Measure 500 g of hard white wheat berries. Run through your grain mill on a fine setting. If you have trouble getting all the flour to move through your mill you may need to weigh out one or two grams extra of wheat berries to account for any loss you may experience in the milling process.
Add 6.5 grams of dry milk powder, 8.5 grams of baking powder, and 11.5 grams salt. Mix gently with a spoon.
Add 80 g of cold lard. Use a pastry knife to cut the lard into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting the lard until the texture looks like a coarse cornmeal.
Make a well in the center and pour in ½ the warm water. Mix with a dough hook (or your hands). Once mixed add the remainder of the warm water and continue mixing just until there are no dry ingredients left in the bowl.
Cover and allow the mixture to rest for 15 minutes. This process is called autolysing. It’s very important to make sure the bran and wheat germ of fresh mill flour have enough time to soak up all the liquid and soften up.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on your work surface. Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.
Cover airtight and let the dough rest for at least 1 hour. Resting for 2 hours is even better if you have extra time.
Divide into 18 equal portions. Roll into balls creating surface tension.
Cover and let it rest for at least 1 more hour. 2 hours or more is even better. You just worked the gluten when you were forming the individual balls. It’s important to let it relax back down. Fresh milled flour requires more time to develop and relax than store bought flour.
The dough should be very soft and stretchy. If it’s not, cover back up and let it relax 15-30 more minutes.
Grab a ball of dough gently smash it down with your hands. Then, softly pinch the dough on the edges working your way all the way around. Next, place it on your work surface and roll gently up and down once. Pick it up and turn it 90℉ and roll up, then down again. Then, work your way around the dough gently rolling it into a circle. Once I have it rolled out to about an 8-inch circle, do a final roll across the dough to ensure it’s an even layer all the way across.
Carefully, pick up the tortilla from the edge and place it on the tops of your hands. Very lightly stretch the tortilla once. Rotate and stretch again.
Carefully place on a hot (between 475℉-525℉) griddle. Cook the first side approximately 1 minute.
Flip the tortilla and cook second side for approximately 1 more minute. If you flipped the first side too soon, it’s okay to flip the tortilla over and cook it a little bit longer until it looks like it’s cooked all the way.
Tip: Keep a good eye on the temperature of your griddle. If it’s too hot it will burn. As needed slightly adjust the burners during the cooking process to make sure my griddle remains at the correct temperature.
Place a clean towel in a tortilla warmer. Remove the tortilla from the griddle, wrap the tortilla up with the towel and place the lid on it. This process is more than just keeping them warm. It catches the steam from the tortilla and helps it soften up even more.
Continue rolling and cooking the tortillas and placing them in the container one by one. Immediately covering each time until all 18 tortillas are done.
