GNOWFGLINS™

Whole Wheat Pocket (Pita) Bread — Picture Tutorial

This recipe makes 16 7-inch loaves and uses the Bosch Universal mixer. The recipe can be halved for kneading by hand or if using another mixer.

My grandmother and my namesake, Tata Wardeh, taught my mom to make pocket bread the age-old traditional way, which ironically, was with white flour or a blend of white and wheat flours. In the following recipe, I haven’t changed the traditional method, but I have altered it to make it 100% whole wheat. In addition, I added oil to the recipe to add moisture and elasticity to the dough.

Reading through this tutorial, you may think it is overwhelming. It may seem so, but I promise that the results are worth the effort! And I think you’ll find that after you do it once, the next time it won’t seem so hard. I encourage you to be willing to practice; your first batch may be less than perfect. I have a learning curve myself. I can’t think of anything that I’ve ever done really well on the first try!

Ingredients:

• 12 to 14 cups whole wheat flour (preferably hard white wheat flour, freshly ground)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons yeast
• 5 cups warm filtered water
• 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons raw honey or raw agave syrup
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

1. Sponge the Dough.

Put 6 cups of the whole wheat flour, all the water and all the yeast in the mixing bowl. Turn on to speed 1 intermittently, to mix until just blended. Cover bowl with both lids (lock in place) and allow to sit for 15 to 30 minutes, until bubbly and much bigger.

2. Knead the Dough.

Remove inner lid. Punch down by briefly turning on mixer to Speed 1. Add the gluten flour, olive oil, honey, salt, and 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Put on inner lid. Begin mixing on Speed 1. Removing lid for each addition, add 1 to 2 cups (or more) whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough feels springy, but not gooey. Increase to Speed 2. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, with both lids on. You want the dough to be soft and springy after the kneading is complete. Overkneading or underkneading will result in tougher dough, so begin checking for springy-ness at about 7-1/2 minutes and every 30 seconds thereafter until you feel the dough is nice and soft.

3. The First Rise.

Transfer dough to a large, greased stainless steel bowl. Rotate it around so it gets coated on all sides, top and bottom, with the oil in the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Let rise until the dough increases by 30 to 50 percent, about 30 minutes.

4. Prepare a Place for Second Rise.

Choose a spacious counter or tabletop. Gather up a large piece of plastic (such as a vinyl tablecloth) and a sheet. If the resting place is smaller than the cloth sizes, get the cloths ready on a free floor space. Lay out the plastic and lay the sheet on top of it. Fold the plastic and sheet in half as one piece, keeping the plastic on the top and bottom. Adjust how you fold it to fit your resting place. For instance, you may have to start with the plastic and the sheet folded in half, then fold them in half together to fit on the resting place. In any case, you should end up with layers in this order: layer(s) of plastic, layer(s) of sheet, layer(s) of sheet, layer(s) of plastic. The resting dough will go between the layers of sheets.

5. Shape Dough Balls & Second Rise.

Return to dough. Pinch off chunks of dough and shape into 16 3-inch balls, tucking under as you shape. Place between prepared sheets to rise. Allow a 2-inch space around each ball for rising.

Cover and wait about 20 to 30 minutes. Balls should almost double in size. For warmth, if necessary, add another blanket to the top.

6. Prepare a Place for Third Rise.

Use a tabletop or the top of a bed. Gather two sheet and two blankets and lay them out in this order: blanket, sheet, sheet, blanket. You’ll need more space during this rise than the previous because each ball of dough will be rolled out to a 6 or 7 inch diameter.

This picture shows my 4 layers for rising on the tabletop. The top 3 are peeled back.

Roll up the top two layers (blanket and sheet) all the way to one end. You’ll unroll these over the dough that you transfer to rise here.

7. Roll Out Balls of Dough & Third Rise.

When balls have rested and risen, use a rolling pin on a clean, floured surface, to roll each dough ball to 1/4-inch thickness. Always roll gently. Do not over-roll. Leave the edges thick. You need to feel your own rhythm here — applying enough pressure to spread out the dough, but not too much to destroy the structure. This will come with practice. Concentrate on keeping the edges thick by lifting up the rolling pin before it reaches the edges.

Follow the method shown in these pictures.

Put a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface.

Flatten each ball gently with the palm of your hands.

Roll up and down once with the rolling pin. This counts as 2 rolls.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees by grasping the top of the dough and moving it counter-clockwise.

If the dough were a clock, you’d grasp it up by the “12″…

…and rotate it around counter-clockwise to the “9″.

Roll up and down once with the rolling pin. This is another 2 rolls.

You will repeat the rotating and rolling for no more than 5 to 6 rotations, or 10 to 12 rolls, at which point the dough should be at about a 6 to 7 inch diameter.

This one is done being rolled out. It is 7 inches diameter. Notice that the edges are still thick, even slightly thicker than the rest.

Carry the rolled out dough to the third rising place and place between the sheets. Here is where you will unroll the top layers as you fill it up. Repeat with all the remaining balls of dough. Do not allow the rolled out dough to touch. Be very gentle.

Let the dough rise for approximately 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours, until it is quite puffy.

8. Prepare & Preheat Oven.

About an hour into the third rise, arrange the oven racks by putting the bottom rack in the lowest position and the top rack in the second highest position. Fully preheat oven to highest bake setting 500 degrees or 550 degrees. You know your oven best. If it needs more than an hour to get up to temperature, start it sooner. Start it later if it doesn’t need quite as much time.

Also prepare a place for the finished loaves. Use a big towel folded in half on a clear countertop, preferably near the oven. The loaves will cool between the layers.

9. Bake Loaves.

After the 1-1/2 to 2 hour rise, very gently put 2 loaves (keeping the other rolled out loaves covered) on a baking sheet. Begin with the loaves that went to the rising place first. Use 2 baking sheets and 4 loaves if your oven will fit them both on the bottom rack.

As quickly as possible (while still being gentle), put the baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven. Close the oven door quickly to retain heat.

Put two loaves in the oven to bake for 3 to 4 minutes.

Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, until loaves are puffed up and browned on the bottom. Sometimes 1 or both loaves will not puff up. In this case, bake for the full 4 minutes (unless the bottoms are getting too browned) and proceed to the next step.

Transfer the baking sheet to the upper rack and close the oven door quickly. Switch to broil for approximately 1 minute, or until the loaves are brown on top. Often, loaves that did not puff up during the bake will now puff up when broiled.

These loaves puffed up beautifully. I just transferred them to the top rack and switched to broil for 1 minute.

Remove the loaves from the oven and transfer them to between the layers of the towel you prepared earlier on the counter. This preserves moisture as the loaves cool. My mom and my Aunt Nina prefer to turn the loaves upside down when between the towels to cool. I don’t know if there is a scientific basis for this, but they say it helps make better bread. So now that’s what I do, too. I trust them.

It is okay to pile the loaves up on top of each other during the cooling.

Switch oven back to bake at 500 degrees or 550 degrees. Fill the baking sheet with another 2 loaves from the resting place. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes on the lower rack, then switch to the upper rack and broil for 1 minute. Transfer to the cooling area on the counter. Repeat for all loaves.

10. Finishing.

When loaves are cooled, bag them in plastic bags. Keep some out for immediate consumption and freeze the rest.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon.