The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

I Made Pita!

Rosalie's picture
Rosalie

I Made Pita!

I made Pita!  My first time.  I had thought, maybe, there was some voodoo involved, but there isn't.

I used Beatrice Ojakangas' "Whole Wheat Pita Bread" recipe on page 277 of "Great Whole Grain Breads".  I stuck the dough in the fridge overnight, planning to pick up her instructions after the kneading.  But the recipe got confusing.  If I took her literally, I would "preheat" the oven to 500 after I stuck the rounds in the oven; didn't make sense since I was baking only for 4-5 minutes and in three batches.

I sat on the floor and watched through the oven window each batch bake.  After about the two-minute mark, they would start to fluff up.  By the end of the baking time, they were fully-puffed out.  I ate one and it was delicious!  Next time I'd probably make them a bit smaller, though.

Does anyone know of a pita-making video?  I think that might help.

Rosalie

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I've seen some on You-Tube...

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

I made my first pitas some years ago when my nephew was on his first day of summer holidays and was already bored.  When his mother came in, we were sitting on stools, watching the pitas puff.  I've made some different recipes since then, settling on one by Martha Rose Shulman.  It sounds to me as if you don't need a video!  The one I'd like to try next is Beatrice Ojakangas's oatmeal pitas, from that same book that you mentioned.  Oh by the way, I did once make a few pitas with dough leftover from a plain bread recipe just to see what would happen, and they puffed perfectly.

Rosalie's picture
Rosalie

I looked at a couple of videos on You Tube and read through Floyd's original posting on TFL.  I guess I don't need help.  Quite a few people on TFL complained that their 100% ww pitas didn't puff out, but mine did, no problem, first time. (!)

I'm still excited about the success of my pitas.  And how easy they were!  And especially since it's an alternative to mini-loaves.

I'll try it again with different flours.  Maybe spelt.  I'll find the oatmeal pitas in the Ojakanga book.  I'll make them smaller.  I'll continue rolling them out with my rolling pin, maybe putting a pair of those O-rings on the pin (just because I can).

My new favorite form of bread?

Rosalie

ema2two's picture
ema2two

I've also made the Whole wheat pitas from Epicurious.com and they came out delicious and puffed nicely.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Whole-Wheat-Pita-Bread-108122

flournwater's picture
flournwater