I bought some masa and tried my hand at tortillas. I need some pointers from someone who's done it before. Anyone out there?
Has anyone made homemade tortillas?
- Thread starter charmed one
- Start date
I'll bet Terrie can help you!
- Thread starter
- #4
I tried to make some yesterday and DH said they were good but I was not satisfied with them. They need serious tweeking!
What is masa? Do you have a recipe?
I have not yet tried it, but this is the recipe that I have:
Flour Tortillas
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 TBs lard (you can use shortening)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of warm water
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Mix the lard in until the mixture looks like cornmeal.
Add 1/2 cup of the water, (if more is needed, add 1 TBs at a time).
Add enough water to bring dough into a ball.
Let it rest 15 minutes.
Divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then roll out into a 7" round.
Fry on hot ungreased skillet or griddle for about 1 to 2 minutes per side, just until the tortilla starts to get light brown.
Store in plastic baggie to keep moist while frying the remaining tortillas.
These are so good hot off the griddle and slathered with butter. Or use with your favorite recipes.
I have not yet tried it, but this is the recipe that I have:
Flour Tortillas
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 TBs lard (you can use shortening)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of warm water
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Mix the lard in until the mixture looks like cornmeal.
Add 1/2 cup of the water, (if more is needed, add 1 TBs at a time).
Add enough water to bring dough into a ball.
Let it rest 15 minutes.
Divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then roll out into a 7" round.
Fry on hot ungreased skillet or griddle for about 1 to 2 minutes per side, just until the tortilla starts to get light brown.
Store in plastic baggie to keep moist while frying the remaining tortillas.
These are so good hot off the griddle and slathered with butter. Or use with your favorite recipes.
Many years ago I made homemade tortillas at a local restaurant. We had to make them in front of the customers (for a show) and were not allowed to use utensils on the grill, just bare hands.
The masa we got was a paste. We thinned it out a little with tap water just enough to make it workable. It was then formed into small balls, a little smaller than ping/pong balls. At all times keep a damp towel over the masa so it doesn't dry out. You will need 2 pieces of heavy plastic to keep the masa from sticking to the press. At the restaurant we used ziploc bags. They seem like they've gotten thinner in recent years so maybe the freezer kind now. The 2 pieces of plastic were cut to the size of the press. Put 1 piece of plastic on the press, 1 of the masa balls, then the other piece of plastic. Press the top of the press down to flatten the masa into a tortilla. It was considered better to make the tortillas as thin as possible, but it does make it a little more difficult to handle. After a few you'll get the hang of it. You can then peel off the plastic and fry the tortilla on a dry 350*F grill. They shouldn't stick. About a minute on each side, you just want a touch of brown. They'll puff up like a pillow. The ones I made were only about 4 inches in diameter. The larger ones would be more difficult to handle I would think. And we never made the masa from the corn flour. Making the paste would be additional. I think there is a recipe on the bag of flour, but it would be easy to find a good recipe. Store the tortillas in a damp towels as the will get dry and break very easy.
Good luck, and when's dinner?
Imp
The masa we got was a paste. We thinned it out a little with tap water just enough to make it workable. It was then formed into small balls, a little smaller than ping/pong balls. At all times keep a damp towel over the masa so it doesn't dry out. You will need 2 pieces of heavy plastic to keep the masa from sticking to the press. At the restaurant we used ziploc bags. They seem like they've gotten thinner in recent years so maybe the freezer kind now. The 2 pieces of plastic were cut to the size of the press. Put 1 piece of plastic on the press, 1 of the masa balls, then the other piece of plastic. Press the top of the press down to flatten the masa into a tortilla. It was considered better to make the tortillas as thin as possible, but it does make it a little more difficult to handle. After a few you'll get the hang of it. You can then peel off the plastic and fry the tortilla on a dry 350*F grill. They shouldn't stick. About a minute on each side, you just want a touch of brown. They'll puff up like a pillow. The ones I made were only about 4 inches in diameter. The larger ones would be more difficult to handle I would think. And we never made the masa from the corn flour. Making the paste would be additional. I think there is a recipe on the bag of flour, but it would be easy to find a good recipe. Store the tortillas in a damp towels as the will get dry and break very easy.
Good luck, and when's dinner?
Imp
The masa is also easier to work if you let it rest a little while before you start to use it, at least fifteen to twenty minutes.
masa is corn flour, you can buy it dry or already as a paste - you use this to make CORN tortillas. You can also use it to line corn husks for tamales . . . even harder to make than tortillas.
FLOUR tortillas are made with regular flour.
I have been trying to make both my whole life and I still stink at it. My mexican friends laugh their buttts off at me; even when they make the "dough" and we are all standing in a line making them together, theirs come out perfect and mine are shaped, as they say, like the state of Idaho. Then they laugh and laugh and laugh . . .
FLOUR tortillas are made with regular flour.
I have been trying to make both my whole life and I still stink at it. My mexican friends laugh their buttts off at me; even when they make the "dough" and we are all standing in a line making them together, theirs come out perfect and mine are shaped, as they say, like the state of Idaho. Then they laugh and laugh and laugh . . .
- Thread starter
- #9
I bought a bag of masa. I did let it rest. I think my first batch was too dry. Also, I thought they would be yellow. They were white. Technique is what I need help with. When I got them wet enough to roll out, I didn't know how thin to make them. I don't have a press but plan to get one. They weren't very round. I finally started to press them out with my hand and that helped alittle.
When I was in Mexico they always complained if they got yellow tortillas that the government was selling all the good white corn and feeding them the animal corn!
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