Idealistic PragmatistOur household’s latest kitchen gadget is a tortilla press. Any tips on using one, for the uninitiated? I’m mostly hoping to make tortillas with it but maybe eventually also arepas.
irne jawe@justip in Mexico, they use thin plastic (baking paper might also work?) to line the press so that the tortillas don’t stick. Put one piece of plastic down on the press, then the ball of masa dough, then another piece of plastic, then press
@justip I don’t know as much about arepas, but my sense is that they are hand formed rather than pressed. They are quite a lot thicker than tortillas.
@pewterbaw thank you!
Rob Yurkowski (he/him)@justip @pewterbaw To add to this, take a pair of scissors to the sides of a large ziplock bag, and you'll get a piece that's thick enough to be reused many times and doesn't stick to itself.
@robyurkowski @justip yeah! That’s a great tip
Bowreality 🇨🇦🍁@pewterbaw @justip I do this as well. I use a cut open ziploc bag.
Chris Jones@justip They are very handy, use mine all the time. My only advice is to prevent stickiness (I over flour the little dough ball like I do with bread) but the parchment paper is more traditional. Also place the little dough ball closer to the hinge as it gets pressed outward from there. Sounds obvious but it does help to get those sweet perfect round tortillas that impress.
As mentioned arepas are more hand formed. My sister is an arepa wizard (gluten allergy) and won’t hear of machine pressing.
As mentioned arepas are more hand formed. My sister is an arepa wizard (gluten allergy) and won’t hear of machine pressing.
EllenIn Edmonton@justip
Like you, I've recently acquired a second-hand tortilla press. I've used it several times now for various flatbreads, and I'm not having trouble with the dough sticking to the press. I'm just finding that the result isn't as thin or as wide as I'd like, so I'm pressing out the breads even thinner with my fingers. I do like that the press produces a pretty round bread, and I don't need to use a rolling pin or a bunch of flour on the counter to produce that. Practice will improve results.
Like you, I've recently acquired a second-hand tortilla press. I've used it several times now for various flatbreads, and I'm not having trouble with the dough sticking to the press. I'm just finding that the result isn't as thin or as wide as I'd like, so I'm pressing out the breads even thinner with my fingers. I do like that the press produces a pretty round bread, and I don't need to use a rolling pin or a bunch of flour on the counter to produce that. Practice will improve results.
TheJen will not comply@justip Wrap both surfaces in wax paper. You'll thank me when you're not constantly scraping dough off of it. :)
Serge 🔻
Make Tortillas Like a Mexican Grandma (The Easy Way)
@justip this is the best tutorial on making tortillas I’ve seen and I’ve successfully made excellent tortillas this way. It’s not difficult, but it is a skill that’s most easily learned by carefully observing someone doing it correctly.
I use plastic from an old 4.5 kg rice bag as covers. Should be food safe and is nice and thick.
Big ziplocks should also work fine.
cobalt