How To Prevent Cracked Homemade Tortillas - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

How To Prevent Cracked Homemade Tortillas - Tasting Table? ›

While there are many reasons why tortillas crack, the home cook wishing to prevent it needs only remember two things: maintaining proper moisture and temperature. Simply put, the tortilla dough should be room temperature (or ideally warmed by a recent knead), and never allowed to dry out.

Here are the down-and-dirty rules for preventing tortillas from cracking: Make sure the dough is at room temperature. Keep it moist at all times but not sticky (experts say it should have the smooth, pliant consistency of Play-Doh).

You want a hot pan on high enough heat that the tortillas cook quickly. The longer they are in the pan, the more they will dry out, making dry and brittle tortillas. The last tip is to stack the hot tortillas on a plate after cooking and keep them covered with a cloth towel to steam while they cool.

If your oil is too hot, the outside will cook more rapidly than the inside, creating a hard exterior that will inevitably rupture and crack. Dry tortillas crack and break. Hydrated ones don't.

“Keeping a cool consistent temperature will help prevent mold and bacteria,” explains our experts in the Test Kitchen. It's no secret that refrigerated tortillas are just not the same as fresh ones.

You can prevent cracked tortillas by pressing a test tortilla before you roll the rest of the dough into balls. If your test tortilla is indeed cracked (read: dry), simply add more water a tablespoon at a time, testing between each addition until the dough produces tortillas with smooth, even edges.

The dough's texture should feel springy and firm, similar to Play-Doh. If the dough feels too wet and is sticking to your hands, add in a few extra tablespoons of flour. If it feels too dry and crackly, add in an extra tablespoon or two of hot water.

Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavener, giving the tortillas a slightly pillowy texture. Salt: Salt enhances the overall flavor of the flour tortillas. Lard: Lard, a common baking ingredient in Mexican cuisine, adds flavor and helps create the perfect flour tortilla texture.

Helpful tips for soft tortillas:

Adding too much flour to knead or to roll out the tortillas will also create hard and dry tortillas.

Can you over knead tortilla dough? ›

Make sure you don't over knead– When we mix the ingredients together, only mix it until it's no longer shaggy. If you over knead it, you might run the risk of it becoming gummy. Get the pan hot– When you start to cook of your tortillas, make sure your pan is heated.

If your tortillas break upon folding, you might be over cooking them. Reduce the cooking time (even if they still look a little “wet”) and you will have a soft, flexible tortilla.

Finally, using a large offset spatula, carefully peel each tortilla layer away, placing on parchment paper to cool. Either use tortillas right away or refrigerate in the original plastic wrapper with parchment between each tortilla to prevent sticking.

You need ample moisture that can react with the heat in order for it to ultimately convert to steam and puff. If your masa has too little moisture, the tortilla in development will dry out before it can ever puff. A proper mixing/kneading process is critical to ensuring well-distributed and even moisture.