This Tortilla Press Turned Out To Be The Best Thing I've Tried In Months

...and now every day is Taco Tuesday.

Like many of you, I've been trying all kinds of new things while spending time social distancing over the last few weeks.

Heather Braga / BuzzFeed / Via instagram.com

I had a "quarantine" birthday, I've played a looooot of Animal Crossing, I've spent more hours working on The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Book than I'd like to admit, and have gotten super creative with Zoom hangouts.

The next challenge I decided to take on? Making homemade corn tortillas! Except, thanks to a handy lil' tortilla press from Verve Culture, it wasn't much of a challenge at all.

verve_culture / Via instagram.com

This tortilla press is made in Mexico from old Singer sewing machines and other recycled irons! The cast iron should last you, basically, forever so it's definitely worth your money.

I'm not much of a chef (I bake *a little*), but since these taco-sized corn tortillas are only made of two ingredients I figured I could handle it. Seriously, you only need corn flour and water to form the dough.

Heather Braga / BuzzFeed

Also my husband helped — was definitely easier with an extra set of hands to help out. To make about 19 tortillas you'll need to mix 2 cups of flour with 1 1/2 cups of water. I used my hands to mix the dough thoroughly (which was oddly satisfying). Then I used a food scale ($12.95 on Amazon) to ensure each ball of dough was about 30 grams (or 1 ounce). Then I covered them with a damp cloth so they wouldn't dry out while I was cooking.

If you can't track it down at your local supermarket (we used the Maseca brand, which literally has the instructions on how to make tortillas on the bag) you can order a bag of Bob's Red Mill Organic Corn Flour from Amazon for $12.98.

Next, per the instructions on the Maseca bag, you'll need to line the tortilla press with two pieces of thick plastic (my husband and I cut a ziplock bag in half because we're *so* resourceful).

Heather Braga / BuzzFeed

Then comes the fun part! Place one ball at a time between the plastic sheets and flatten it with the cast iron tortilla to form a perfect, taco-sized circle.

Heather Braga

The hardest part is definitely peeling the flattened dough off of the plastic. We found that as we went it got a little easier as the plastic seemed to stick less (who knows). It was super satisfying to see how perfectly round and even each individual circle of dough became after using the press.

Finally, place each round into a very hot non-stick pan (we tried cast iron and it got stuck, not good). Let it sit for 30 seconds on the first side, flip it to the next side for 30 more seconds, then flip it *back* to the original side for a final 30 seconds.

Heather Braga / BuzzFeed

We used this kitchen timer to keep track of the 30-second intervals (math is hard, OK?). The third flip is the most exciting because the tortilla starts to bubble, creating those nice brown spots. Then you can place them into the vibrant handmade napkin the kit comes with to keep them warm until you're ready to eat.

They came out *so* well I was beyond impressed with myself. We're going to use them throughout the week to make a variety of tacos (breakfast tacos, anyone?). They'll last up to a week if you seal them in a bag and toss 'em in the fridge.

Heather Braga

The above was our second batch that we made *again* for fun because we had a nice time focusing on, well, anything else for a while. We sealed 'em up and dropped them off at my in-laws so they could enjoy them too.

If you've been itching to upgrade your weekly taco night, I highly recommend treating yourself to the Verve Culture Artisan Tortilleria Kit from Amazon for $45.

Amazon

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