I do on for the first 30, off for the last 20. Making this recipe for the third time tonight, I'm fiddling with variables and seeing what happens!

Have you tried with the lid on the pan for the first 15 minutes?

This is good advice. Bread flour (not breadmachine flour) has better proteins for building good bread structure. I found loaves were much higher and less stodgy with proper bread flour

I am not a bread expert at all, but I would suggest bread flour instead of all-purpose. I think that extra protein will help gluten development.

I have also thrown some ice cubes in the dutch oven to steam the bread and help the crust to remain pliable so it can rise more. But I also cracked a clay dutch oven doing this, so be careful.

Lmao I'm not a baker so my balls aren't the ballsiest balls when dough

Bro these look amazing compared to all the bread rolls I've made! Which is none, but that's besides the point!

Looks delicious!

9 buns? is it based on Batman's abs?

That looks delicious honestly

Ngl, I was really tempted to tell the fam it was a failure and eat it all myself lolol

I just finished eating, but I'd still eat this entire pan if it was in front of me.

I have made quite a few more batches since this. I have been watching videos of bagel makers in NYC to see how they roll them and then shape them. Some batches I make all of them into bagels, then start over again for the practice.

Those look delicious. As a NYer, 10/10, would smother with cream cheese.

I guess that does read like I eat turtles. But I was talking about eating pita bread.

But of course you have to cook turtles. Darwin ate a lot of them https://alloftheanimals.com/what-charles-darwin-consumed-while-aboard-the-beagle/

The last time I made them I put them in a bowl lined with a towel, and then covered the bowl with another towel. That seemed to help some. I cut the cooking time down from 6-8 minutes to 5. Going to drop the heat some tomorrow. I still have half the batch to bake for my pathfinder game.

I stack them after baking and flatten them out a little. https://i.imgur.com/QOhmfOj.jpeg

Did you cook the turtle before you ate them?

Won't help with the puffiness (other commenters are probably right about it being over baked), but I recently learned that chalupa shells are deep fried pita bread. Just in case you need an excuse to experiment more

Sounds like the only issue could be size. Since you've got so much more mass, you've also got that much more gluten to keep things thick and stable. Drop to about 40-50g each, get 'em nice and flat, and cook like normal with a little less total time, and you should have a proper rise and deflation. Good luck!

No. You have to take it out of the oven earlier. It shouldn't be crispy, but soft.

Sugar also helps it turn crispy.

Check out America's Test Kitchen's recipe, it's my go-to: https://youtu.be/ZK0ayq4as5c

Yeah, I'll echo the lack of holes being the issue. If you check commercially made pita, there's perforations. You might also wanna dial back the temp a tad to reduce crisping

That being said, puffy pitas are perfectly normal. They tend to be softer though

Maybe try cooking it for slightly less time.

EDIT: Also when you're done cooking it, wrap it in a towel. When you cook more, wrap it in the same towel. This will help to soften the crust through a steaming process.

It is a bit crispy. Less so than the first batch, but I added oil and sugar to the second to help soften it.