. I used one cup bread flour, one cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/4 cup semolina, 3/4 cup (plus extra) water, 2 tsp yeast, and 2 tsp sugar. I may also have let the dough rest too long - I won't do that again and see if if makes a difference.
User
7 years ago
I kind of figured that people who make a lot of pita bread, personally (in pita bread land) or professionally, keep a hot oven running all the time, and place the dough onto hot cooking surfaces.

I use flour - just KA AP flour.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!! :=)

Now I want homemade pita bread?!?!

Tortilla press to make pita bread

Comments (6)

Lars

tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM

Related Discussions

Lars

User

Lars

User

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US