Thanks for watching everyone! *Full recipe in the description box.* *Don't forget to carefully deflate the pita and wrap in a tea towel so they stay soft and supple... otherwise you'll end up with hard soccer balls.*
Hi Glen and Julie! To answer your question, the water in the dough turns into steam, that steam gets trapped inside the now hardening shell causing it to puff up as required (The body of dough becomes sort of a membrane trapping steam) . Some recipes require the dough not to puff up so we punch holes using a fork or any sharp tool eliminating this effect. I hope lockdown ends soon and we get to see you cook the Shawarma! Thank you for all the great videos!
Interestingly there is a traditional bread in Upper Egypt which is basically a whole wheat pita but they bake it a little longer so it crisps into the "hard socer ball". Forgot the name, though.
If you were really wanting to make the "vertical meats" you could live stream the event and give the food to a local food bank which in turn they give to families struggling during this time of crisis.
it inflates because of water in the dough, you bake it so hot, it steams and steam forces the dough to rip from inside where it is softest. I have made them few times in 3 weeks, but I was not using the oven, I used pancake pan ( non-US pancakes ) heated to the max and had about 70% puff nicely :) You can also leave the dough in fridge for few days and bake them when needed
Hate to sound to stupid ,but what exactly,is your pancake pan?... (what is US versus non US)...I have several pans,that could be considered ( flat type pans)... as well,as a closing type electric pancake maker,I have one that is only about 3 1/2 inches in diameter...that would make perfect size for lunch pita's. I would just try it,but do not want to waste ingredients,if it just turns into a rock like disc!..sorry,but thank you for any info.
Technically though, that's true of all breads. All doughs have some water that evaporates and serves to puff up the bread. But the way pita puffs up is different: instead of developing a crumb structure, it puffs up like a balloon. My guess is that this has more to do with flattening the yeast dough before heating. The complex of bubbles that otherwise becomes the crumb gets smushed down thin, so that when the top and bottom sides are heated, they set into just two distinct layers. Any gas produced by evaporation and the last gasps of the yeast accumulate and inflate between the two layers as just one big bubble, instead of many tiny ones scattered around the gluten structure of the crumb.
Glen, your presentations are engaging and incredible. The way you explain the many variations that cause changes to results has helped alot. Dough is an art. The complex flavor, aroma, and texture are some of the most challanging to master. The advise you give saves people many mistakes in the learning process.
I used to work at a pizza place where they management would keep track of hoagie buns but wasn't as strict about pizza dough. Each day we would make essentially pita bread from pizza dough to make lunch for the staff. Best Pitas ever.
Looks good! But those are a little pale for a pita IMO, should have some dark brown spots around the outside. I prefer searing them on a very hot cast iron pan for that extra char on the stovetop for a few minutes each side. Cheers from israel.
I have had tortillas puff up like that on the comal when I press down on them as they are cooking. Flatbread seems to be in every culture and goes by a different name. Flour and water cooked on a hot rock like Bannock.
Made these tonight along with greek meatballs and loads of fresh spring veggies - they we're soooo good, and very easy to make. One lesson learned was not to have them in the oven for too long. flip it when it's still light - it'll brown faster than you think. Thank you so much for these recipes! Love that you keep telling us that this isn't an exact science, but that you need to play it by ear. It's SO refreshing to hear
My husband has been making homemade pita for years, same recipe as you. It was taught to him from his grandmother, we cook them on bbq - this pita would be out of this world cooked in your wood burning stove!
I've made pita on just a sheet pan with parchment paper in a 500*F oven. they turn out just great. good puff and all. nice thing is you can put 4 to 6 in at a time. They take a little bit longer though
I’ve heard on gas cooktops often they’ll finish the bread quickly over the open flame to add that barely there char that is present on most pita (at least over here it is) so that may add a little more to the recipe too! Excellent work, now all I have to do is find something I can use in my oven to cook these on.
We finish cooking our chapatis here in India over an open flame, after cooking them, ideally, on a cast iron skillet over the gas. It always results in them puffing up. Then again, chapattis are much thinner.
It's actually very natural for yeast fermented dough to behave this way if baked after rolling thin. By rolling, you smush down what otherwise would become the crumb structure of the bread. When it's rapidly heated, the two sides of the bread rapidly set and form two distinct layers. The water in the dough evaporates and the yeast continues to produce gas in the heat as it dies off, and those gasses further expand in the heat. Because of all this, instead of developing an airy crumb, it just develops one big air pocket around the two set outer surfaces like a balloon.
Well done!! I used to work in a pizza shop owned by an Iranian man. He used his basic pizza dough to make pitas and flat bread. The flat bread was poked with a fork to prevent the puffing while pitas were not poked. His dough did not have any fat in it surprisingly. All versions were delicious!!
My mom just made Syrian bread yesterday. It's a bit different than Pita., although you can use it the same way. The major difference is there is no empty hole in the middle. What we do is slice it in half that either pull the bread apart to make the hole or even use a knife.
If you do make the shwarma (idk how to spell it). Just drop it off on your friends/family's doorstep and have a quick chat through the window. I'm sure they would appreciate it, and we would definitely appreciate the video! Keep doing what your doing, love the videos!
