We’ve been there. That experience is exactly why First Bake was born. Not every tortilla deserves a place on your plate. So what separates a genuinely great flour tortilla from something that just looks the part? Let’s break it down.
The first thing you notice about a tortilla is how it feels. Cheap tortillas are usually too thin or too stiff. They tear under pressure or dry out the moment they hit heat. On the other end, some are so thick they feel doughy and heavy.
The right tortilla walks a line between flexibility and structure. It bends without breaking. It’s soft but strong. It can handle juicy carne asada or scrambled eggs without falling apart in your hands.
At First Bake, we roll each tortilla to a precise thickness—enough to support your filling, but light enough to stay tender.
A flour tortilla should taste like something. Mild, sure, but still flavorful. You should be able to detect the richness of the fat, the softness of the flour, a pinch of salt. But most commercial tortillas taste like nothing. Or worse, they taste like packaging.
This happens when the ingredients are engineered for shelf life, not taste. Preservatives and additives mute real flavor. Many brands rely on emulsifiers or dough conditioners to standardize texture, but those come at the cost of character.
Our ingredient list is short on purpose: organic unbleached flour, regenerative lard from Florida, filtered water, sea salt. That’s it. The difference is obvious the moment you warm one up.
Ever tried to make a wrap and had your tortilla crack down the middle? Or watched one get sticky after reheating? That’s a red flag.
Our tortillas pass the fold and bend test! A well-made tortilla is soft, slightly chewy, and flexible. When it hits a skillet, it should toast gently and stay tender. It shouldn’t get rubbery. It shouldn’t break when you fold it. And it absolutely shouldn’t feel damp.
Try this: heat your tortilla on a non-stick skillet for 30 seconds per side. Does it get golden spots? Does it stay bendable? If not, something’s wrong.
Most people don’t check the ingredient list on a tortilla package—but they should. Many store-bought tortillas contain more than ten ingredients, including:
These ingredients aren’t there to improve taste. They’re there to reduce production cost and extend shelf life.
If your tortilla has a paragraph of ingredients, it’s not a fresh food. It’s a manufactured product. Our rule: if it doesn’t belong in your home kitchen, it doesn’t belong in our tortillas.
Even a good tortilla can be ruined by poor handling. Mass-produced tortillas often sit in cold storage for weeks before reaching you. They’re gassed, vacuum-sealed, or preserved to simulate freshness.
We don’t do that. Our tortillas are made to order and shipped within 48 hours of production. When you open a pack, you’ll smell fresh flour and lard—not plastic or freezer burn.
They’re soft straight out of the package and even better warmed up. That’s what fresh should feel like.
One of the easiest ways to judge a tortilla’s quality is how it reacts to heat. On a hot skillet, a good tortilla will toast evenly, form light golden spots, and puff slightly as steam builds inside. The texture will stay supple, not crisp or brittle.
Lower quality tortillas often stay pale, scorch at the edges, or stiffen when heated. That’s usually the result of excess preservatives or overly processed dough.
Our tortillas are ready for eating—at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late-night snack time.
It’s easy to be swayed by branding, nice packaging, or clever names. But if the tortilla doesn’t deliver in texture, taste, and integrity, none of that matters. We’ve tasted the competition. Some look great online and fall apart in real life—thin, oily, flavorless, or just plain odd.
That’s not the kind of tortilla you build a meal around. It’s not the kind we serve our families. And it’s not what we ship to yours.
At First Bake, we make flour tortillas the right way: with four ingredients, careful hands, and a commitment to fresh, real food. No seed oils. No shortcuts. No fillers. Just the kind of tortilla that holds together when it matters—and actually makes your meal better.
Try them for yourself. Shop our fresh flour tortillas here.
