I've made pitas about 3 times now and having a puffing problem. The first time I got pockets, however they were very thin on the top and thick on the bottom. Second and third times I got uneven puffing and also  no puffing at all. I tried raising the oven temp - from 400, to 450, to 475. Using yeast bought a month ago, works fine in rising the dough and in my other breads. I preheated for 2 hours or so this last time, to make sure the oven was thoroughly hot. Using tiles that are always in the oven. Tried rolling and hand shaping the dough to be very thin as recommended by others on the forum. No dice. What am I doing wrong? I follow the recipe, using whole wheat and AP. The big difference I can see is the first time, I made 7 "large" pitas and the second and third times I made several smaller ones.   Is it possible that somehow there's uneven temperature in the oven, or on the tiles? Sometimes even in the same batch some pitas have a pocket while others don't or just look lumpy.

Side view of problem pitas.

I've been making fresh bread for my family a few times a week for about a year now.  For sandwich bread, I leave one loaf out, and put two in the freezer.  Leftover pizza just gets put in the fridge.  I haven't had a problem.

Last night I tried my hand at some whole wheat pita bread, baked on a stone in the oven.  Came out fantastic.  I allowed them to cool for a few hours, then wrapped them up and put them in the freezer.  When I took a few out today, they were covered in mold!  They had molded in the freezer overnight!  How does that even happen, and how can I prevent it from happening in the future?

Hi,

I have a question about pita breads. When I make pita breads I have no problem with getting them to puff up and expand like I want them to. What I was wondering about was do all pitas made in home style ovens end up with all or mostly all of the " crumb " on bottom side of the pita, the side facing a baking stone? I usually end up with the opposite side being almost like a thin crust with no crumb on that side. Bakery made pitas don't seem to have that problem.

Rodrip

So... time to try something new and the pictures of the pita breads on the right side of TFL has always appealed to me.

Being European, I had to use some other measurements and didn't bother getting the exactly like the recipe, so here's what I did, inspired by http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread.

Ingredients: (Made 8 pita breads á 50g)

• 1 dl tepid water
• 15g fresh yeast
• ½ dl plain natural yogurt (I can't seem to stop using this in my creations)
• 5g sea salt
• 5g honey
• 10g olive oil
• 50g durum/semolina flour
• 150g regular wheat baking flour + some for dusting and adding as nessecary.
• Optional: Spices (I used a tiny bit of ground chilli, smoked paprika and ground cilantro)

Mix the yeast with the water, add the yogurt, oil, salt and honey, mix well with a fork, till it's a greyish, oilish mixture.
Add the flour, a little at a time (100g) and stir with the fork as long as it makes sense.

Knead for around 10 mins or so. Let it rise under a luke warm tea towel in a warm place for 30 mins.

Carefully fold and strech the dough, and make a sausage. Cut the dough-sausage into appropriate size lumps, I weighed them and made them 50g. Let the pieces rest and rise for 5 mins.

Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough and hopefully you'll succeed in making them circular as well. Just make it really thin, not paper thin, but 3-5mm thick.

By this time your oven should be really hot (max. heat) and if you have a baking stone (which helps), it should be hot as well. Place the pancake lookalike dough onto the stone and bake them for 3 mins in 200°C or to taste. The breads should blow up like balloons.

Cut them up sidewise and enjoy your pitas.

Filling suggestion:
Garlic and herb roasted shoulder of lamb, sweet corn, tomato, cucumber, salad leaves and hot salsa.

...I'm going to quit blogging now and eat some more...

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! 

Recently I experimented with a basic lean pizza dough and made these rolls. They were great for sandwiches and my sons favorite, cheesy bread. They're similar to focaccia rolls however its hollow in the middle and more like a pita. 

http://neo-homesteading.blogspot.com/2010/11/pita-rolls-basic-pizza-dough.html

I am going to try my hand at pita bread using the recipe posted under favorites on this site. I will be serving them with dips so do not want a pocket. How do I avoid the puff in the oven that results in the pocket/ From reading the comments following the recipe I am inclined to make the breads thicker. Is this right? Other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I thought this cartoon would be appropriate for The Fresh Loaf. We got: Whole Wheat, Kaiser, French Bread, Challah, Rye Bread, Sourdough, Pumpernickel, Pita!  And that's how we roll with the ROLL CALL!

Posted on Evil Shenanigans on 3/23/2010 

I think pita bread may be magic.

Not that it will grant wishes or anything, but I think the way it goes from thin, flat dough into a hearty pocket of bread fascinating.  Aside from the fascination factor, the versatility of pita bread is endless.  Stuff them with lunch meat for a sandwich, top them with sauce and cheese for a pizza, or bake them until crisp for chips.  Yes, the pita is very versatile.

Notes on this recipe ...  First, they come out best if you can bake them on a raging hot pizza stone or cast iron skillet.  The stone, or skillet, should be heated for at least thirty minutes before baking for the best, and most puffy, results.  Second, these pita are made with whole wheat graham flour because it has the nutty flavor I wanted for this recipe, but if you do not have that standard whole wheat flour will work just as well.  Third, kept in a plastic bag the pita last for up to four days at room temperature.   

Honey Wheat Pita Bread   Yield 8 pita

1 cup whole wheat graham flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups water, heated to 110 F
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon canola oil

In a large measuring cup combine the water and yeast.  Let stand for ten minutes, until foamy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the yeast mixture, both flours, salt, honey, and oil.  Mix on low speed for three minutes then check to make sure the dough is not too liquid, but it should be sticky to the touch.  Mix on medium speed for five minutes.  Cover with plastic and let rise until double in bulk, about an hour.

Heat the oven to 475 F with a pizza stone, or 9″ or larger iron skillet, for thirty minutes.

Once the dough has risen turn out onto a floured surface and press out the excess gas.  Divide the dough into eight equal pieces.  Roll the dough into balls then cover with a towel and allow to rest for twenty minutes.

Once rested roll the dough into a thin circle, about 1/8″ thick.  Place the dough on the heated pizza stone and bake for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and puffed.  Cover the baked pita with a clean towel and repeat with the remaining dough.

Enjoy!

My family is originally from the Middle East (several generations ago) and it is pretty sad that every time I attempt to make Pita bread I do not get that classic hollow flat bread but instead I get something that resembles a puffy tortilla. Although there is nothing wrong with tortillas that is not really what I am after. What am I doing wrong? How do I get that classic pouch (for filling with falafel of course)? Does it have to do with the type of flour, or amount of time I knead it, or quantity of yeast? If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Also, if anyone has a great pita bread recipe please inform me of it. I recently made a sourdough starter and am wondering if it  is possible to make a sourdough pita?