February 3, 2011 - 4:19pm
Last night's TFL Pita
So last night I set off on my first Pita adventure using the TFL recipe.
I like weight/percentages, so I weighed out the measured ingredients to develop a formula by weight. This is my conversion technique pretty much for all baking now.
The original recipe was much too sticky for me as well (worked out to ~68% total hydration for me); had to add 50g more flour to get a manageable dough, and even then it was a tad bit wet. Overall hydration of 59-61% seems to be in the right ballpark for pita.
The below recipe is ~60% overall hydration:
Makes 8 balls @ 105g each
- 346g AP flour
- 148g whole wheat flour
- 297g water
- 28g olive oil
- 22g honey
- 11g salt
- 7.1g instant yeast
What I learned:
- Hot oven is a must, 500F worked best for me, baking stone on center rack
- 2 to 2.5 minutes was perfect for me; I would go ~2 minutes, and flip for 30 seconds.
- The rolled-out pitas that I left to rise covered for 30 minutes gave the most even puff. It also could've been the 450F oven, though...at 20 minutes and 450F, only a few of them puffed up completely.
- Next time, I will try the skillet/stove-top technique for better browning. Also much easier to place & turn than a 500F oven + baking stone!