Corn tortilla tutorial needed

Cynthias post on the What's Cooking thread reminded me that I have tried, likely not enough times, to make corn tortillas using dried masa and have never been happy with my results. Any tried and true tips would be appreciated.

Not the kind of response you are looking for, Christina -- but I've pretty much decided that making your own tortillas is like making your own wine. It's a lot of effort, and in the case of wine, a home winemaker who makes something as good as "two buck Chuck" is probably in the top 99% of home winemakers, and probably spent way more than 2 bucks a bottle to make it. My neighbor bought a tortilla press and she was fairly happy with her results, but to my mind they were too thick and the texture wasn't right. Since our local Hispanic population went up you can't enter a grocery store around here without finding excellent tortillas for about $2 per hundred (well, maybe more expensive than that, but doesn't make a difference). I love tortillas and a standard breakfast for me is 1) tortilla on plate, 2) a little jalapeno jack cheese on top, 3) melt slightly in microwave, 4) top with egg-beater omelet and 5) drench with salsa. Low in calories and quite delicious... I eat them all the time and it takes me weeks to go thru one of those cheap packages.

[Jenise]

Frank, I totally get what you're saying. I went to a Mex restaurant awhile back where my tortillas were made to order. I was impressed--until I ate one. It was powdery and seemed undercooked, which it may have been--didn't have the chewiness that I love about a corn tortilla. I've had others handmade that I've loved. I'm sure it all comes down to the quality of ingredients and technique, but it's hard to beat the $2.19 I paid yesterday for a package of three dozen at a local market that has a tortilleria in it. They were machine made, not hand, but undeniably fresh and somewhat chewy in the way I like a corn tortilla to be. I would want any I made to have that same texture, but be more irregular in shape and pick up more color from the griddle. If I can't get the right stuff around here to achieve that, then there's no point.

Powdery is what I was looking for to describe my neighbor's tortillas. And she's quite a good cook.

Maybe you have to let the masa SOAK for a long time in the liquid before you form the tortillas???

[Robin Garr]

A trendy new eatery here - it's called Taco Punk, which kind of describes the concept - was selling house-made corn tortillas a while back, and I found them profoundly un-satisfying. They reminded me very much of rolled, un-cooked pie dough, only made with masa. Useless for tacos, they broke into chunks when you tried to pick them up.

[Jenise]

They reminded me very much of rolled, un-cooked pie dough, only made with masa. Useless for tacos, they broke into chunks when you tried to pick them up.

Exactly what I mean by powdery and what the made-to-order tortillas I had recently were like, good analogy. But not a good tortilla.

Speaking as a non-baker, this sounds like a problem with gluten. Does corn have gluten that can be activated?

Jeff, I was working my way around to thinking about gluten too. That has to be the answer, gotta knead the dough, or SOMETHING.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten

Maize has a protein that is not the same as the one in wheat and barley, but acts like gluten regardless.

EDIT -- Ta Da!!

http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/techniq ... llas_2.htm

Knead the Dough!!

Yes, two things are essential: let the masa hydrate long enough, and knead the dough before forming.

We can get them freshly made from any store here, but we don't eat them fast enough to keep them fresh and I hate to waste them. It costs pennies to make a batch, and I get to take out my frustrations on slamming that press home.

What means "long enough " ? Give me a hint about desired texture for both of these recommendations :-}

I mix the masa, water, and a little salt in my food processor. Knead by hand, adding tiny amounts of water, until it's very soft and smooth. Then I let it rest tightly wrapped 30 minutes before forming.

Always keep it covered while using it to keep it moist. If it starts to dry out, spray with a little water.

A Mexican woman I know says that if you are having a hard time getting the right consistency, you can add a very small amount (about 1 tsp) of vegetable shortening while mixing. I don't.