@eric Can this recipe be made with the organic high protein bread flour I regularly buy from Breadtopia? If so, does it need less water than the whole wheat recipe states? I would love to try making pita bread as I love it! I love whole grain even more! I want to make your recipe as written but my husband shouldn’t eat whole grain. While I can make the whole grain pitas just for me, I’d love to make a “white” version he can enjoy (well, at least every once in a while, LOL).
Thanks,
Leah
I use King Arthur Bread Flour lately for my pita breads but I’ve also been using Gold Medal Bread flour. Mostly what I can get locally. I like to add about 10% Whole Wheat flour and end up with about 61% hydration.
I bake them on a griddle on the stovetop. I think they end up moister with a better chew.
Dave
@dave_r I don’t have a griddle for stovetop making of pita bread but I do have a 15" round baking stone I can put into my oven. I was thinking of cutting the recipe in half so that I only make 4 at a time because I think I can only fit 2-3 on the stone at one time to bake and I don’t need a huge amount of them at one time.
Do I need to change up anything much in Eric’s recipe if I’m using bread flour exclusively or adding just a portion of whole grain? Less water or just adding it in slowly as I mix the dough to know when the consistency is about right? I’m more of a “follow a recipe exactly” kind of baker though I am learning how to modify some recipes successfully to suit my needs. But when trying a recipe for the first time I tend to need exact instructions, etc. though I automatically use only 1/3 the amount of salt called for in any given recipe. That’s my standard modification. It’s enough salt so that finished bread tastes right but keeps all my breads low sodium for my husband. Learning how to bake bread for us has been quite a blessing for his medical/dietary needs.
I usually keep a couple loaves of my sourdough breads sliced in my freezer so I’ve got bread handy. Store-bought pitas have so much “stuff” in them; pita chips even more so. If I can successfully make some pita breads myself I can keep them low sodium, mostly or all white flour (for my husband) and still be able to indulge my craving for pita and hummus periodically, and maybe falafel too. 
If making pita works out for me I can always make some totally whole grain ones for myself and white ones for my husband.
My sourdough, Cyril, is anywhere between 50-100% hydration depending on how much is left in his jar and whether I’m giving him a full “meal” or a “snack”. I don’t weigh what I have left in my jar when I feed him. I do tend to keep a lot of him around. After he eats he pretty much fills a 1-1/2 quart jar. Though I’m sure other bakers might cringe at how I maintain Cyril, it works for me. He’s my happy faithful starter. He lives in my refrigerator and I just take what I need from his jar so I never know exactly what hydration he is. He rises my bread dough and gives me tasty loaves. That’s all I am concerned with, after all. 
I just ordered some thickness measuring rings for my 40+ year-old rolling pin. If I’m going to try to make pita bread at least I can try to get the thickness right. 
Those should show up in the next week or two.
Now I think another cuppa coffee is in order. 
Blessings,
Leah
Leah, a baking stone is a perfect tool for making pitas and now that your oven is up and running again you should be good to go. The stovetop method is a little more involved than the oven stone and, honestly, I’ve never seen pitas cooked in the oven on a stone fail.
Eric’s recipe looks fine to me, but you might want to hold back just a little water with all bread flour. I’ve left the small amount of whole wheat out of mine with no adjustments.
I don’t use any oil in mine and I also use commercial yeast, but you will be learning here, so stick to Eric’s as best you can so you have one set method and know where you might have to make changes to meet your own technique. Once you have a working recipe you can tweak it to your tastes.
About the only thing to watch is hydration. You need moisture to form a pocket but you also need to be able to handle the dough easily. Do you have a good way to transfer the pitas to your stone? You can do it by hand but be careful.
I always try to use as little salt as I can in case people around me have issues. I normally use a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for about 19 ounces (539g). I could probably get by with less but I bulk ferment overnight and don’t want the dough to get too active.
Good luck. I think you’ll find you can make some very heathy and tasty meals with pita bread.
Dave
@dave_r Thanks, Dave! I was thinking of holding back on the water since that’s worked for me with other recipes I’ve modified to be all or mostly white flour. Very low sodium is my standard “go-to” these days on all my breads, no matter what. EVOO is always in my house so I have no problem adding it to the dough. I tend to bulk ferment overnight too. Lots of times I’ll prep my dough mid-afternoon and then leave it in the refrigerator until before I go to bed. Then I’ll put it on the kitchen counter. Since I live in the desert southwest my kitchen is still around 78F degrees at night so an 8-hour ferment on the counter is about right.
I don’t have a peel but I imagine transferring the pitas to the baking stone with a spatula would work. I think my husband has a larger spatula he uses when grilling. That should do the trick. I wasn’t thinking of using my hands!
Maybe in a couple weeks I’ll try making some pitas. I still have to wait for those rolling pin measuring bands to arrive. 
Leah
Look forward to seeing you’re results!
Dave
Leah here is a recipe for pita using 100% King Arthur bread flour.
