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Learn me on tortillas


Buzzrock

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

My daughter calls those "crack tortillas."  When she goes back overseas, she brings back a pack of 20 flour, and a pack of 10 mixed.  She shares the flour.  She keeps the mixed all for herself, to be eaten warm, with just that little char in the skillet.

Smart girl takes after her dad. Uh...I meant you brisket.  I'm sure you know what I meant.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks.  I'm going to try this.  Those look perfect.  For those of us outside of Texas, making them ourselves is the only way.

I've finally got the corn ones down and it's been a game changer for us.  I've had some success with flour, but it just hasn't been quite right yet.

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On 10/26/2019 at 12:16 PM, Hate said:

For store bought tortillas, these are pretty damn good.

mi-tienda-ready-to-cook-flour-tortillas-

 

I would take the recommendations above as far as finding the Mexican neighborhoods.  It shouldn't be too hard to find a paneria to get some tortillas from.  If you keep them in the refrigerator, they should last a couple of weeks.  As far as corn or flour, Henry James nailed it with his post above.  Corn tortillas for breakfast tacos is an awful idea. 

These uncooked ones are the best HEB has to offer. They are next to the biscuits. Better than their fresh baked, imho.

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47 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I picked a bad week to cut back on carbs. Those look great. 

I picked up a pack of these at Sam's Club 2 weeks ago and took them to Playa/Cozumel with me. Wherever we went, I just ordered the carne/queso and used these. They aren't bad. My girlfriend ran out of her cheap tortillas and has tried to finish them off; wish I had brought more.

 

 

carb torts.jpg

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On 5/2/2023 at 10:33 PM, rage-a-holic said:

I picked up a pack of these at Sam's Club 2 weeks ago and took them to Playa/Cozumel with me. Wherever we went, I just ordered the carne/queso and used these. They aren't bad. My girlfriend ran out of her cheap tortillas and has tried to finish them off; wish I had brought more.

 

 

carb torts.jpg

ok hold on because i was being polite but extremely didn't understand this post where you were talking about walking around Mexico with a pack of Sam's Club tortillas.

it's because you are on a low carb thing and these are low carb tortillas that's why this post isn't completely insane

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8 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I eat those too when I occasionally go on a diet to drop a few pounds. They're pretty good in that context. I'm gonna try the recipe above. I have yet to find the right formula for homemade flour tortillas.

The recipe doesn't matter as much (except for the fat, lard is best) as how much your work your dough.  You want to knead it until it is smooth and then let it rest before rolling out tortillas.  This will result in a tortilla that's soft and flexible and not crumbly and dry.

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I think that that jibes with my experience. You poke the dough, your finger comes away clean and and dry. Recipes say let rest for like twenty minutes or something - that is an absolute minimum and you can let them rest (covered so as not to dry out) much longer.

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Alright I think I've got it down with the tortillas
16 oz flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup room temperature butter
1 cup lukewarm milk
mix flour, salt, and butter in a stand mixer on low, gradually add the milk.
continue mixing on medium low (periodically scraping the flour down the sides and reseating the dough) until it is dry/not sticky to the touch, about 15 minutes

divide into 16 pieces, smoosh/fold/pinch into smooth balls, let rest on the counter covered (i use saran wrap I bet a tea towel would work fine) for a few to several hours(potentially overnight - i've waited as long as 8 or 9 hours between making the dough around noon in the morning and cooking the tortillas after putting the kid down for bed)
heat your big cast iron over medium high until thoroughly heated up. no oil - go in dry
generously flour your working surface, flatten a ball and then roll it out with even pressure to make as close to a circle as you can. It shouldn't be hard to make a thin disc that fits just about perfectly in a 12" skillet
place the tortilla into the skillet and start rolling out the next one. flip the tortilla when it starts to to bubble up. remove when done. repeat until finished. clean.

i think the butter gives it a better flavor than shortening, and I didn't notice any difference in terms of how the dough comes together. still need to try with lard but honestly I'm happy. i think using milk rather than water gives it some flavor and pliability as well, but I think the big thing I was fucking up early on was not mixing it thoroughly enough. I checked back on my notes from talking to the baking scientist, and the "until it is dry and not sticky to the touch" is from her. that takes a minute. I think the other thing to learn as a shortcut is that cleaning up takes less time and effort than trying to do bullshit to avoid making a mess.
 
image.thumb.png.bf80ec839e2354904e3ae493f62923f1.png

Those look great. Most homemade flour eat like a communion wafer or a pancake. Have you tried lard?
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1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

ok hold on because i was being polite but extremely didn't understand this post where you were talking about walking around Mexico with a pack of Sam's Club tortillas.

it's because you are on a low carb thing and these are low carb tortillas that's why this post isn't completely insane

Yes, exactly. These were from a Sam's Club in Austin. They don't sell them in Sam's Club Playa/Cozumel. Been trying to stick to mostly keto to drop weight before this EU trip in 3 weeks.

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7 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:


Those look great. Most homemade flour eat like a communion wafer or a pancake. Have you tried lard?

Finally figured out where I can find some, and my wife ate the last of the most recent batch so it’s game time tomorrow

 

IMG_2416.thumb.jpeg.a99cb0803a953b77e32f274a61fd4ddc.jpeg

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Ok I think lard is noticeably better. It’s hard to do controlled experiments because I’m getting better at the whole thing each time and also a fresh tortilla is always incredible but this tastes like a goooood tex Mex place and I’m having a hard time not housing this whole plate right now.

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  • 3 months later...

