Masa Harina, Tips, Ideas, Recipes

[ecstatichamster]

Dr. Peat must have said "masa" not "matzoh" lol.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Beautiful !!

Thank you :)

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

Is anyone preparing tortillas? What type of pan do you use?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Is anyone preparing tortillas? What type of pan do you use?

I have made flour tortillas many times with heirloom Einkorn flour, using a cast iron pan, and they are beyond compare, but have not had luck making masa ones and not having them turn out dry. With my flour ones turning out so well I am gonna add a tablespoon of the Einkorn flour and a little liquid coconut oil to my next masa ones and see if they stay bendy.

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

They're looking very tasty, need to try flour tortillas sometime myself. Why einkorn flour though, if I may ask?

Adding coconut oil helps a lot, I've thought of using it last summer with masa made from flint corn. I mixed a little into the dough and kneaded it in and the tortillas were better, some even inflated. I still haven't had a real success story, some of the batches that I made were ok, some were really horribly indigestible, I haven't nailed down the process. I'm mostly blaming the type of corn that I have access to here in Central Europe. I can only get flint corn (indurata), but the correct variety is supposed to be dent corn (indendata). It's virtually impossible to get dent corn here. I've asked around the shops, went to the local mill and looked online. They are selling it only as an animal feed and from what I've gathered, it's heavily sprayed against pests, so I am rather reluctant to try it out. I find it kind of absurd, but maybe I'll have some luck in the future.

I did find prepared masa in one of the stores, but it's too expensive to eat it on the regular basis. Too bad, because it's really good and I don't think there are any additives. At least they are not declared. The masa itself is super sweet and feels right, tortillas are really good and it's beyond comparison to ones that I made from scratch. No wonder. I have another reason for frustration though, because the dough is sticking to almost any kind of pan that I have. I've also tried cast iron and I've recently bought carbon steel pan (which I am struggling to season properly because I have an electric stove top, but that's another story), but the only pan that works is teflon coated nonstick pan, which I would rather avoid.

Maybe it's just the electric stovetop, which is hard to regulate for heat. It can get too hot and then it's hard to bring it down and vice versa. And of course my total lack of experience, I would love to meet some mexicana or americana, so I'd see it firsthand, there's zero tradition of preparing tortillas here, I need to find some mexican food place that prepares them from scratch.

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

That's the masa that I bought, but it costs twice as much here.

White Masa Harina for Tortillas | Cool Chile

Buy 100% maize flour, essential for making Homemade Authentic Tortillas. Gluten Free and GM free. In stock now.

www.coolchile.co.uk

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

They're looking very tasty, need to try flour tortillas sometime myself. Why einkorn flour though, if I may ask?

Adding coconut oil helps a lot, I've thought of using it last summer with masa made from flint corn. I mixed a little into the dough and kneaded it in and the tortillas were better, some even inflated. I still haven't had a real success story, some of the batches that I made were ok, some were really horribly indigestible, I haven't nailed down the process. I'm mostly blaming the type of corn that I have access to here in Central Europe. I can only get flint corn (indurata), but the correct variety is supposed to be dent corn (indendata). It's virtually impossible to get dent corn here. I've asked around the shops, went to the local mill and looked online. They are selling it only as an animal feed and from what I've gathered, it's heavily sprayed against pests, so I am rather reluctant to try it out. I find it kind of absurd, but maybe I'll have some luck in the future.

I did find prepared masa in one of the stores, but it's too expensive to eat it on the regular basis. Too bad, because it's really good and I don't think there are any additives. At least they are not declared. The masa itself is super sweet and feels right, tortillas are really good and it's beyond comparison to ones that I made from scratch. No wonder. I have another reason for frustration though, because the dough is sticking to almost any kind of pan that I have. I've also tried cast iron and I've recently bought carbon steel pan (which I am struggling to season properly because I have an electric stove top, but that's another story), but the only pan that works is teflon coated nonstick pan, which I would rather avoid.

Maybe it's just the electric stovetop, which is hard to regulate for heat. It can get too hot and then it's hard to bring it down and vice versa. And of course my total lack of experience, I would love to meet some mexicana or americana, so I'd see it firsthand, there's zero tradition of preparing tortillas here, I need to find some mexican food place that prepares them from scratch.

