Conference turris::cooks

    I must disagree with .1
    
    I make Pita Bread almost every weekend and it is the EASIEST bread
    there is to bake!
    
    The secret to Pita bread is to use a VERY hot oven and to line it
    with baking sheets and let the sheets get up to oven temperature.
    If you really get into baking Pita buy some unglazed ceramic tiles
    form a tile shop, enough to line the middle rack in your oven.
    
    The pocket in Pita is made when you place the rolled out circles
    or oblongs of bread into the hot oven onto the hot baking sheets..
    the heat causes steam to form which blow the bread up in ball..
    this forms the pocket.. as the bread cools the pocket remains!
    
    Now the how to:  
    
    Make a quantity of BASIC bread dough..  This bread dough requires
    only water, flour (wheat or white), yeast and salt.  Don't bother
    using a fancy recipe with eggs, oil and other bread ingredients as
    the best Pita bread is made from a BASIC recipe.. I have added
    oatflakes, bran and other grains to my pita bread with success but
    when I make the dough too rich with eggs, oil or milk the bread is
    too heavy and does not have a good keeping ability.  You should
    have a good basic recipe for simple bread dough in any good cook
    book.. if not I'll bring in mine.
    
    Let the dough have one rising.. punch it down and squeeze into plum
    sized ball.  Shape each ball and let them rest about 20 minutes
    under plastic wrap or a towel.

    Line Middle Oven wrack with flat metal baking sheets or unglazed
    ceramic tiles.  Pre-heat oven to 500 F.    

    Now flour a good sized piece of counter top lightly.  Using a floured
    rolling pin and a lightly floured surface roll out each ball into
    an oval or circle shape.  It should be about 1/2 inch deep.  Lay
    circles to rest and proceed until you have them all rolled out..
    at this point I usually have my kitchen counters covered in these
    oval shaped breads!  Let these rest for approx: 20 mins while oven
    reaches temperature.
    
    Now with careful hands place the rested pitas in the oven quickly..
    I usually get about 4 in the oven on the baking sheets at a time..
    don't bring the baking sheets to the bread, take the bread to the
    sheets!.. it helps to make yourself a thin cardboard slide that you
    can flour to transport them carefully from the counter top to the
    oven..  Now peeking in through the oven door watch them blow up
    into balloons.. the pita bread only takes about 3-4 mins to cook
    fully!  As soon as they blow up, count to 30 and remove from oven...
    they will collapse gently as they cool.  Then proceed with the next
    lot.. They need careful watching but it all moves so quickly that
    it does not seem like a lot of work.  You should not open the oven
    door during cooking as they will cool and might not blow up properly...
    best to use an oven with a window.. if the light does not work in
    your oven shine a flashlight through the window to watch their
    progress.
    
    Pita bread is the most satisfying bread for a novice bread maker as
    there is no final rising and perfect results are easy to obtain
    as long as you follow the rules for pita making:
    
    1.  Make sure the oven is fully preheated and the baking sheets
        or tiles have been in there for at least 20 mins.
    
    2.  Only leave the oven door open long enough to get the rolled
        out pitas into the oven.  Shut the door immediately.
    
    3.  As soon as the pitas blow up count to thirty and remove.
    
    4.  Let them cool and collapse themselves... if you push on them
        or force them they'll split as they cool.
    
    5.  Use a BASIC bread dough recipe.
    
    
    Best of luck!  I've got some wonderful pita stuffings typed up in
    another notes file if you'd like them.. these include Hummus, Tabbouleh
    and Falafel.
    
    ps.  If you do get the odd 'duff' on that fails to form the pocket
    use it for a pizza base.. they make wonderful pizzas!
    
    gailann
        
   

    Hi,
    
    The pita bread recipe does sound good, but I do not have an oven
    with a glass door.   Is there a approx. amount of time that it usually
    takes for the bread to blow up like a balloon.  I'm assuming from
    your recipe that you need to keep the oven at 500 degrees so it
    is important not to open the door while the bread dough is cooking.
    
    Thanks for the info.
    
    Sarah

    
    My experience has shown that the bread only takes about 3-5 mins
    to cook..  
    
    If you do not have a window I'd suggest trying the first load at
    3 mins.. having a quick peek and if it has blown up wait another
    30 secs.  A few times and you should be able to time it close enough..
    If when you take the breads out of the oven they are a bit hard
    and reluctant to collapse decrease the time on the next round, if
    they are a bit dough like increase a tad.. 
    
    The baking sheets in the oven ensure the heat is kept at pretty
    much the right temp.  If you have to peek, you have to peek, I'd
    just keep it quick!! ;-)
    
    As I said if you do get a batch that don't blow up or are over cooked
    and a bit tough make pizza!  I never waste a scrap of pita bread
    this way..
    
    BTW:  If you want to add sesame seeds or poppy seeds to your bread
    do so when you first roll out the balls.  Sprinkle over the seeds
    and run over lightly with the rolling pin.  Then let them rest the
    20 mins before baking.
    
    gailann

    An important factor involved: the length of time is directly
    proportional to how thick the circles are. I roll circles out to about
    1/8th inch thick and cook for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. (I love my
    digital timer!) 

    I made Pita bread this past weekend following the instructions in .4.
    It was fun and all but two of my pitas ballooned.  There is one
    problem that perhaps someone can help with.  The pitas tasted very
    good but after being stored in the microwave covered with towels, they
    are very, very crisp.  I thought I'd be able to make sandwiches with
    them, but trying to slice them they just broke apart.  Should I have
    stored them in plastic bags to maintain some moisture?
    
    Flo

    You really need to keep Pitas wrapped in a plastic wrap to keep the
    moisture intact..  

    If you've got a load of crisp ones use them for pizza or warm them
    and cut into fingers for dips..  

    gailann

    Another trick that works is to take the crisp bread, and wrap it in one
    or two paper towels that have been wet and wrung out.  Then wrap the
    whole thing in foil and place in a warm oven (200) for 20 minutes.  
    
    Or you can just use the crisp bread as chips for hummus!
    
    			jp
    

    just use the damp paper towels and warm them in the microwave.....
    
    Monica

    break them into bite size pieces and put them into a salad
    made with oil and vinegar dressing.

    Thank you everyone.  Next time I will wrap them in plastic.  I'll heat
    some up tonight for supper.
    
    Thanks again.
    
    Flo

    Another way to get the moisture back is to put them out on the back
    lawn and hose them down for 5 - 10 minutes.
    
    				-d

   >> Another way to get the moisture back is to put them out on the back
   >> lawn and hose them down for 5 - 10 minutes.
    

	You know - it's funny that you should mention this.  I tried
	it with a genoise I had overcooked once and the results were
	quite satisfactory.  Mind you, I had to frost it later to hide
	the grass stains, but no one seemed the wiser and it did get
	me out of the house for a little while.

	Di
 

    I'd end up using the excuse 'the dog ate it' if I did this!