 

So I've still been making tortillas. I long ago figured out that a decent youtube tutorial is way better than tablature/music for figuring out how to play something on guitar, I don't know why it took me so long to look at tortilla tutorials. I think the thing I've found is that doing it correctly is much more about process and technique than it is about recipe. I watched a few videos (including the one above) and incorporated a few of the things into the same recipe I've been starting from (https://patijinich.com/flour-tortillas/ , using shortening or butter for fat and milk for water). One big thing that I think I was doing wrong that the above video highlighted was that i wasn't mixing the fat in with the salt and flour thoroughly before adding the liquid. In the posts above I talked about how long I had to mix the dough to get it to have the right consistency and the right lack of stickiness. The last time I made it, I hand mixed the dry ingredients with the fat until it had that sand like texture, and I found that upon adding the milk it came together much quicker. The other change I made that may have contributed to that is taking the temperature of the milk from "lukewarm" to "fairly hot". A big dumb stupid thing that i was doing was taking the big ball of dough and then halving it and halving the pieces until I got 16 little balls. Squeezing off the correct sized balls (I did 60g like she mentioned this time, I'll go slightly smaller next time around) is such a "duh" easier and more consistent process. I forgot to do the stuff she does here where she kinda rubs down each ball with lard before resting them.

I found some tallow at a butcher's market down the street, trying that next. I also have some maseca for pupusas, so I need to give corn tortillas a go.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...
Posted (edited)

So I've made several batches of homemade tortillas myself, several with lard and one with duck fat. I'm still working on the Sonoran style as I try to get them as close as possible to Caramelo tortillas, which are heavenly even though they come from Lawrence, Kansas of all places. I think Caramelo takes it up the absolute edge with the amount of fat they put in theirs.


I watched the YouTube that @Celery Man posted for the first batch. This was the "duck fat" recipe: https://www.reddit.com/r/food/comments/ht221y/duck_fat_tortillas_homemade/
 

Quote
 
Sure! As a baker I work in percentages for consistency and scaleability, so here is a sample recipe with 300g flour, which will make about a dozen six-to-seven inch tortillas.
[100%]300g bread flour [40%]120g water [25%]75g fat [2%]6g salt
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for about 5-6 minutes or until smooth and fairly pliable. Wrap in plastic and let rest for 20 minutes at room temp. Divide into 40g balls, cover, and allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Preheat a large non-stick or well seasoned cast-iron/carbon skillet over medium high heat now. Flatten each ball into a 3 inch disc and allow discs to rest for another 10 minutes before rolling or pressing into 6-7 inch tortillas. I like to use parchment paper and a gallon size freezer bag rather than adding a lot of flour to a work surface. If tortillas are shrinking back when they are pressed or rolled, allow dough to rest for another 10 minutes. Next, cook tortillas on the pan for about 25-30 seconds per side, DO NOT ADD ANY FAT TO THE PAN. Serve immediately or, if using later, reheat on a hot skillet for 15 seconds a side before serving.
 

Then I did this one this past weekend: https://cookingwithcheftuan.com/blog/f/sonoran-flour-tortillas
I still need lots of work getting them rounder. I did finally realize at the end of the last batch that you need to lay them down from front to back on the comal, not back to front (I think the YT video above said that but I hadn't watched it in some time before the last two batches).
 

First run at tortillas with lard (these were made near midnight after the Super Bowl -- and I was drunk as shit)
cb0c59380a4d9b4af673dd8202749290.jpg

 

Duck fat tortillas (lighting under the vent-a-hood make them appear yellow -- they were not)


9fab875f9edb370d4361b6c089b2a397.jpg

 

Another run at tortillas using lard this past week


2b6693055b0ed1bd9a59a6d1ccb21f04.jpg

Edited by C-Man
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I suck at rolling them out still. They turn out round enough to use but rarely a perfect circle. That said, one thing I did that made me better was just light pressure with both palms on the rolling pin, not using the handles if you have one with handles. The handles are stupid.

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1 minute ago, Celery Man said:

I suck at rolling them out still. They turn out round enough to use but rarely a perfect circle. That said, one thing I did that made me better was just light pressure with both palms on the rolling pin, not using the handles if you have one with handles. The handles are stupid.

I've got a large regular rolling pin with handles and two smaller ones that do not. I've been using the one with handles because it's get them thinner and bigger much faster. The non-handled ones are smaller too, so harder to work with here. A big part of my issue was laying them back to front, which is not the way to do it.

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I've pretty much given up on mine.  The taste is good to pretty good most of the time but I can't get the thickness or texture that I like.  I've tried them on the counter and Blackstone but no luck.  I guess I'll have to try a different rolling pin.

It's the same with sourdough.  The taste is great. The presentation leaves a lot to be desired.

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Posted (edited)

Would a tortilla press solve the rolling issue? I think I'm going to give homemade a shot, and I just figured that would be easier. Looking at prices, they are $15-$20.

 

Edited by Blotto
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It might, but honestly the thing with rolling dough whether pie crust or tortillas is that practice is sometimes all that is needed. I was making pies from a young age and whenever I went for a long enough spell w/o rolling crust, the skills got a little rusty and then would pick right back up. Get comfortable with rolling dough every week and you don't have to think about it, it begins to flow like a great jump shot.

 

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Tortilla press is worthless for the flour tortillas.

You guys might be different than me but all of my “can’t get the thickness/texture I want” problems came from not working my dough enough. If you stick your finger into the ball, it should come out clean. I still am not good at rolling them round, but that’s just about applying even pressure and setting them down cleanly. Comal is much better than a skillet btw, the sides make it hard

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