Why Are Tortillas Round?

[Robot_Butler]

Why are Tortillas round? Wouldn't it be easier for everyone if they were square?

[no-Name]

When you smoosh out playdoh in a rolling pin, it naturally goes into a round kinda shape, so I assume its the same with tortillas, right? So why not some kind of oval? Also keeping to the naturally round thing, but it could also hold more filling if you folded it the right way.

[Invader]

Round is the natural shape of the universe. Why are bubbles round? Wouldn't it be easier if they were cubed? Round is the natural shape of the universe. Wendy's has the secret to making square beef patties though, maybe you can squeeze the information out of them.

[Techno]

Easier to make them round. Like some Mexican gives a damn how you eat it.

[Bearsy]

You can get square tortillas. But yeah, round is the natural way they come out. Same as if you put cubes of cookie dough on a tray and cook them they come out round.

[Robot_Butler]

Couldn't they just roll out one huge sheet of tortilla, then cut it into squares, Like they do with fruit rollups or sheet metal? We're talking about a huge technological revolution for the burrito industry, here. The rollability and eatability would skyrocket. Imagine the evenly filled tacos...

[Xaqaria]

tortillas are typically made with a When the dough is pressed, it spreads uniformly in every direction, creating a round shape. One would have to put more effort into making them square. Why are bubbles round? Wouldn't it be easier if they were cubed? Not easier, but certainly cooler.

[Robot_Butler]

Tortillas pressed in the home, I can understand. I love the wacky misshapen ones that Trader Joes sells. The mass produced ones, I believe should be updated to over-convenienced (and reduced quality) 21st century standards. Similarly to how cheese has evolved to fit sliced bread. You don't see a lot of mass-market cheese still sold in giant wax wheels. Seriously, have you seen the tortilla shelf at the grocery store? It is a mess of misshapen bags all piled up and stuffed together. And think how much easier it would be to wrap a burrito, with a square tortilla. Every bite would have an equal amount of tortilla. You could fill your tacos to the top without everything spilling out the back. Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

[Amethyst Star]

Actually, for burritos, a round tortilla is more convenient as far as preventing filling from seeping out of the bottom. You have that extra surface space which wraps underneath (and over), where as a square tortilla would be less likely to fit completely, depending on the size of the burrito. Even more, with the round shape, pressure only has to be applied in the middle of the wrap where the tortialla ends to hold it closed. If the tortilla was square or rectangular, equal pressure would have to be applied along the length of the wrap to sufficiently secure the goodness inside. To manufacture square tortillas would result in a larger amount of food waste, as they would have to be rolled out or flattened in a circular or ovular shape and then cut. They do have oval-shaped tortillas, though. Perhaps that is a sufficient compromise? [/theory]

[greenwolff]

this is the kind of question I love to see asked. It's the type of question that thumbs its nose at conventional thinking. "Why are tortillas round?" The answer is, because not enough people have asked this question. I have plans to make a tortilla press that will make 4 square tortillas at a time. I will post again when I am further along in the process

[greenwolff]

in response to the post reguarding square totillas not working for burritos I say, turn the square 45 degrees (a diamond) this solves all the problems you stated. Further more, It makes for a much better prsentation, less food waste (due to not having the wad of doe at the bottom while still having the seeping issue solved by folding the point at the bottom).

[♥Mark]

Square tortillas are so counterculture.

[melanieb]

Turning a square around and rolling the diamond-tortilla from a point would cause it to bulge in the middle. Round ones, as stated earlier, hold plenty and are folded in at each end, cleverly containing all the filling. @Robot_Butler - Living in Texas, the tortilla shelf looks awesome. I was in the Bay Area recently and the tortillas there looked sad and poorly arranged. Of course, I was in a Safeway and honestly, Safeway sucks! And if you shop at decent stores you can still find the wheels of cheese, and they smell delicious! At Texas Tech, north of here, people would throw tortillas on the field during football games. They had to stop the practice but round ones certainly did fly better. Some of the guys I used to know would shout, "Tortillas!" on a hot, sack-sticking day because their junk would smell like tortillas when they should their hand in their pants. Totally gross!!!