Tamales are a traditional Mesoamerican delicacy, made as far back as 7,000 BC in more simple forms. Today, it is a meal made with masa, often filled with cheese, vegetables, various meats, dried fruits, olives, and chilis, and steamed in corn husks or plantains until it’s firm. The taste of the inside. Tamales are memorable not only for its taste, but also for its portability in the husk.
Tamales also have many names, including pasteles, tamals, and tamelitos. You’ll find that many families and cities have variations for their tamale recipes, and these are often passed down generations. Now that it’s getting easier to access fancier machines, it will be no problem trying to try various kinds of tamales.
Tamale Machines remove the hassle and time out making tamales. They make the process of assembling tamales faster and easier through a swift combination of masa and meat; all you need to do is wrap each prepared filling with corn husks, or any substitution. You often have a choice between electric and manual depending on how involved in the tamale-making process you wish to be.
Manual tamale machines tend to be smaller, which is ideal for personal tamale endeavors, whereas electric tamale machines are larger, but can do much more in less time, perfect for restaurants or businesses. Realistically, you probably aren’t capable of making around 400 tamales per hour by hand, but with a tamale machine, you most definitely can---and without losing that “homemade” tamale taste! We’ve gathered together the best machinery options for making your own tamales at home.
The 7 Best Tamale Making Machines
Of course, the number 1 machine for making tamales is your own pair of hands! Yet we can’t help but love the efficiency of these tamale machines. So now that you have your Tamale Maker, you’re ready to start making those large, neat batches of tamale.
To make the best possible tamales, regardless of whether you’re using a machine or your hands, it is optimal to understand the details of how the traditional process has always worked. And remember, there are so many variations of tamales, so take out and/or add anything!
You’ll need:
A crockpot
2 cups of masarepa/masa harina
⅔ cup of lard or vegetable shortening
1 can of beef or chicken broth
1 pound of banana leaves or corn husks
1 cup of sour cream
1 ¼ lbs of pork loin
1 tomato
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
3 dried guajilo peppers
3 dried ancho chilies
1 Serrano pepper
1 Jalapeno pepper
2 cups of water
salt and pepper
Any other vegetables for the filling!
It takes roughly 30 minutes to prepare and five hours to cook.
Start out by taking your crockpot and adding two cups of water. Chop up your onion, bell pepper, and garlic clove, and place them in the broth, as well as about a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of pepper (or to taste), and a teaspoon of cumin. You’ll want to take your pork loins, cut them into two inch chops, and season them with salt and pepper. Let this mixture sit in the crockpot for about four to five hours to allow the meat to tenderize for easy shredding. Once a few hours has passed, finely shred the meat with a fork, but don’t abandon that broth!
Then, you’ll want to make a chile sauce that can be thrown in while you’re creating the dough and as a topping for the final product. Remove the seeds and stems from your guajilo peppers, dried ancho chilies, serrano peppers, and jalapeno peppers. If you prefer more heat, you can leave the seeds in. Throw in the guajilo peppers, chopped white onion, and two garlic cloves into the pot to boil. Follow this up with the dried ancho chilies, serrano peppers, and jalapeno peppers. Once you reach a smooth consistency, you’ll want to purify this boiled mixture with a blender to get rid of any chunks.
For the dough, put the masa harina into a bowl and stir in a cup of the leftover juices from your crockpot. Throw in some of the chile sauce made earlier into the mixture. Slowly add in the can of beef or chicken broth while stirring. Once the dough is soft, work in the lard. You’ll be using your hands for this step so be ready to get down and dirty; bond with your tamales!
Next, you’ll want to seperate and soak your corn husks or banana leaves in warm water for about two hours. Take your dough and spread it on the corn husks or banana leaves with a ¼ to ½ thickness. Take the meat and place one tablespoon in the center; you can be generous with the meat! Wrap those babies up, seal them well, and throw them in a steamer.
When you’re ready to consume your tamales, take them out of the husks/leaves and nom! You can eat them with sour cream and/or chile sauce for extra flavor.
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