If you can get online and Google Americas Test Kitchen season 20 episode 8 you can watch the video this recipe.
@IceHart Thank you! When the time comes that I get some pita bread baked I’ll let you all know how it goes, whether fabulous or flop!
Leah
@syrupcookingdad Many thanks. Those look awesomely tasty!
Welcome to our forum, new Breadtopian!
Baking blessings,
Leah
I’m still waiting on those rolling pin thickness rings so I can try my hand at pita bread. As far as I know, they might arrive late next week. Kinda stoked to try baking pita bread. I’m in the mood for hummus & I need some pita bread 
Leah
Dave moister with a better chew for the stove top or the change in the flour?
This is the bread I make the most. It’s the style of bread my husband grew up with so what he looks for on a daily basis. I am happy with this whole wheat version with fresh ground red fife but I wouldn’t mind trying a white version too.
I’ve used different flours both in the oven and on the stovetop and I feel I get a better pita on the stove top. I learned to make them first on the stovetop. I do actually use about 10% whole wheat flour in mine because I like the flavor, although what I tasted as a youth was made with white flour and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was bleached! 
I grew up in a community in the U.S. in the late 1940s and 1950s that was mostly composed of Eastern European/Mediterranean refugees. I didn’t have a family so I got fed by many kind people and got to learn allot about bread. I actually started working in a commercial bakery when I was about 8 years old. Not as an actual baker but I was a strong kid and could lift 50lb sacks of flour so they kept me around and that began my baking education. I bake today to match the flavors of the bread I grew up with.
I think that anyway you make your pitas is good if they remind you of what you like and you feel good eating them. Experiment and see what you like best.
Dave
Thank you for sharing Dave! I agree whatever reminds you of childhood or home or a good memory is stone thing worth recreating in e kitchen. Even though we live across the world from where my husband grew up , when I’m baking pita it brings him back to memories of his grandmother baking or if picking up fresh bread at the bakery and sneaking pieces of hot Bread on the drive home!
Many years ago my first pita was Stovetop. I’ve used this breadtopia recipe since I re-started making bread and since I got a flour mill. I love this recipe. Maybe I’ll give stove top cooking of it a try🙂
The next Recreate childhood recipe I’ll try is his family’s favorite- I’ll spell it Faish… it’s kind of like unsweetened biscotti- it’s a twice baked biscuit with lots of ghee in it that you then dip in really sweet tea with milk. Yum!
My husband brought in today’s mail and said, “I think it’s time for pita bread!” My rolling pin spacers arrived today! Here’s hoping they fit my 40+ year old rolling pin. Yes, I measured the circumference of the rolling pin before ordering, so they should fit; at least in theory!
Leah
They look fabulous 
Well Breadtopians, I have prepped some dough for pita bread and it’s now covered in the refrigerator until just before I go to bed tonight. I’ll put the dough on the counter then. BTW, I cheated a bit! With a touch of arthritis in my hands I preferred not to try standing at the counter kneading the dough. However, I’ve got a 30+ year old bread machine with a manual dough setting. I simply put my rested pita dough into the bread machine and let it do the kneading for 10 minutes! I almost broke a sweat watching the machine do all that hard work! 
So tomorrow I hope to bake pita bread. Success or failure, I’ll let you all know.
@dave_r Dave, I opted to make this first batch of pita (I’m actually making just a half-recipe; 4 pita breads instead of 8) an all white flour batch since my husband wanted to try them if I was indeed successful. I’m following Eric’s whole wheat pita recipe but since I know whole wheat is thirstier than white flour I reduced the water from 180g for a half-recipe to 150g. I figured I could add more water if there was still dry flour in the bowl while mixing but the dough didn’t seem to need more water. Since the recipe does call for the olive oil I put it in. The only changes I made was using all white bread flour, reducing the water, reducing the salt (medically necessary) and machine kneading. Obviously I’ll know tomorrow if I’m successful when I try baking these!
@bethicita At some point I’d better try those bands on my rolling pin or all this will be for naught.
Leah
I’m glad your bread machine worked, Leah. I have to keep reminding myself that so many bakers are used to a no-knead method. Good thinking on your part.
Good idea to go with one recipe and technique to start. When you only change one or two things it’s easy to see where and if you need corrections.
Look forward to hearing about your results!
Dave
@dave_r There be pita bread here! My pizza stone will only hold two pitas at a time to bake so making the half-recipe of 4 at a time was a good choice for my first attempt. The funny thing is, they’re not flattening out under their own weight as they’re cooling so I have what looks like a pita mountain on the cooling rack under the towel. It’s funny! They may end up “permanently puffed” Since only two are baked at a time, maybe there’s not enough weight to flatten them. I may have to weigh them down next time.
@bethicita The rolling pin spacers are genius! No guesswork. They worked like a charm!
Now for a nice hot cuppa coffee and maybe some scrambled egg stuffed pitas for breakfast!
Leah
