Mold on my pitas

[a_bit_crafty]

I've been making sandwich bread, pizza, bread bowls, etc. for about a year now. Extra sandwich bread goes in the freezer, pizza in the fridge. I've never had a problem.

Last night I made some whole wheat pita bread. I let it cool for a few hours, then wrapped it up and put it in the freezer.

Today I went to take them out for lunch, and found that about half of them were covered in green mold. Did I mention they were in the FREEZER? How does that even happen?

Any ideas on how to keep it from happening in the future?

 

[Turtledrum]

Yikes, I'd like to know how that happened also.

 

[Dalejr]

Condenstaion before slowly freezing?

 

[Turtledrum]

That fast? hmm...

 

[a_bit_crafty]

That's the thing. It was so fast. I had no idea that could even happen.

 

[Bertilak]

I can't say how it happened exactly, but moisture or high humidity is what gets mold started. Of course there need to be mold spores in the air. Weather reports often mention the mold count.

Proper air conditioning can reduce humidity. If you take advantage of good weather to open doors and windows this can let the humidity rise and also let in mold spores.

Check your furniture for signs of mold.

Perhaps all the stars just lined up for you.

I mention all this because we recently had a mold problem and resolved it by adjusting our air conditioner. It is rated a little high for our house so was able to reach the target temperature quickly, before it had done a good job of dehumidifying. We set the blower to a lower speed and dropped the temperature from 78 to 76 and the mold problem went away. It took over two weeks for the humidity to fully normalize because upholstered furniture and carpeting hold lots of moisture. Oh yes, one other mistake we made was to leave the fan on full time. This causes the circulating air passing through the furnace/air conditioner and ducts in the attic to pull in untreated humid air through any minor leaks. This effect is multiplied by constant circulation.

Bottom line, try to keep your humidity down. Humidity meters can be had for about $10 from Lowes or Home Depot. I forget where I got ours, but only one of those two had anything for indoor use. Shoot for a max of 50-55%, mostly below 50%.

 

[Deltaboy]

My Mom freezes bread but she pulls it out and let it set uncovered in the sun for about a hour then puts in back in the bag to use. If not it will mold inside the bag within 24 hours.

 

[maxman]

hmmm. that's a noodle scratcher.
We make all our own bread, including pita's and have never had that problem.
We also freeze everything because we can't use it fast enough.
Maybe let it cool longer before putting it in the freezer.
Just for a comparison, we make bread (actually today is the day) in the morning finishing all the loaves by about noon.

They don't hit the freezer until about 5:00 pm or later in food service storage bags and a twist tie.

oh, and by "we" I of course mean my wife.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

hmmm. that's a noodle scratcher.
We make all our own bread, including pita's and have never had that problem.
We also freeze everything because we can't use it fast enough.
Maybe let it cool longer before putting it in the freezer.
Just for a comparison, we make bread (actually today is the day) in the morning finishing all the loaves by about noon.

They don't hit the freezer until about 5:00 pm or later in food service storage bags and a twist tie.

oh, and by "we" I of course mean my wife.

I do all of our own bread, too. This was definitely a new one for me. We're going to be doing it again and looking at some of the variables. Maybe I forgot to add the salt? Maybe they were just damp enough? Who knows. We do live in a very damp and humid climate, so that may have contributed to it, but I really didn't know it could happen so fast. Dehumidifiers aren't an option because our 7-year-old is prone to croup, so we need to keep that humidity in the air.

 

[maxman]

have you tried that recipe before?

 

[a_bit_crafty]

Nope. This one was new to me. I've made naan, which is a little different. That one I left out on the counter with no problem.

 

[maxman]

If I can remember I'll get my wife's pita recipe. It's fast and easy.
Try it if you like.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

If I can remember I'll get my wife's pita recipe. It's fast and easy.
Try it if you like.

I'm always up for more recipes. This one was from Julia Child, so I'm really baffled as to what happened. Maybe on this one day everything just lined up right. We made waffles last night, cooled and froze, and this morning they were mold-free. So...

It was just such a shame that it was 2 hours of work into the trash. I mean, when I make sandwich bread, it takes about 3 1/2 hours start to finish, but it makes three loaves. I was just disappointed.

 

[maxman]

that's really strange.
I've learned a lot from watching my wife make bread.
I've yet to try it.

But I know her pita recipe has only about 8 ingredients and takes just a few minutes to whip up.
or at least that's what it looks like.
more to come, when I find the recipe!

 

[maxman]

Here is a good pita recipe. Tested and used often in our house:

Pita
~~~~~
1 cup lukewarm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. each salt and oil
2 3/4 cups flour (approx.)

In a large bowl, mix water, yeast and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Stir in salt and oil. Gradually stir in 2 cups flour or enough to make a stiff dough. Turn out dough on lightly floured surface; knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl; turn to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm, draft free place about 1 hour or until doubled. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll each in ball, then flatten with fingers to 4 inch round; let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Roll each out to 6 inch round about 1/4 inch thick. Place on heavily floured waxed paper or board. Cover with waxed paper and a light towel. Let rise in warm, draft free place, 30 min. Meanwhile place baking sheet (or stone) in middle of lowest oven rack. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. After about 20 minutes of preheating carefully transfer the rounds to the oven, floured side down. Bake 4 to 5 minutes until they balloon and turn slightly brown. Remove from oven and cover with waxed paper and a light towel (they will soften from their own steam as they cool). Press them down to flatten and store in plastic bags.

Whole Wheat substitution:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup all purpose flour.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

Thanks! I use white whole wheat instead of all purpose flour all the time. Adding a little dry, ground ginger helps the dough rise without being too dense.

 

[RichGem]

She's got mold on her pitas
green stuff on her bread
caused by yee eee eee ee st.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

She's got mold on her pitas
green stuff on her bread
caused by yee eee eee ee st.

Don't mind my clown house entourage. They follow me.

 

[RichGem]

Don't mind my clown house entourage. They follow me.

You husband pays us well.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

Someone must make sure I'm behaving myself, I suppose.