"Einkorn flour is GMO-free and is loaded with the essential nutrients zinc, iron, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamins B6 and A. Bread made with einkorn flour is also high in antioxidants including carotenoids and lutein and has 30 percent more protein and 30 percent less starch than bread made from standard wheat flour."

Why You Should Be Using Einkorn Flour In Your Bread - Mashed

Einkorn flour is kind of a stealth superfood, as it has yet to gain the same kind of buzz that surrounds ancient grains in general. Why should you make your bread using this type of flour?

www.mashed.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

They're looking very tasty, need to try flour tortillas sometime myself. Why einkorn flour though, if I may ask?

Adding coconut oil helps a lot, I've thought of using it last summer with masa made from flint corn. I mixed a little into the dough and kneaded it in and the tortillas were better, some even inflated. I still haven't had a real success story, some of the batches that I made were ok, some were really horribly indigestible, I haven't nailed down the process. I'm mostly blaming the type of corn that I have access to here in Central Europe. I can only get flint corn (indurata), but the correct variety is supposed to be dent corn (indendata). It's virtually impossible to get dent corn here. I've asked around the shops, went to the local mill and looked online. They are selling it only as an animal feed and from what I've gathered, it's heavily sprayed against pests, so I am rather reluctant to try it out. I find it kind of absurd, but maybe I'll have some luck in the future.

I did find prepared masa in one of the stores, but it's too expensive to eat it on the regular basis. Too bad, because it's really good and I don't think there are any additives. At least they are not declared. The masa itself is super sweet and feels right, tortillas are really good and it's beyond comparison to ones that I made from scratch. No wonder. I have another reason for frustration though, because the dough is sticking to almost any kind of pan that I have. I've also tried cast iron and I've recently bought carbon steel pan (which I am struggling to season properly because I have an electric stove top, but that's another story), but the only pan that works is teflon coated nonstick pan, which I would rather avoid.

Maybe it's just the electric stovetop, which is hard to regulate for heat. It can get too hot and then it's hard to bring it down and vice versa. And of course my total lack of experience, I would love to meet some mexicana or americana, so I'd see it firsthand, there's zero tradition of preparing tortillas here, I need to find some mexican food place that prepares them from scratch.

Hopefully one of us will figure out how to make goid PLIABLE masa tortillas, cause I am anxious to get rid of the store bought ones with guar gum.

"Einkorn flour is GMO-free and is loaded with the essential nutrients zinc, iron, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamins B6 and A. Bread made with einkorn flour is also high in antioxidants including carotenoids and lutein and has 30 percent more protein and 30 percent less starch than bread made from standard wheat flour."

Why You Should Be Using Einkorn Flour In Your Bread - Mashed

Einkorn flour is kind of a stealth superfood, as it has yet to gain the same kind of buzz that surrounds ancient grains in general. Why should you make your bread using this type of flour?

www.mashed.com

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

I'll definitely report back when I make some that are up to the standards. :) It would be just an ideal substitute for bread and very cheap if I could get my hands on the proper corn. I ate some pseudo-tortillas (masa mixed with eggs to make pancakes) this week with liver pate and it was absolutely delicious. Still a little hard on digestion, liver obviously didn't help, but I must've undercooked the corn too. Some of them that I made last summer from scratch were tender, but not as sweet as from the store bought masa, so I am discouraged to try the whole process of nixtamilization again with flint corn.

Einkorn looks interesting, I don't think I have ever tried it? I did buy 25 kg of pizza flour in bulk which is supposed to be higher in protein (I got it in case SHTF) and I was dabbing with fermentation of the dough last month (putting it in fridge for a couple of days, so some of the starches break down into simpler sugars) and it's actually pretty good and digestible, it puffs up a lot when you bake it (very gassy) and it soft and sweet. But I'm not eating any these days, since I have access to better food. In the case of emergency we will at least have pizza. :)

Pizza calculator - Stadler Made

Make your own custom recipe with the pizza calculator.

www.stadlermade.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I'll definitely report back when I make some that are up to the standards. :) It would be just an ideal substitute for bread and very cheap if I could get my hands on the proper corn. I ate some pseudo-tortillas (masa mixed with eggs to make pancakes) this week with liver pate and it was absolutely delicious. Still a little hard on digestion, liver obviously didn't help, but I must've undercooked the corn too. Some of them that I made last summer from scratch were tender, but not as sweet as from the store bought masa, so I am discouraged to try the whole process of nixtamilization again with flint corn.

