Matzah using our Saj

Cooking pita on a saj (internet pic)



We love matzah!  For us, it is not just for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Matzah is our dinner bread but we also eat it for breakfast and lunch sometimes.  We use a Saj that the Big Chicken purchased.  What is a saj?  A saj is a large, flat or convex disc-shaped griddle made from metal.  Here's ours:

So let's start at the beginning with soaking our flour overnight.  Of course, I have made matzah (and other baked goods) without soaking the flour but, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, planning ahead and soaking flour for all baking projects is good practice. 

I took all the fresh-ground flour that I had stored in my freezer - about 8 cups - and put it into a large mixing bowl.  To this I added 1/3 cup of raw milk keifer, 1/3 cup of yogurt and 2 to 3 cups of warm water.  I usually add the water 1 cup at a time.  You don't want your soaked flour mix to be too dry but you don't want it to be too sloppy either.  Add your water slowly mixing as you go.  Remember that you have liquid in the form of the keifer and yogurt so don't add all your water in one go or you may need to add a lot more flour.

The next part is very easy: I put a reusable cover on the bowl and go to bed. 

I have now left the flour to soak for around 18 hours. 

Around two hours before I am going to bake the matzah I add the yeast.  If I left my flour soaking overnight on day 1, I usually start this part of the process around 3 pm on day 2.

In a mason jar or measuring jug, mix together 1/4 cup of warm water with 6 teaspoons of yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar or honey.  Allow the yeast mix to proof or become bubbly (about 5-10 minutes). When it is all bubbly and puffy add it to the soaked flour in the large mixing bowl. 

Mix everything together, adding a little more flour if your mixture is too wet or sticky.  Now leave the dough to rise for about an hour.  As I am making a flat bread, I do not worry about letting the dough rise twice as you would when baking a traditional loaf. 

Now I fire up my saj!  All this means is that I put the saj on my stove and turn the heat to high.  If the Big Chicken is home he usually gives me a hand at this point.

While the saj is heating up, I start rolling out small balls of dough, about the size of a tennis ball.  You can make the bread as big or small as you prefer.  I have found that when the flour has been soaked, it is easier to roll out the dough a little thicker.  We have found that the dough will break up if rolled out too thin. 

 

Once the dough is on the saj you cannot move it until it is baked.  While the dough is still raw it sticks to the saj just for a minute or two and then loosens as it cooks. 

The dough doesn't take long to bake at all, no more than a minute or two and then, using a metal spatula, the Big Chicken flips the bread over to cook the other side. 

Here's our end result:

It sure is yummy!  One of our summer projects is going to be building a clay tandor oven in our backyard but for now, our saj on the stove works perfectly.


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