# Regarding tortillas



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Does anyone make tortillas?

I've bought flour tortillas, lately, that dry out quickly even when I steam them soft. Must have a chemical to dry in it.

Do you have a favorite tortilla brand? Have you made them?


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

I don’t make them, I buy them. Keep them wrapped in fridge,
they last for weeks.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I guess it's too labor intensive for most.

I may be buying too cheap of tortillas.:wink2:


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

Oh, to answer the question on brands...I buy the Chi Chi ones. 
They are good. :thumbsup:


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

I love flour tortillas and usually buy Rio Grande brand. These are made by La Ranchera here in Houston, they make several brands all tasting a little different and costing different also.

To reheat them I prefer a griddle to microwave. You need a good hot griddle, heat resistant finger tips and have to move fast. They take seconds only, too long and they get crisp.

I have tried this recipe. Personally I think it has a little too much fat in it. Next time I try to make them I'll use 1 less Tablespoon of lard. I don't have the skill to roll them out round but do they really need to be round?

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/flour-tortillas/


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

wooleybooger said:


> I love flour tortillas and usually buy Rio Grande brand. These are made by La Ranchera here in Houston, they make several brands all tasting a little different and costing different also.
> 
> To reheat them I prefer a griddle to microwave. You need a good hot griddle, heat resistant finger tips and have to move fast. They take seconds only, too long and they get crisp.
> 
> ...


Interesting, how they incorporate the lard, first. As soon as water is added, gluten begins to form & will make it tougher, the longer it's worked. Like pie crust.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

Nik333 said:


> Interesting, how they incorporate the lard, first. As soon as water is added, gluten begins to form & will make it tougher, the longer it's worked. Like pie crust.


Yes. I've started combining the lard (I don't use shortening) with the dry ingredients in most recipes I make adding liquid last. I just rub it in with fingers to the proverbial cornmeal look stage, even when I make cornbread. I think it gives a much more tender crumb like that. Pancakes come out almost cottony looking inside.


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## Username10 (Feb 26, 2018)

“Santa Fe” tortilla from sams club. High fiber. Low carbs. No hydrogenated vegetable oil. Taste great.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I think the brands are regionally different.

The main market here has 50% Hispanic customers. I asked a young Mexican-American clerk whose mom makes them. Lucked out! So I have hand made Masa tortillas, & Guerrero ready to bake tortillas & cooked ones. I must have 50 tortillas!:biggrin2:


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

I may be the loner on this but I prefer corn tortillas. I regularly eat at a restaurant owned by a man named Juan who makes the best tacos I have ever had and it's the traditional two corn tortilla taco. I have thought flour tortillas tasted second best ever since.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I keep the flour ones in the fridge for months so you must be speaking of corn ones which don't keep quite as long but will keep longer in the Fridge.



You can make either at home but without a press it will be hard to make the thin kind you buy. Corn tortillas are nothing more than masa harina corn meal, water and salt. The recipe is on the bag of corn meal. Do not substitute regular corn meal.


The real deal made at home bears little resemblance to the commercial product the fast food industry has popularized.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Colbyt said:


> I keep the flour ones in the fridge for months so you must be speaking of corn ones which don't keep quite as long but will keep longer in the Fridge.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No, it's the flour tortillas that dry out. It is drier here. I suspect a drying chemical to prevent mold, but don't really want to research the chemicals.:smile:


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

stick\shift said:


> I may be the loner on this but I prefer corn tortillas. I regularly eat at a restaurant owned by a man named Juan who makes the best tacos I have ever had and it's the traditional two corn tortilla taco. I have thought flour tortillas tasted second best ever since.


Yes, they are definately good for different dishes. Do you like tamales? Corn, also.


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## Mystriss (Dec 26, 2018)

We buy local so it's always fresh (even in the Costco size) https://tacolocoalaska.com/

If I forget about them in the back of the fridge till they start getting stiff/crumbly on me, I toss them in a pan of hot canola oil for about 3 seconds; softens them right up!


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

If anyone is interested, I found an interesting Wikipedia about "nixtamalization" - the making of masa. We learned a simpler version in 5th grade when we studied simple Spanish. Good teachers in those days.


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## romiller (Mar 26, 2018)

I have make my own tortillas but lately I have been buying uncooked tortillas from Costco and/or Sams (?). They are in the refrigerated section and the brand is Tortilla Land. I just throw them in a cast iron skillet and cook them as I need them.


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## wooleybooger (Feb 23, 2019)

romiller said:


> I have make my own tortillas but lately I have been buying uncooked tortillas from Costco and/or Sams (?). They are in the refrigerated section and the brand is Tortilla Land. I just throw them in a cast iron skillet and cook them as I need them.


I've made my own corn tortillas but haven't mastered that even with a tortilla press. Store bought either corn or flour I prefer to reheat on a very hot griddle.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

romiller said:


> I have make my own tortillas but lately I have been buying uncooked tortillas from Costco and/or Sams (?). They are in the refrigerated section and the brand is Tortilla Land. I just throw them in a cast iron skillet and cook them as I need them.



Yes, they're really good. I didn't even know we could buy them in a store.
Some of the corn tortillas went sour because I didn't use them quickly enough. No mold, though.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Corn tortillas are so much better; they have better taste, they keep better, unless they're hand-made without preservatives, and, when they go stale, you can make stale tortilla soup from them. MUCH better than it sounds!


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

That stale tortilla soup really turns people into gluttons. Poor people are the best cooks, like down in Mexico.


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