Tortilla press

[Richard Chrz]

I’ve been contemplating making all of my flour tortillas, but do not want to roll them anymore, who has one they love?

[SheilaAnn]

Following….in the event someone talks about SUCCESS with flour tortillas and a press. My last effort was a fail. So I hand rolled them. I did try and do it with parchment paper, which may have been the problem. In hindsight, maybe should have used plastic wrap.

[RichardCullip]

What little I know about tortilla presses is that they are great for corn tortillas but not so much for flour tortillas. I think the gluten in the flour makes them a bit too elastic for the press. I have had great luck pressing out half- corn-half-flour tortillas into nice round 6" tortillas.

[Starsky]

This is the press I've been toying with. I opted for the 8" model. I realized that I'd never to be able to season it like a cast-iron pan, so I experimented. Wax paper doesn't work. Saran wrap doesn't work. I ended up using a quart freezer bag and cutting off the top and two sides, leaving the bottom fold so I'd have both the top and bottom covered. Also, I had to experiment with the Masa. I found that slightly drier works better. I use my scale and found that a ball approximately 1.4 oz makes a decent size tortilla.

[texastweeter]

Zipper baggies ftw

[barelfly]

Plastic wrap has worked for me, but zip top bags do work better.

[SheilaAnn]

This is the one I have too.

[texastweeter]

No bueno for flour. Maybe an extra wide pasta roller.

[barelfly]

The Victoria press shown above is what I have. Love it. Others on here have purchased it as well and like it. But, I don’t use it for flour tortillas. I only make corn tortillas so I can’t comment on the functionality of it with flour.

[Starsky]

I didn't realize that flour tortillas were so different. I'm still new to this whole homemade tortilla thing

[Richard Chrz]

Learning the same thing..

[RichardCullip]

Well, I might have to be corrected - here's a website that claims it's easy to use a tortilla press for flour tortillas. The key is to knead it into an elastic dough and rest it for 30 minutes before pressing. https://thetortillachannel.com/flour...ortilla-press/

[Richard Chrz]

The knead and rest part I’m super comfortable with. Thank you, look forward to the link.

[mnavarre]

Yeah, unfortunately a press doesn't work for Tortillas de Harina. The gluten doesn't want to smush out like masa and the dough tends to stick to the plastic you use to line the press. You can play with the fat and hydration to make them somewhat easier to roll out. I think lard or duck fat make a more easier workable dough than shortening or butter, and the Tex-Mex style that are leavened with baking powder tend to roll out easier.

And as much as I loathe and despise grocery store corn tortillas, brands like Mission or Gurerro make pretty acceptable flour tortillas.

So, you're pretty much stuck rolling out flour tortillas if you wan to make your own. But you should still get a press and a bag of Maseca (Or masa Harina from Masienda) and make your own corn tortillas. Because fresh corn tortillas are amazing.

[Mark V]

I haven't tried making corn tortillas, and rarely make anything at home using them. But, I have found that flour tortillas made at home are a lot better than any I have found at any American grocery. So, I do take the time to make my own flour tortillas. I will have to try homemade corn tortillas sometime.

[mnavarre]

I'm not saying that grocery store flour tortillas are good, just acceptable. But I also have a Tortilaria de Harina across the street from the house, so I don't make flour tortillas often.

[SheilaAnn]

mnavarre not to place a stereotype, but we are blessed here with decent tortilarias. Saturday, the owner of Masienda is doing a talk at my friends shop.

[Red Man]

The solution to your problem is to make corn tortillas 😁. I haven’t bought any tortillas since I first bought some masa harina from Masienda. The blue masa harina is my favorite but they’re all good and corn tortillas are super easy to make.

[barelfly]

I still need to buy some blue masa harina!