Help! I made @Anna N's pita bread the other day, and it was a dismal failure. I didn't get the oven rise she described; and the discs were leaden. On the few that did at least partially rise, the "bubbles" were very one-sided -- most of the crumb on one side, and a very thin layer on the other, not conducive to stuffing with sandwich makings. I chunked them.
I varied from the recipe in two ways:
1. I used all white flour because I discovered I was out of whole wheat.
2. I used whey left over from making yogurt, in place of water. I generally do this when I make bread, and it's never proved a problem before.
I don't think my anemic oven will consistently hold a 475 temperature; I may have been closer to 450. And I may have fouled up in misting the pitas; I just generally misted into the oven, and I'm wondering if the places where I did get a bit of the rise are where more water/steam came in contact with the dough. Should I have misted them directly?
I also had to add more flour to get the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. I was using Gold Medal, which is a fairly soft flour and generally makes a looser dough.
Suggestions for a repeat? I have hummus and tomato-cucumber salad waiting....