Einkorn looks interesting, I don't think I have ever tried it? I did buy 25 kg of pizza flour in bulk which is supposed to be higher in protein (I got it in case SHTF) and I was dabbing with fermentation of the dough last month (putting it in fridge for a couple of days, so some of the starches break down into simpler sugars) and it's actually pretty good and digestible, it puffs up a lot when you bake it (very gassy) and it soft and sweet. But I'm not eating any these days, since I have access to better food. In the case of emergency we will at least have pizza. :)

Pizza calculator - Stadler Made

Make your own custom recipe with the pizza calculator.

www.stadlermade.com

Since you cant find masa, another possible option to work with would be canned hominy, it is broken down with lime and is very sweet. I am thinking, now, that puting it in a food processor and mixing it with a little flour might be something for us consider. ?

 

[mayku-T-meelo]

Try it out and let me know! For me canned hominy would be even harder to obtain here, but haven't even looked for it to be honest. If I understand the naming correctly, masa is actually just ground up hominy? I do have a grain mill (got it in the brewery) and everything else. I even got calcium hydroxide from the aquatic store (it's used in ph regulation of aquarium) and I went through the whole process of nixtamilizing, step by step.

I'm not very surprised, there is no real market here for any of this, people haven't even heard of nixtamilization their whole life. I think I would otherwise have to order stuff from abroad, but even on the European level I can't find an online shop that sells lime or right type of corn that would be good for human consumption. If anyone knows anything, I am all ears.

Lime was probably the hardest thing to get beside the right type of corn, which I still don't have. Flint corn is less starchy and I think it has somewhat higher protein value which is not good tor tortillas, but it's less hard than dent corn, so people cook it and eat it, without nixtamilizing. There are ready made tortillas in the store, so they must have some access to the proper corn on the industrial level, but I don't see anyone selling it in raw form on a consumer level. I am definitely overthinking on this, but it would be satisfying to have it and make it properly on my own. Apart from good taste, it's also dirt cheap, least toxic among grains and apparently quite nutritious.

 

[Lollipop2]

masa tortillas, cause I am anxious to get rid of the store bought ones with guar gum.

What are they doing?!?! Putting guar gum in tortillas? Nutso. Tortillas are 1,000’s of years old no one ever needed guar gum to hold them together. The trick to soft tortillas is reheating with ghee for like 20 secs each side - they get soft as ever.

I saw those at WFM and it made me so upset.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

What are they doing?!?! Putting guar gum in tortillas? Nutso. Tortillas are 1,000’s of years old no one ever needed guar gum to hold them together. The trick to soft tortillas is reheating with ghee for like 20 secs each side - they get soft as ever.

I saw those at WFM and it made me so upset.

It is the only 100% masa tortillas i have found. All others are masa and corn.

 

[Lollipop2]

It is the only 100% masa tortillas i have found. All others are masa and corn.

I get 100% masa and they are TX made no guar gum. Fantastic really. Again need to reheat on med for like 20-30 each side with a thin layer of ghee spread on each side. I then fold them in a piece of parchment paper baking sheet and the tortillas stay soft and steamed. Yummmmy...

 

[Demyze]

Yes all of the store brands have xantham gum and or guar gum. An organic brand I found at the store also additionally had carragenan. Somebody needs to teach these food corporations a lesson, it's disgusting

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I get 100% masa and they are TX made no guar gum. Fantastic really. Again need to reheat on med for like 20-30 each side with a thin layer of ghee spread on each side. I then fold them in a piece of parchment paper baking sheet and the tortillas stay soft and steamed. Yummmmy...

Do they sell the ones you buy online?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I get 100% masa and they are TX made no guar gum. Fantastic really. Again need to reheat on med for like 20-30 each side with a thin layer of ghee spread on each side. I then fold them in a piece of parchment paper baking sheet and the tortillas stay soft and steamed. Yummmmy...

If people don't care about their health then why should the company? I agree with you though it is sad.

 

[SuperStressed]

Masa Harina pancakes are better than you'd think they'd be! I mix sugar into mine. I cannot imagine what a Masa cookie would taste like but I have to try.