pairs4life wrote:Do I need to have a special pot or can I make do without it for tamales?

If you have one of those expandable steamer baskets that goes in the bottom of the pot, you're good to go, but it'll be harder to refill the water if it runs low. I've got a big pot with two steamer/strainer baskets, works great (although the tamales I did the other night still took two shifts of 90 minutes to cook).

There are plenty of great meatless fillings: one of my all-time favorites is just chihuahua cheese and strips of roasted poblano pepper. A couple tips: Fill less than you think, or it's hard to wrap. Banana leaves make good wrappers, they're easier to use because you can start with a rectangle instead of basically a triangle.

I've always cooked, then frozen. That way I can just pull a couple out and throw them in the microwave. I've never considered any other way... and they're awfully squishy until they're cooked.

JoelF wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Do I need to have a special pot or can I make do without it for tamales?

If you have one of those expandable steamer baskets that goes in the bottom of the pot, you're good to go, but it'll be harder to refill the water if it runs low. I've got a big pot with two steamer/strainer baskets, works great (although the tamales I did the other night still took two shifts of 90 minutes to cook).

There are plenty of great meatless fillings: one of my all-time favorites is just chihuahua cheese and strips of roasted poblano pepper. A couple tips: Fill less than you think, or it's hard to wrap. Banana leaves make good wrappers, they're easier to use because you can start with a rectangle instead of basically a triangle.

Thank you.

HI,

I agree with Joel's workarounds, because I did the same for some tamales made a few years ago.

These tamales I made the masa had butter instead of lard. I made it fresh and beat the heck out of it with my stand mixer. It was considered done when you dropped a small piece into water and it immediately rose to the top. You were then ready to wrap!

I steamed these tamales on a Saturday morning up until the drop dead time to get to Chicago for a Culinary Historians meeting. I lucked out, because the residual heat and confinement in my cooler did the trick to finish cooking.

I did bring dessert tamales shortly afterwards to a dessert exchange. Again I used butter for the masa, I filled it with chocolate and dried cherries leftover from my meeting.

Regards,

JoelF wrote:I've always cooked, then frozen. That way I can just pull a couple out and throw them in the microwave. I've never considered any other way... and they're awfully squishy until they're cooked.

Thank you, that's what I needed to know.

Regards,

HI,

I bought some masa, but the wrong kind. I was captivated by the blue corn color. I failed to read the bold red script stating its for tortilla, sopes et al.

Could I go ahead and make tamales from it anyway? If I do, what outcome can I expect?

Since I am speculating on what to do, what about the pork fat? Could I use the congealed pork fat from cooking the pork? I would think this would be a good use as well as additional layer of flavor.

Thanks!

Regards,

Masa para tortillas is finer grained, but it's still the same stuff. It'll work, but the texture may not be optimal.

I don't know about the pork fat.

Cathy2 wrote:Since I am speculating on what to do, what about the pork fat? Could I use the congealed pork fat from cooking the pork? I would think this would be a good use as well as additional layer of flavor.

Thanks!

Regards,

I'd use the fat. Happily. No question.

Hi,

I did make the tamales the day after Christmas when the dust settled.

I cooked two pounds of pork butt in cumin, onions and garlic with water halfway up. At the same time, I cooked three pounds of pork butt for bo ssam. Whatever fat came from the two cooks went into the masa. I did boil down cumin cooking liquid to a syrup, which I folded into the shredded pork along with half pound of grated pepper jack cheese.

I weighed the fat and used butter for the fat I still needed. I whipped the butter-pork fat for a few minutes, then added two pounds of blue corn masa in several batches. I used some turkey stock as well. This was beaten until a small spoonful dropped into water popped to the top.

I probably made about 36 tamales. While the masa used was intended for tortillas, it worked out fine for our purposes. I felt no texture deficit, though I may pay attention more to tamales I eat in the future.

Regards,

pairs4life wrote:
Do I need to have a special pot or can I make do without it for tamales?

I have an all-purpose pot that has a steamer insert, and that has always worked well for making tamales. So no, you don't really need a special pot -- though you do need something that makes steaming possible.