The first corn tortilla I pressed at home

Documentation of a first attempt at fresh corn tortillas, with the honest mistakes included. Attempt 1: too dry — cracked on the press, cracked on the comal. Looked like a failed attempt at pottery. Attempt 2: water added, still slightly too dry. Some cracking at the edges. Attempt 3: got the texture to soft clay. No cracking on the press. Placed on a too-cool comal — steamed rather than toasted. Attempt 4: hot comal. First tortilla that looked like a tortilla. The photo of attempt 4 is not impressive by any objective measure. But the smell of fresh masa on a hot comal is the reason people do this. Once you smell it, you understand what masa harina is trying to replicate.