Flatbreads in George Foreman Grilling machine
My wife and I have been making many different kinds of flatbread of the past month or so - some thick, some thin, some baked in the oven, some on a griddle , some over an open flame and some in a George Foreman grilling machine
However, the more we do it in the grilling machine, the more we seem to prefer cooking it that way. A basic Pizza dough - rolled out to about 1/2 inch thick makes a very nice Foccacia-like bread which can be used as the basis for a sandwich (cut it in half lengthwise and put whatever filling you like inside, then put it back into the grilling machine to get a nice hot and crispy crust) . Roll it out flatter/thinner to 1/8 inch and it comes out puffy like a Pita bread. Easy to separate into two halves because of the internal pocket - but totally different in texture to the previous.
Try it - you'll like it!!
Barry
We have the smallest of those grills and I have thought of trying flat breads on it, but wouldn't they get squashed when you pulled the top down?
You would think so - but all works well. The thicker breads ( starting around 1/2 inch thick) do come out rather "solid" - but as I said, you can slice them down the middle long ways. The thin ones (1/8 inch) thick bubble just like a Pita bread cooked on a griddle top. Give it a try - it does make flatbread making very easy and you don't have to heat up the oven for 4-8 flatbreads.
I have a commercial one for panini and rather suspect bread dough will just stick to the cast iron plates.
Brush a light coat of oil on the plates ....
N0 - no problem with sticking. The machine "preheats" to a high temperature on both sides. Just try it and see how you go. All you stand to lose is a couple of cups of flour!! :)
Different kinds of breads have been cooked all over the World for thousands of years - it is all basically just flour and water - and then cooked in different ways, depending on what people had on hand. I would like to try cooking flatbreads on hot rocks - but I don't have any rocks to hand! :) -,but we do have agrilling machine.
MMMM ! - just had another one of these for lunch (the thicker type). 1/4 inch thick dough between the hot plates gives breads about 1/2 inch thick. Cut them lengthwise and fill with cheese, tomato and onion (we already put Cumin seed into the dough ) and place it all back into the griller - the outside of the "sandwich" comes out very crispy, but soft inside with all the filling. I also give a light butter coating to one side of the outside and sprinkle generous amout of seasalt and black pepper on the butter.
Can't stop eating these :)
BTW - just realised why we are getting rise in this machine - the lid does not lock down and in fact the back of the lid adjusts to the thickness of whatever is put into it. Meant to grill steaks of varying thickness.
Would love to see a picture.
You've hooked me. Maybe tomorrow, while my whole wheat sandwich bread is rising, I'll try some naan on the grill. I usually make them pretty large on the electric frying pan, but the grill would be interesting. Or Lavash!
It would really help to see a picture of the flatbreads of various thicknesses. Also, when you say to slice them lengthwise, how exactly is that done? I'm thinking that I would split the bread into an upper and a lower half.
Thanks!
Can only show you the breads we had for lunch today. These were the "thick" version. 6 breads from 2 cups flour - one cup plain white, one cup ATTA. The thinner version we do about 10 breads per 2 cups flour.
For me the beauty of these is the ease of cooking - and the crispiness of the outersides of the bread after "re-cooking" with the sandwich fill. I think the griller must dry out the outer skin of the bread creating a definite "crunchiness".
We simply slice through the breads using a breadknife to form a bottom and top. Done on a breadboard it is simple. These are about 8 inches long
My wife tells me that our griller is not the more expensive George Foreman brand - but a more "el cheapo" RONSON.
These look good. Is that Nigella seeds in the dough? I just bought a bag of Nigella seeds cus I saw them use it on Naan bread. It's also used on Russian Rye bread.
Rob
BTW - these grillers come with a "non-stick" wavy surface - primarily meant for grilling meats I think. They have a slight slope to them to drain excess fat away.
I already loathe cast iron, so the cast iron plates make me want to chuck it in the landfill; but, it works really well for panini and grilled meats, like teriyaki chicken.
I can't tell you the laughs I get from people that see me cleaning it at the carwash with the high pressure wand, getting myself soaked from head-to-toe.
