Delicious Pita Bread done either Stove Top or in the Oven. If you're going after the Pockets, do them in the oven on a pizza stone. Stack Overlapping slightly for drier Pitas or on top of each other for soft and chewy.
Servings: 12Pitas
Prep30 minutesmins
Cook 30 minutesmins
Proofing2 hourshrs
Equipment
1 Dough Mixer or knead by hand
1 Whisk
1 Saran Wrap I use a dedicated garbage bag to cover the dough
1 Digital Scale
1 Bread Knife or Dough Scraper
1 Baking Sheet
1 Skillet or Pizza Stone
1 Rolling Pin
1 9 Inch Pot Lid
Ingredients
4CFlour - plus more if needed to achieve a tacky dough and rolling the pitas out.
Mix Water, Sugar, Yeast & 2 C Flour with a Whisk. Cover with Plastic and place into the Oven. Turn the oven on for 20–30 seconds and then turn the oven off. Leave for about 30 minutes.
Add 2 C Flour, Salt & JAH Poly Flour. Mix 3 minutes on low and 5 minutes on a higher gear. Add more flour if needed. You're looking for a tacky dough. Cover with Plastic and place into the oven. Turn the oven on for 20–30 seconds and then turn the oven off. Leave until doubled, about 1 hour.
Weigh and Shape into 90 g dough balls and let rest 20 minutes or so covered. If the dough is too tacky, coat in some flour to handle it easier.
On a heavily floured surface, flatten out all the Dough Balls with the palm of your hand. Repeat for each dough ball. Then roll the dough out to about the same size as a 9-inch pot lid and use the Pot lid to stamp to get a perfect circle. Shake off any excess flour by tossing from hand to hand and set aside covered. If the dough sticks to the roller, coat the dough in more flour. If the dough shrinks back too much, allow the dough to rest longer.
Oven Pitas
Preheat the oven to the highest setting, with a pizza stone in place in the lowest or second-lowest rack position. Wait until it is fully preheated before cooking the Pitas.
Place Pita Bread in and cook until it puffs up. Hold it there for about 30 seconds before transferring it to a plate and repeat.
Stove top Pitas
Heat a skillet up over medium heat and allow a few minutes for it to warm up.
Place Pita Bread and cook just until bubbles start to form. Flip the Pita bread over and cook another 20 - 30 seconds. Flip the Pita bread back over and finish cooking the other side. At this time, large air pockets should form. Gently press on the large air pockets to assist in creating a full pocket. Transfer to a plate and repeat.If Pockets are not desired, then cook well on the first side, flip and cook on the other side. Pockets may still form, but are less likely.
Notes
Dry Pita - Cook in the oven for a few seconds after they puff, and don't stack them on top of each other. Wrap in a bag once at room temp.Soft Pita - Cook on Stove Top and Stack on top of each other. Flip some of the Pita over when placing the Hot Pita on Top to in effect steam the Pitas above the hot one. Wrap in a Plastic Bag while Still warm. Try pita bread for your Pita Pizzas!