Name: How 20,000 Pieces Of Baklava Are Handmade Every Week In Gaziantep, Turkey | Big Batches
Uploaded: 2025-05-23T06:56:52.000Z
Duration: 10 min 9 s
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This team of bakers makes around 1,200 trays of baklava every week.

And master chef Mehmet Akincorlu has to pay careful attention to every step of the process.

We visited Akincorlu Baklava to see how it makes its baklava in such big batches.

The day begins at 5 a.m., making the daily dough.

Hard wheat flour, water, eggs, and salt are added into a mechanical mixer and combined for 20 to 25 minutes.

Once soft, the dough is taken out, cut, weighed, and kneaded into small discs that are left to rest for another 20 to 25 minutes.

The discs are loaded into the dough sheeter and run back and forth to flatten and elongate them.

Here, chefs roll 10 to 15 sheets of dough at a time and generously coat them in starch so they don't stick together.

Every sheet of dough is rolled until it's paper-thin.

The thinly rolled dough is then brought to a table to fill each pan.

As you can see, the dough is already very thin.

The thinner the dough is, the better the baklava will be.

Next, a mountain of special Boz pistachios is added into the tray.

All of the pistachios Mehmet uses are harvested locally and picked within 10 to 15 days of sprouting.

The pistachios are topped with another 15 to 20 layers of dough, so that the pistachios will be more fragrant.

Here, Mehmet and his team add the final layers of dough to the top of the baklava and laminate each layer with melted butter.

As with the pistachios, Mehmet carefully selects his butter from sheep that have been grazing on mountain plants.

To retain its flavor, the butter is melted with steam.

If it's too much, the baklava will collapse.

If it's too little, the baklava won't rise.

If it doesn't rise, we can't say it has risen.

While we're pulling the dough again, we sink the tip of the colander.

The middle part of this dough, the thin part, is the most precious part.

Once the last layer of dough is applied, bakers cut the excess and slice strips across the tray.

Then they coat the tray in another layer of butter and cut it again into its famous diamond shape.

Mehmet uses a traditional stone oven filled with oak wood to cook the baklava.

Each tray bakes for 25 to 35 minutes, depending on the style of the baklava and how thick it is.

Once cooked, the baklava rests for up to 40 minutes.

The baked baklava is placed on a burner to get the bottom crispy.

When it achieves the right color and consistency, it's time to sweeten the dish.

But if there's not enough sugar, the baklava will be too soft and dry.

And if there's too much, it will lack the right crispness and flavor.

If you add too much sugar, the baklava will be too soft and dry.

And if you add too much sugar, it will lack the right crispness and flavor.

Baklava is the most delicious dessert in the world.

After three hours of prep and cooking, the baklava is ready to eat.

It's believed that baklava was adapted from a savory-layered pastry known as börek, which was popular across Central Asia in the 11th century.

Over time, it's believed that it was combined with the Arab practice of soaking pastries and donuts in honey or sugar syrup.

Some of the earliest mentions of baklava in Turkey come from the Turkish baklava, and the earliest mentions of baklava in Turkey come from the 1400s.

It was enjoyed by sultans during the Ottoman Empire and remains a popular dish among locals today.

Whether it's a pastry or a donut, you can't find this flavor anywhere else.

You can't find this flavor anywhere else.

The characteristic of Antep baklava is that it's crispy and melts in your mouth.

That's why our profession, our art, requires a very sensitive, very meticulous approach.

It has to be a team of people who work in every field and feel like they're doing their job.

Otherwise, we can't get the desired flavor and taste.

The most important lesson I learned while making baklava is to do your job with love.

Translation by İdil Sipahi Instagram & idilop