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BakerMom
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| Joined: | Sat Aug 12th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 1 |
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Posted: Sat Aug 12th, 2006 02:10 pm |
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I made the recipe in the Bread Beckers Recipe book for Pita Bread. They did not puff.  Has anyone some hints to help me with these???? I used the hard red wheat flour & followed the directions. Help! Help!
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Thu Feb 22nd, 2007 07:10 am |
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Without any more information, it's hard to say. Most likely, something was left out, or the temperature and atmospheric pressure, plus humidity conspired together to mess up your recipe. It can happen. Altitude has an effect as well (I live on Grassy Mountain in the Cohutta Wilderness, at 2000 ft. elevation, so it's definitely a factor here).
Also, check the age of your ingredients. Some of them have a limited shelf life. They won't kill you, but their effect on the recipes lessens with age. Chlorine in the water can harm yeast, so use filtered water. Or it could be any one of 1000 other variables.
My suggestion is to try again. We all mess up sometimes!
Good Luck
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henrysvamma
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 01:47 am |
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I made that recipe, also, and they were a disaster. I did not leave anything out and my ingredients were not old, but I obviously messed up somewhere! I've been scared to try it again!!! Has anyone made them and been successful?
Jean
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KSherrill
Moderator
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 01:56 am |
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I made that recipe a while ago and it did not puff, but it was very tasty. I decided to call it "flatbread" instead and served it with hummus. I figured the puffing part would happen with practice, but I haven't made the recipe since.
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Gigmaster
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 05:13 am |
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OK, I finally looked at the recipe. If it's the one on page 31 of THE BREAD BECKERS RECIPE COLLECTION, then the mistake is obvious. There is no sugar or honey in this recipe to feed the yeast. Yeast is a living culture and must have food to do its thing, ie; some kind of sugar to convert to Co2. Try adding 2 TBSP of Honey or sugar to this recipe, and make a slight adjustment to the liquid balance and it should work.
Or, you can try my recipe. It always works.
3-1/2 cups fresh ground Hard White Winter wheat flour-med grind.
1-1/2 cups luke warm NON-CHLORINATED water.
3 TBSP yeast
2 TBSP honey or sugar
1-1/4 tsp salt
Disolve the yeast and honey (or sugar) in 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water. Let it stand at least 10 minutes, or until it gets frothy. This is activating the yeast, and is an important step in making authentic Middle Eastern Pita Bread.
Sift the dry ingredients together on a dough sheet or board at least three times. Make a well in the center of the mound and add the yeast liquid, a bit at a time, and work it in from the edges. Continue to work the yeast liquid into the dough, adding more flour if needed, until a soft, somewhat elastic dough is acheived.
Now, you can knead it by hand for 20+ minutes, or transfer it to your mixer with the dough hook, and knead on low speed for 10 minutes. I use the mixer for this.
The dough should be smooth and elastic by now. Allow it to rise for 2 hours. You can cover it if a warm, draft-free place is not available. I usually set mine in the oven to rise.
When the dough has about doubled in size (regardless of how long it takes...rising times are notoriously inconsistant...sometimes fast, sometimes slow...that's why it's an art, and not a science....), punch it down, knead it a little bit, and pinch off chunks to roll into balls just slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Do this with all of the dough.
Pre-heat your oven to 450-475 degrees. Remove all but the bottom rack. Place pizza stones or a cookie sheet on the rack to get hot. This is important.
While the oven is heating, place the balls on a lightly floured surface a couple of inches apart, and let them rest about 10 minutes.
Now, roll out the balls, turning frequently from side-to-side, forming a flat disc that should be less than 1/4 thick and about 5 inches across. Try to keep them as perfectly round as possible. If you really want them to look professional, then omit the ball making stage, and roll the entire dough supply out to 1/4" thick, and use a 5" circular cutting tool like a lid or large bun or cookie cutter, and cut them into perfect circles.
Here is the secret to authentic Pita Bread. In the Middle East, they use huge wood-fired ovens heated to around 500 degrees, with flat stones in them. The bread needs to be placed on a hot surface in order to make pita bread, otherwise you'll wind up with a psuedo-tortilla. Thats why we put the sheet or stones in the oven before-hand, so they will get very hot.
If you have a pizza paddle, you're in great shape. Otherweise, use a large metal or wood spatula, or 2 if needed, to transfer the discs to the sheet or stones in the oven. DO NOT REMOVE THE SHEET FROM THE OVEN TO DO THIS. Place the discs on the sheet IN THE OVEN.
Bake for about 4 minutes, until the bread has 'popped' and browned very slightly on the edges. The cooking time can vary, so keep a close-eye on them.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Repeat until all the discs have been baked.
When they are cool, flatten them and store in plastic bags. They can be frozen and re-heated.
Once again, it is more the technique, than just a collection of ingredients that gives most foods thier distinctive characteristics. I hope this helps.
Bon Apetit!
Last edited on Sat Apr 21st, 2007 04:22 pm by Gigmaster
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henrysvamma
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 12:13 pm |
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Well, you are very kind!!! Thank you so much and I will make every effort to either tweak the book recipe or make yours this week! I will let you all know how it turns out!
Jean
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 04:15 pm |
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Great! Anytime I can help, please feel free to contact me. I am a cerified Executive Chef, and a practicing ND (Doctor of Naturopathy).
Last edited on Sat Apr 21st, 2007 04:16 pm by Gigmaster
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lovemyhome
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| Joined: | Thu Oct 18th, 2007 |
| Location: | Southeast GA |
| Posts: | 25 |
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Posted: Wed Jan 2nd, 2008 01:15 am |
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| The first time I made pita bread it did not turn out and I had fresh ingredients and honey in it. They tasted great though. What I figured out was that I was rolling them out too thin. They are perfect every time now.
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 03:05 am |
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lovemyhome wrote: The first time I made pita bread it did not turn out and I had fresh ingredients and honey in it. They tasted great though. What I figured out was that I was rolling them out too thin. They are perfect every time now.
Yes, they have to be at leat 1/4" thick or they will not 'puff'. Also, they need to be placed on a HOT sheet. I'm glad they worked for yiou.
Bon Apetit.
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