# Making thin homemade corn tortillas



## SundayCrepes (Feb 15, 2008)

My homemade corn tortillas turn out well and tonight I experimented with tortilla chips that also turned out well.

However, I can't get them very thin. I think they'd be a totally different beast if I could just get them thinner. However, when I try to get them thinner, they break. Any suggestions?

I cut three sides of a ziplock freezer bag and put that in my press. What do you do?

And detailed info on tortilla chips would be helpful as I made it up as I went along.

I use Bob's Red Mill Masa Harina.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

How thin are you aiming for? How thick are they turning out? With a press, I would think they'd be about as thin as you could get them. But if your dough is breaking before the limits of the machine, you probably need a touch more water.

As for chips, it's not difficult. Cut up the finished tortillas and fry.


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## jess in hawaii (Oct 13, 2011)

I agree with pp. I use the same masa, and a press covered with plastic wrap, but having the dough nice and soft is essential (the formula on the bag isn't quite right). I go for something about the consistency of fresh soft play dough, maybe even a little softer. But be careful, it is too soft, you wont be able to get the tortillas off in one piece. Also, let the dough sit for a bit to really absorb the water before forming. Hope this helps.


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## SundayCrepes (Feb 15, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jess in hawaii*
> 
> But be careful, it is too soft, you wont be able to get the tortillas off in one piece.


This is the problem I'm having. I follow the recipe (and adjust water as seems necessary) and let set for an hour, as the recipe states. I use 2 Tablespoons dough and I think I get a 3 inch tortilla. Any thinner and I can't get it off the plastic. I can make them ultra-thin, they just tear when I peel them off the plastic.


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## maself (Oct 19, 2011)

Y'all just inspired me to try making my own!  YUM!


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## SundayCrepes (Feb 15, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maself*
> 
> Y'all just inspired me to try making my own!  YUM!


Mine are softer than store bought and not as deep a corn taste. My 5 year old presses them and I grill them. He's figured out how to get them the right thickness so they don't stick to the plastic when we take them off. (I cut the seal end off a ziplock quart-size freezer bag and slit two sides so it's sort of like a book with a closed seem on one end. Then put the dough in the middle and press them. You could use a roller instead of a press if you don't have one, but they're a lot easier and more consistent with a press.)


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

A trick I've seen used is that instead of pressing them on plastic, press them on parchment, peel one side off, and put the free side down on your griddle with the paper still on the other side. Once it starts cooking, the paper on the other side will come off much easier.


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## SundayCrepes (Feb 15, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cristeen*
> 
> A trick I've seen used is that instead of pressing them on plastic, press them on parchment, peel one side off, and put the free side down on your griddle with the paper still on the other side. Once it starts cooking, the paper on the other side will come off much easier.


That sounds great. I'll try it.

Any suggestions for making them thin for tortilla chips?


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## orvis (Oct 12, 2011)

I've had problems with getting the tortillas thin enough but the way they turned out were fine, just more like a torta, I find it much easier to make flour tortillas.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

If it's thin enough to be moderately pliable, it's thin enough for chips. You may have to turn your heat down a little bit and cook them a bit longer if they're burning before they get crisp though.


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## jess in hawaii (Oct 13, 2011)

SundayCrepes, are you trying to make chips by cooking the tortillas like you normally do and then just cutting them up? Or are you frying them afterwards? They do need to be precooked, cut and fried if you want them authentic. Chips are really just a way to use up stale tortillas.


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## SundayCrepes (Feb 15, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jess in hawaii*
> 
> SundayCrepes, are you trying to make chips by cooking the tortillas like you normally do and then just cutting them up? Or are you frying them afterwards? They do need to be precooked, cut and fried if you want them authentic. Chips are really just a way to use up stale tortillas.


Interesting. That may be it. I was using raw dough. I'll try them this way.

Thanks so much.


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## catdsnny (Apr 30, 2016)

*Thin chip*

Landed on this website as it's the top google search result for "how to make thin corn chips". After reading some of the above and combining with my prior experience, I ended up with the following process. My prior chips were thick, greasy and resoundingly rejected by my family as generally yukky.

I used a few tools to get to my chip nirvana: tortilla press, parchment paper, griddle, cast iron grill press, sharp knife and a deep fryer.

I made the masa dough very thin and runny. As one of the prior posters noted - about the consistency of play-dough, but then I added a little more water. I could easily smear it with the back of a spoon. Using parchment paper, I put a golf ball sized portion on the press. I squeezed it out using the handle and then pressed on it again with my hands directly on the press. With both sides of the parchment paper still attached, I put the whole thing on the griddle set to 350deg and put the pre-heated cast iron grill press on top of it. I have a Lodge press that weighs about 5 pounds. After a minute, I was able to easily peel off one side of the parchment paper, flip it over and put the press back on for another minute or two. Once the tortilla was just barely brown I took it off and let it cool for a couple minutes, still on the one side of parchment paper. After cooling, I used a sharp knife to remove the other side of the parchment paper, cut into chips and fried. I found that the frying time was much less than prior chips I had made - about 90 seconds at 325deg was about the best. In some cases the chips were so thin they were translucent. Using this process I was able to consistently make paper thin, crispy chips.


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## nuraman00 (Apr 30, 2020)

catdsnny said:


> Landed on this website as it's the top google search result for "how to make thin corn chips". After reading some of the above and combining with my prior experience, I ended up with the following process. My prior chips were thick, greasy and resoundingly rejected by my family as generally yukky.
> 
> I used a few tools to get to my chip nirvana: tortilla press, parchment paper, griddle, cast iron grill press, sharp knife and a deep fryer.
> 
> I made the masa dough very thin and runny. As one of the prior posters noted - about the consistency of play-dough, but then I added a little more water. I could easily smear it with the back of a spoon. Using parchment paper, I put a golf ball sized portion on the press. I squeezed it out using the handle and then pressed on it again with my hands directly on the press. With both sides of the parchment paper still attached, I put the whole thing on the griddle set to 350deg and put the pre-heated cast iron grill press on top of it. I have a Lodge press that weighs about 5 pounds. After a minute, I was able to easily peel off one side of the parchment paper, flip it over and put the press back on for another minute or two. Once the tortilla was just barely brown I took it off and let it cool for a couple minutes, still on the one side of parchment paper. After cooling, I used a sharp knife to remove the other side of the parchment paper, cut into chips and fried. I found that the frying time was much less than prior chips I had made - about 90 seconds at 325deg was about the best. In some cases the chips were so thin they were translucent. Using this process I was able to consistently make paper thin, crispy chips.


I don't have a tortilla press. Can I make thin chips with store bought white corn tortillas?

Do you also have any pictures?


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## SallyMarks (Apr 30, 2020)

Do i need to have the press?


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## MeganR (Dec 30, 2020)

SundayCrepes said:


> My homemade corn tortillas turn out well and tonight I experimented with tortilla chips that also turned out well.
> 
> However, I can't get them very thin. I think they'd be a totally different beast if I could just get them thinner. However, when I try to get them thinner, they break. Any suggestions?
> 
> ...


I have had great success with really thin corn tortillas using the Maseca instant corn Masa flour. I don't have a press. I just use 2 parchment papers with a rolling pin. However, I recently bought a different brand of masa harina on Amazon and it is awful for corn tortillas. The masa is too course. It does make great corn bread! 
Anyone who enjoys making corn tortillas would probably like making homemade flour tortillas! I make wicked cool organic flour tortillas by hand!


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