Homemade Hot Pocket Tips

[Ufimizm]

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for making homemade hot pockets. I made way too much Italian Beef this past weekend and want to use it differently. I figured I would cook up some potatoes mix them with the left over sautéed onions and peppers and the beef and try to stuff some bread with it.

I have a solid white bread recipe that I think should work, but when I have tried stuff like this in the past I have had mixed results. Too Much/Too little bread or more commonly having them burst and overflow in the oven even if I vent them.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Lisa Shock]

Try using puff pastry, it increases in size but rises differently than yeast dough.

[baroness]

Looking at some pasty recipes may help.

[prasantrin]

I'd go with pastry (but not puff pastry) over bread dough. But if you want something really different, make your own Italian beef bao. If you're steaming them, you don't have to worry about breakage because they always break open at the top, anyway. It's still portable, and it still has a protein/carb combination in one package.

[heidih]

Sounds like a riff on calzone. Use pizza dough. The fold over and roll the open edges technique, plus an egg wash, should alleviate your leakage.

[YWalker]

Here's what I do when I'm making meat pies:

I use 16 oz frozen bread dough to make 8 meat pies.

Divide the bread dough into 8 portions. Roll each out into a 6" circle. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture onto half of each circle. Brush the edges with egg white wash, and then fold dough over and seal edges with a fork. Place on greased baking sheets. (Reynold’s wrap Release aluminum foil works fine here.) Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Brush the tops with egg white, and cut slits in the top of each. (I’m thinking that if you wanted to toss some sesame seeds on top before you do the egg white wash, this would go well here, but haven’t tried it yet.) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown