Important question for bakers of bread:

[crim son]

What is the secret to making homemade pita bread balloon up? I've tried more liquid, less liquid, preheating the baking surface, more kneading, less kneading. No matter what, only about 70% of them end up with pockets? Any ideas?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear crim son.........

NO idea, sweetie......since I've never made pita bread......

But at least I can help you keep your thread kicked!

:kick:

[crim son]

2. That's good of you.

It's Sunday afternoon. Probably any bread bakers are in the kitchen right now!

[Lex]

3. Wow, I had no idea the pockets were natually occuring.

I thought they were cut into the pita later to make the pocket.

[crim son]

6. Nope. And the same thing will happen if you make, say,

a flour tortilla on the stovetop, or certain other breads that are cooked over an open flame or fried in oil. Neat, eh?

[Lex]

8. Yes, neat.

Learn something new every day. :hi:

[WhollyHeretic]

4. I've always wondered how you get the bread to do that

I haven't made bread in a while but would love to learn how to make pita bread.

[crim son]

7. There are tons of recipes out there.

They are easy. Warning: once you start to make your own breads, tortillas &etc. nobody you feed will ever again eat stuff you buy from the grocery store.

[WhollyHeretic]

13. I used to make a lot of bread. I haven't really in a while. I do still make

tortillas, a friend of mine who ran an orphanage down in Guatemala taught me how to make those. I use my homemade tortillas for breakfast a lot, i just put a little peanut butter on one :9

[crim son]

14. Cool. Have you made corn tortillas?

I had to try it, and not only were they easy to make, they were darned good too!

[WhollyHeretic]

15. That's the only way I make them. It is tough to find corn flour sometimes though

I always stock up when I find it. Though I guess I shouldn't complain. My friend who taught me to make them used to have to go into town (in Guatemala) to grind the corn flour on this community grinding stone that was powered by an old motorcycle engine.

[crim son]

19. Yeah, we should be thankful for small favors!

When I first started cooking international foods, with all the spice pastes and ground vegetables, I often thought about how time-consuming it must have been before the age of food processors and other nifty utensils.

[cwydro]

5. No clue

that sounds like a lot of work...I'm impressed.

[crim son]

9. It isn't a lot of work!

You just need to start early so the dough can rest a while.

[crim son]

10. I'll check back later in the hope that somebody knows something! n/t

[Kali]

11. Let me know if you find out, I would like to try it myself

The pita bread Safeway sells is :scared:

[crim son]

12. Okay, I will, for sure.

Homemade is infinitely better.

[billyskank]

16. Can't answer, only about 70% of my chapatis puff up

so you're about on my level already. :D

:hi:

[crim son]

20. Oh, I've been making these since you were a wee lad!

:rofl:

[billyskank]

25. Knee high to a grasshopper, eh?

:P

[crim son]

27. That's what I was going to say!

:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. I wonder if less kneading would do the trick?

I've never tried making pita bread, but I do know that if I don't knead my dough enough for a regular batch of loaves I end up with some loaves with Huge air pockets in them...which would be the result of ballooning up. It's worth a shot.

[crim son]

21. Maybe that is something I should focus on.

I have diminished kneading time and lengthened resting time, but perhaps I need to experiment a bit more. Thanks, Mrs. G! :hi:

[hippywife]

18. My husband makes pita bread

and he says 70% is actually pretty good. He says some of the store bought ones don't all have pockets, either, so you're doing well.

[crim son]

23. Hmmm. That makes me feel better,

and since billyskank says he doesn't do much better maybe I should stop worrying about it! I appreciate it, hippywife.

[auntAgonist]

22. well my friend

I'm an eatah of pita not a baker of bread :)

If you knead, err need help eating it .. i'm your gal.


:hug:

aA

[crim son]

24. Any time!

I'd be very pleased to bake for you, kesha :hug:

[eyesroll]

26. I read that as homemade pizza bread and wondered why the hell you'd want pockets.

...finals will be over in 9 days and my brain will be normal-ish again...

[crim son]

28. At least you have an excuse for being confused :)

For me, it's a lifestyle :rofl:

[SOteric]

29. They don't always 'pocket,' but you'll get the best results

if the oven has a certain amount of humidity. Either spray water into the bottom of the oven every now and again with a spray bottle, or set a shallow, ovenproof dish or pan of water in the bottom of the oven.

[crim son]

30. Now that's something I haven't done.

I'll definitely try it! Thanks so much!