Interactive lesson

Pita pastry, step by step

Interactive lesson: flour that stretches, dough and resting, stretching on the table, rolled pita, pin-rolled sheets, fillings and safe baking.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Flour for the dough

Stretched dough is held together only by gluten: a network that stretches without breaking.

Strong white flour — Strong white bread flour (Balkan T-550 or T-500), with plenty of gluten, stretches beautifully. It needs a somewhat longer rest.
Plain flour — Plain flour (Balkan T-400) is soft, tears more easily and is more for cakes. For pastry sheets use half at most, blended with strong flour.
Wholemeal and light brown — Wholemeal won't stretch thin; it is for thicker pin-rolled sheets. Light brown flour (T-850) only up to 20–30 %, blended with white.
Test on a ball — Sift home stone-milled flour through the finest sieve you have. Test a new flour on a 250 g ball: if it stretches like rubber over half the table, it's good.

Why: The flour must have enough protein, and bran must not cut the network. That is why strong white flour holds a thin sheet and wholemeal tears.

Many households bake bread from their own flour and buy white flour for pitas. That is no shame; it is a good plan.
White spelt works, with care: the gluten is weaker, so rest it for less time and stretch it more gently.

2. Dough and resting

Behind dough made "by hand" there are clear measures: water, kneading and rest.

Weigh the ingredients — For a ∅ 40 cm (16 in) tin: 500 g strong white flour, 300–320 g lukewarm water at 30–35 °C, 9 g salt and 15 g oil. Vinegar, 5 g, is optional.
Knead until smooth — Flour and salt in a bowl, water, oil and vinegar in the middle. Knead 10–15 min, until the dough is silky and a finger dent comes back slowly.
Two balls — Divide the dough into 2 balls of about 410 g each. Coat them generously with oil and put them on a plate.
Rest under oil — Cover and rest 30–60 min at room temperature, 2 h at most. In summer, at 28–30 °C, rest it in the fridge and take it out half an hour before stretching.

Why: Under-kneaded dough tears when stretched. While it rests the gluten relaxes, so the dough stretches without resisting: rested dough stretches, unrested dough tears.

If you are just starting, weigh everything and write it in a log. After ten pitas, you too will know it "by hand".
Add water gradually: if the dough is stiff, add a spoonful at a time.