You should add some grahamflour, they taste so good whit that 👍 What i use: * 15 g. Fresh Yeast * 3dl. Water. * 1 tsk. Salt * 300 g. Wheat Flour * 150 g. Grahamflour
The moisture in the dough turns to steam as the bread cooks, the interior is the last part to be exposed to the heat so it is the last part to bake solid to resist the expanding. This will also happen with raw tortillas (if you guys can buy those in Canada, here in Texas you can buy them at very grocery store) if you flip them a few times while they bake or pan fry. The main thing is having enough space between the outer layers of of the dough that the center doesn't get hot as fast as the exterior. I used to put a cookie sheet in to the oven, let it get hot, and then put the pita break in onto the hot pan -- it would usually only take 2-3 minutes to bake each side. I used to make pitas almost daily.
Steam burns are no joke, I hope your hand didn't get too hurt. Videos like these are making the quarantine easier to bear, at least for me. Thanks for your hard work and for sharing it with all of us!
I've been using the NYT recipe for pita, but I like to comparison shop. the only real difference is that they sub out a 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour in the recipe. Easy to make. I usually proof overnight in the fridge for a little added flavor, but they are fun to make in a science project kind of way. I didn't know about the stove top method, so I will try that next time out!
Ah-MAZING! Those are some fine lookin' pitas! I made my first batch a few weeks ago and they turned out ok'sh, but yours are fantastic. I'm going to try your recipe now.
I tried this recipe today, it was the first time making pita for me, and it worked perfectly! The pitas came out really nice, and it‘s amazing to watch the puff up.
My guess on the puffiness is steam trapped inside. I have an idea for another quarantine bread, you may have done it already, but beer bread, since many people have beer in fridge, may be a good substitute for the yeast shortage.
You don’t even need to let it do a rise before throwing them in the oven. I use the recipe from Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Bread and it’s mix ingredients, knead, portion and bake. Recently I tried a pre-ferment on half the flour. The pita wasn’t as chewy but it had more depth and was easier to digest. Just mix half the flour with half the water into a slurry. Let rest a few hours before combining with the rest of the ingredients. I am considering using that together with a poolish (which is like a pre-ferment but with a touch of yeast). I imagine that a little more time could make some phenomenal pita.
that was lovely! Pitas are usually made in an oven with an open flame - this extra heat gives it the slight charring required, and it cooks REALLY fast. The other way to eat Shwarma is with a different bread called Laffa, of which there are several types around the middle east (with or without yeast. the one with is used for shwarma). basically it's a big disc shaped wrap but much thicker and doughy than Mexican style wraps so it keeps all the meat juices and tahinni and salads secured. In Shwarma shops they keep the Laffas stacked and wrapped in plastic bags so they keep moist. Now, you'll never eat a Laffa on its own, it has very neutral flavor and dries really quickly - it has to be wrapped around juicy meats. the other popular type of Laffa is also called a Druze Pita and is made super thin on a convex circular iron plate over coals. It's without yeast, and you need good technique to stretch it out correctly and handling it without it ripping - the old Druze ladies in charge of it use a big circular pillow. It's awesome seeing them stretch the dough in just a few seconds with very little effort, unlike showboating Pizza chefs :-) The Druze Pita is traditionally topped and wrap a mix of dried Zaatar with toasted sesame seeds, olive oil, Labane goat cheese and Tabule salad (like a mediterrenean Parsley based salsa which is like 80% chopped Parsley by volume so SUPER fresh herb taste). These are eaten DIRECTLY after cooking, still hot from the fire. otherwise it dries up very very fast. keep up the good work!
BEAUTIFUL! I always love the 'magic' puffing of my pitas. In my experience, cast iron griddles work as well as pizza stones or the like. The softer dough allows for quick steam just when it is needed for the in-oven rising!
Gave this one a shot this evening, had pretty good results! Heated up a casserole dish on the hob to cook them, worked well enough, although they weren't as puffy as yours!
I've recently found your channel, and I really love the way you've set it up. The taste testing and opinions are lovely. I'm wishing I'd have found you earlier in this Coronaland timeframe of life. I'd have been cooking along with you the whole way. Oddly enough, I stumbled upon your channel by way of my culinary exploits last night, I made Ricotta cheese from scratch and was looking for things to use the leftover whey with. I used 3tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of the vinegar (it turned out fantastic). The reason I used the lemon juice was that I wanted to use the ricotta for dessert recipes, and the method I used advised one should utilize the vinegar to make ricotta for savory dishes. Then suggested/recommended the usage of lemon juice to make the ricotta for sweet or dessert dishes. Anywho, thank you so much for such a lovely, informative, kitchen tinkering and food experimenting channel. I wonder, have you ever tried to make naan bread?? That's my next kitchen mission this week (hopefully anyway) and would love to have your take sometime in the future to see what you might do differently than what I would or will do, depending on the time difference of our trials. I've liked, subscribed, and most assuredly signed up for notifications on your channel. Thanks Again for taking the time to kitchenate or kitchen educate for us all!