Spread the bun open and grill both sides at once! Belongs in a Würstel stand. (8 buns at a time!)
It sounds like your doing something wrong. Did you season your cast iron? I cook almost everything on cast iron, Most cleanups just some hot tap water and a little plastic sink brush.
Alas, since I'm having a conversation on another thread about cast iron, I may check the manufacturers recommendation re:seasoning for this panini grill. Everything sticks to it. Unlike the cast iron pots, I actually love this grill, even though it's a pain to maintain. Teriyaki chicken in 12 minutes, grill marks and all! :D
This sounds like a great, easy way to keep us in "pita" style breads. Our Forman grill is a smallish one (fits 3 or 4 burgers) that slants toward the front, with straight grill irons. I could get a half dozen flatbreads in two batches easily. Will give it a try!
Joyful
try different thicknesses of dough in the machine - results are quite different depending on the thickness. All depends on what you want - me, I like them all :)
this sounds great. how long do you cook the dough after preheating the grill?
thx, claudia
From a prefeated griddle - about 6 minutes
We just picked up a waffle iron very cheaply (no, not the infamous Black Friday $2 one that caused a mini-riot) and have been wondering what uses we might find for it. Has anyone tried to do a grilled bread on one? This cheap one has only the waffle-shaped plates.
i use my waffle iron (has reversible plates) & also my george forman (no reversible plates) to make sandwiches. they are panini-like & very good. you should experiment.
claudia
is a good idea. I have the Generation 5 version which has a baking pan insert also. Did you use the grilling plates for this? I made pita last year in the oven then tried some on top in a cast iron grill. It worked.
Rob
We are having these almost everyday for lunch now - I don't tire of them. We make them most days - very quick and easy to do, but sometimes we don't eat them all and use them the next day. Heating the sandwich in the grilling machine refreshes the flatbread and they are much the same as when fresh on the day of making. You can put almost anything in them.
I went a bit further and put meats, cheese & some condiments inbetween prior to placing on the grill.
I am not sure what you are saying here -- the way we make them is to put the "pizza dough" onto the grill and shut the lid to create the bread - then, after they are cooked , we cut them in half and either eat them straight away ( with suitable fillings) , or if the bread is left uneaten for some time , we put them back into the grill after filling with meat/cheese /etc to "refresh" the bread and re-crisp the crust.
We normally cook them for 6-7 minutes - the flour we use is usually 1 cup Indian ATTA flour plus one cup plain flour. But lately my wife has been experimenting successfully - making fully puffed PITA breads , by putting the dough in the grilling machine for only two minutes and then transferring the partly cooked bread onto a hot griddle plate - hey presto , instant puffing and PITA bread. Absolutely fooproof and no need to heat up a large oven just for 8 PITA breads.
I have also been experimenting further and have exchanged the cup of plain flower with a cup of self raising flower . This has changed the nature of the breads completely - from more of a PITA style to more of a "flattened bread roll" style :)
BTW - out of 2 cups of flour , my wife makes 8 breads , while I like to do them a bit thicker and make 6 breads out of two cups of flour. There is quite a difference in the finished breads - hers tending to have airpockets like PITA breads, whereas mine do not.
Either way they are delicious - my wife usually puts a couple of teaspoons of carraway seeds into the mix - whereas I like to add Cumin seeds and ground Cumin. One day I might put some Chilli powder into the mix :)
Barry
The pic below looks really good. I want to try these. I recently purchased Nigella Sativa seeds to make Naan. The seeds in the pic below look like them. Could they be Nigella seeds common on Russian Black Bread? When I was doing research on Nigella seeds, it was said that they were referred to as onion seeds or cumin seeds, which is a misnomer. I added some on my dinner rolls for the holidays and although kinda strong, they give a nice scent to breads.
I think those in the pic are Cumin seeds - but my wife also uses Nigella seeds at times ( our local Indian groceries shop just calls them Black seeds! :) -- I like all these seeds for their flavour -- but they get stuck in my teeth!!! :) Cumin seeds are long - like Carraway seeds . Nigella seeds are tiny black balls - a bit like ... ( well I won't say!! :) )
Barry