First shot at homemade tortillas: A lot of room to grow.


 
Michael Richards

Michael Richards

TVWBB Emerald Member
My absession with taco heaven continues... If you saw this post you know that my next big hope is to start making my own tortillas. So tonight was my first attempt at corn tortillas. Here is the ball of dough after resting.
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Here is the first ever tortilla I made.
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The second.
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The first two ever cooked. Awesome side note, my "fry chef" from the last week's cook was with me through the whole experience.
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Grilled chicken time, a mix of thigh and breast pieces.
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Taco make with homemade red and green salsa.
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Rolled without breaking.
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First a quick note on the chicken then to the tortilla. I cooked the chicken to 155 in the breast and a little higher in the thighs, then let them rest for 10 mins, chopped it all up and mixed it together. When I pulled the chicken for the rest I put a CI Skillet on the indirect side of the grill. Then after the chicken was all cut up I through it all back in the CI Skillet for a quick sizzle, max 3 ish mins and served. It produced some of the best chicken tacos I have ever made/had.

Now to the tortillas, there is so much room to grow and I will try again soon. They were a little under hydrated, you could see that is the cracks and the lack of puff. We went 38 grams, we will go 34 grams next time and try to do a double press them to get a touch thinner with the same diameter. Despite all that being said the tortillas were still way better then any store shells were have ever had.
 
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Love it! Not bad for your first time. Way better than my first time. Be careful not to make them to wet next time.
I weigh my dough balls. Makes all tortillas the same. I press them, then turn 180 deg., press again. Makes for a even thickness. I cook them on a medium high heat for a touch of browning. Another thing I do is once the tortilla is in the pan for 30 seconds, I flip it over, wait 30 seconds, etc. until done. If the don’t puff, put a slight pressure on the tortilla and that should get things going.

I really like homemade a lot better than store bought. Doesn’t take long and taste way better.

BTW, I like Maseca… they sell yellow and blue corn masa. Highly recommend the blue (azul) ones.
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Looks awesome, we are lucky to have a spot that you can get fresh made tortillas every day. The bags are still warm.

That being said you are killing it bro!! Keep up the effort.
 
Mark Foreman said:
Love it! Not bad for your first time. Way better than my first time. Be careful not to make them to wet next time.
I weigh my dough balls. Makes all tortillas the same. I press them, then turn 180 deg., press again. Makes for a even thickness. I cook them on a medium high heat for a touch of browning. Another thing I do is once the tortilla is in the pan for 30 seconds, I flip it over, wait 30 seconds, etc. until done. If the don’t puff, put a slight pressure on the tortilla and that should get things going.

I really like homemade a lot better than store bought. Doesn’t take long and taste way better.

BTW, I like Maseca… they sell yellow and blue corn masa. Highly recommend the blue (azul) ones.
View attachment 52661
Click to expand...
That is the exact bag I got. Thank you for all the great advice, I am going to use my CI griddle next time to get the surface a touch hotter, I am going to take heed to not swinging to far and end up over hydrating the dough, and want to do the turn and double press with a touch smaller dough amount. Putting pressure is something I watched/read early in my dive, but forgot until you mentioned it, I will remember that now. OK, I am starting to get excited about doing this again!
 
Anne M. said:
Looks just fine to me!
I've only ever made flour tortillas, as we don't have masa harina here.
I roll them out with my mini roller made from a broom stick (yes seriously, birch wood broom stick, so no flying anywhere anymore).
I keep thinking I should the contraption I bought from a Indian shop, but I keep forgetting
Click to expand...
My goal is to get corn down and then venture over to flour, but my youngest daughter last night was already talking about making flour tortillas and then making LARGE flour tortillas for wraps, burritos, and other stuff. I was like wow slow down, but I know that she will keep us to get this down!
 
Michael Richards said:
That is the exact bag I got. Thank you for all the great advice, I am going to use my CI griddle next time to get the surface a touch hotter, I am going to take heed to not swinging to far and end up over hydrating the dough, and want to do the turn and double press with a touch smaller dough amount. Putting pressure is something I watched/read early in my dive, but forgot until you mentioned it, I will remember that now. OK, I am starting to get excited about doing this again!
Click to expand...
Awesome.

One thing to try is to heat them on a CI flat plate or, as we I do it, on a open gas burner. Gets them to brown up (small char spots) beautiful then and helps the flavor!

My biggest problem with flour tortillas is thickness. I have found that once on the griddle, they pull up getting thicker in the process. Since we eat smaller (2 old people) ones, i use my Victoria tortilla press. I have the 8 inch but they make a 10 inch as well. That helps But I am still trying to find the answer.…
1654871693303.jpeg

I use it for empanadas, hand pies, etc.
 
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Tortillas look great, Michael! If you got them filled, and rolled without breaking, then you were in the zone for how much hydration you put in them! A few more batches and you'll have it down! Give my "Sonoran" Tortillas a try when you are ready for flour. You can sub lard for the beef tallow (ask your players, pretty sure they'll tell you.....DON'T USE OIL!!!) 🤣🤣

I predict that you will have your own taco truck by this time next year! 🤣🤣
 
Mark Foreman said:
Awesome.

One thing to try is to heat them on a CI flat plate or, as we I do it, on a open gas burner. Gets them to brown up (small char spots) beautiful then and helps the flavor!

My biggest problem with flour tortillas is thickness. I have found that once on the griddle, they pull up getting thicker in the process. Since we eat smaller (2 old people) ones, i use my Victoria tortilla press. I have the 8 inch but they make a 10 inch as well. That helps But I am still trying to find the answer.…
View attachment 52685

I use it for empanadas, hand pies, etc.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the thingy I have but keep forgetting about
 
Nothing wrong with those Michael. As long as they don't break up and they eat good, who cares about rough edges.

Wife got herself a 10" press for Christmas. I've used it a few times and almost have the right hydration level dialed in for corn tortillas using bacon drippings and water. Tried flour and failed. Remember a Mexican friend's mother did her flour tortillas like pancakes. Thinking of trying that. Pouring batter on a griddle sounds much easier.
 
Anne M. said:
Looks just fine to me!
I've only ever made flour tortillas, as we don't have masa harina here.
I roll them out with my mini roller made from a broom stick (yes seriously, birch wood broom stick, so no flying anywhere anymore).
I keep thinking I should the contraption I bought from a Indian shop, but I keep forgetting
Click to expand...
intro-1602697643.jpg
 
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