If you look at when Glen flips the pitas you can see that as the steam comes out the pita expands a tiny bit. The pocket is made by the steam running out from each side of the dough creating bubbles which come together to make a larger bubble, then that becomes the pocket. I also believe the lack of crust formation is due to high heat and highly hydrated flower, that would also explain the color on the dough.
On all my dough I make. Mix all but oil until combined. Kned for 5 min. Rest for 5 min. Kned while adding oil for 5 min. Let rise for 15 min. Kned again for 5 min. Let rise until double. Punch down and place in baking pans, Let rise until doubled or 2 inches above rim of pan. Put in 400 degree oven I until golden brown. For pita bread, roll out and rest for 10 to 15 min. And cook in oven until puffed.
Can confirm, these come out proper. Made a roasted garlic and red pepper hummus and some quick pickled red cabbage to go with them ( just the stuff I had), super tasty bread and also if you roll a little thicker makes a great flat bread
Been eating a lot of pitas recently, bread has been in and out of stock at the local shop but they’ve always had pita. Will definitely be giving this one a go
If you're running low on yeast, you can do low rent sourdough, just save a bit of your dough and treat it like starter. If you're not going to bake soon, just freeze it. When you want to make more bread, take it out and let it warm up again. Eventually it goes bad, but I've stretched one packet of yeast to last almost a year baking bread pretty much every day. And I still have part of the original packet in the fridge.
@j m We cover that in our No Knead recipe: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4gmCrbBGQy0.html And then do 3 other types of breads with the saved yeast. It's a great method.
Steam is your answer. The layer of dough against the hot surface causes it to release steam and the gluten on the other side holds it in basically tearing the dough apart in the middle. When you flip it you see another infusion of steam from the second side making it puff again.
This came just in time. I was planning to make pita today and this was very helpful. I also really like that you left in the part where you had to add the oil late. So common in real life!
Stephanie Morgan: They turned out great. Puffed up like great big clams! I don’t have a pizza stone, so I baked them on my cast iron skillet one at a time. One recipe I have said I could bake them right on the repack in the oven, so I think I’ll try that next time.
Thank you for this recipe and idea during my time at staying home and being safe.I tried these and they came out perfect.I did not have a pizza stone but I doubled 2 heavy sheet pans and that worked. Again thank you and stay safe.
It works without the oil. The oil adds some chewiness and elasticity to the final product but just flour salt yeast and water is just fine. I prefer to cook it on a hot pan on the stove. It doesn’t puff as well but you get nice char marks on the surface which adds superior flavor in my opinion.
I have made the no knead pandemic bread a bunch since quarantine started it’s so good. Thanks you so much for these videos the Family loves it making a loaf a week :) I tried a no yeast pita the first week of quarantine it was tasty but no pockets trying this one next!!!
I have just recently started making my own homemade pitta breads from the Chef John/Food Wishes recipe (I saw his before yours, but both of your recipes are very similar! 😁). I tried making mine in the oven and it was a big, fat failure, so I tried the stovetop method and I was so fascinated by the puffage, I had to film a time lapse on my phone!!! 🤓😂 I love your experiments, I learn so much! 😊 Thank you for sharing! 😁👍X
Hi Glen and friends! Been making some of your recipes for the past few weeks during the pandemic and I've loved then all! This one in particular was fantastic! I had tried another pita recipe and it made some nice, tasty naan-like flatbread but it didn't puff properly. First time making your recipe and I had a batch of beautiful soft, pita that had texture and taste exactly like store-bought! Keep it up!
This is the most popular bread in israel and Arab countries. You can eat it with anything. Put a bit Harisa in it, hummus, and sausage and you got delicious sandwich. Or jus put yellow cheese. Any thing you put in it it's much better then regular sandwich. About how the magic happrn: When you make the dough flat and you put it in a very high temperature the the water in the dough steamed rapidly before the dough fully cocked. And the steam makes the pocket.
Interesting. Another recipe to add to my bread file. I have made the greek style pita bread which, in my opinion, is more like naan bread. Thanks Glen and Jules. :)
I know this is an older video but based on videos by the "chainbaker" the way you mixed in the fat is probably the way to go. If you mix it in at the start it can coat the flour similar to biscuits and prevent as much gluten formation. So mixing fats in after the bulk of the gluten formation will give you a better dough/bread.
The difference can also be humidity in the atmosphere of your house. It does make a difference, especially in the extreme cases of making bread in the desert versus in a very humid part of the country like the American south or the eastern seaboard during the summer.
Hi Glenn. Please make the Schwarma if you need something to do with the finished product I'm sure a local homeless shelter would be greatful. Thanks for all the recipes and entertainment.
I would add a little bit of sugar to help with browning. Also from my experience rolling them a bit thicker will result in a more sturdy pita and more spongy which lasts longer and more delicious
baking it in the oven causes the dough to be heated in all directions instead of just the part touching the the stone. This means that by the time the pizza stone has turned the water in the dough into steam, the outside has already formed a 'skin' or crust that is strong enough to prevent the steam from just leaving. As a result the steam just creates a huge bubble on the inside rather than escaping out.
