New member needs help with rolls

I just became a member of this group today. I need HELP!!! I tried making yeast rolls for the first time. I used a recipe from foodnetwork.com. It took five hours and the rolls were thick and doughy (although my kids still thought they tasted O.K.). I want to be able to make light fluffy rolls without taking all day. Any hints, recipes or suggestions would be appreciated. The recipe I used had a one and one-half hour initial rising time, then punch down, and refridgerate for two hours, shape and let rise again for one and one-half hours. HELP!

Reply to
Bernie
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Most *yeast* breads/ rolls/etc take that long. 2 rises, with the punching down after the first rise (some recipe require only the first rise, pizza dough for instance).

So when you use yeast, there is little to be changed about that. It's what the eyast needs to do i's rising job, and it'helps create the right texture/consistency after the bread's been baked.

Quick breads do not require all that rising, but have a different textrue because of that. Quick breads are made with baking poweder raher than yeast. Google will give yuou many recipes. Irish soda bread is fast and easy to make. You could also search for that.

If you didn't like this bread because it was difficult to make it part of your plans for the day, then you might consider doing the second rise of yeast dought overnight, but in the fridge. Then you can bake it the next morning.

Reply to
Jke

Posting the recipe would certainly be a big help in identifying potential issues. Can you please post or at least give a specific URL?

If you're making yeasted rolls, there's no real way of circumventing the rise-time wait. "Taking all day", though, doesn't mean you have to be present. For instance, you can put your rolls in to rise and then walk away, go out, do your business, and whatever else you want to do. Another solution, if you're uncomfortable leaving the house, is to make the dough the night before and bake in the morning. Or you can retard the rise by putting it in the fridge. However, trying to speed things up only makes things worse, not better.

Remember that given rise times are a guideline, not an absolute specification. You need to wait not for a set number of hours, but rather for the dough to increase in volume by some sort of specified amount. Virtually all yeast recipes will tell you how much volume increase you need for each rise. If your rolls were doughy, then there's a good chance you didn't let it rise long enough. There's also the possibility you didn't knead thoroughly enough. It all depends on the specifics of the recipe.

Reply to
Alex Rast

Did you proof the yeast first? Did you really knead the dough, until the glutens were all stretched out and the dough was as smooth as a baby's bottom?

Making a yeast bread is more about technique than ingredients, IMO.

Reply to
Claire Petersky

check out alt.bread.recipes for extra help. they even have a faq. And this has been discussed in the past so reviewing the archives on google groups might find useful information quickly.

Reply to
Del Cecchi

maybe if you mix the roll mix after dinner before you put your kiddliwinks to bed , then punch down the dough before you go to bed and leave to sit on the bench covered over night and punch down again in the morning , before shaping and baking ..... make sure your oven is nice and hot also

i have a bread machine and it has a dough function on it , i use that to make bread rolls and at easter i made hot cross buns leaving the mix over night ..... really light and tasty was the result

good luck with the bread rolls , let us know how you get on

tessa

Reply to
butterflyangel

when you mix your dough you should have the right ingredients. like salt sugar milk powder shortening flour and water yeast. the dry yeast should be desioled in warm water mix ingredients until incorperated about 8to10 min let sit and let rise. punch down and let rise again then you can use

Reply to
delarge57

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't know that I could leave the dough in the fridge but that would really help out.

Reply to
Bernie

Your suggestions were very helpful. In fact, I did not knead the dough very well as the recipe only called for mixing the ingredients. I will try to work the dough a bit more. I am determined to master this process. Thanks.

Reply to
Bernie

Actually the recipe called for a soft dough consistency and I really didn't know what that meant but I used all the flour called for and the dough was really too wet to knead. Should I add more or work with the dough even though it is sticky? Will it get "smooth as a baby's bottom" by working a sticky dough? Your suggestions are very helpful. Thanks.

Reply to
Bernie

Thanks. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Reply to
Bernie

Hmpf on your recipe.

You should knead a yeasted wheat-y bread for at least 10 minutes, and 15 is better. It's hard to overknead dough by hand. Press with the heel of your hand, then make a quarter turn and/or fold it over. After awhile, you get into a rhythm. The idea is to stretch the glutens so that the bread can more effectively rise. You knead until the dough starts to feel satiny, soft, stretchy. If you poke a hole in it, the indentation remains.

They often say to use a floured board for kneading. I just thoroughly wash the kitchen counter, dry it, and then sprinkle flour on the counter, and knead there. When I'm done, the whole counter gets completely re-washed, this time to get stuck dough off. For me this is less hassle than a floured board. Others might disagree. Take off your rings, and then flour your hands, too, so they don't get sticky.

If the dough is too sticky, you can work in more flour. Typically a bread recipe will say something like "3 1/2 - 4 cups flour" because the exact amount of flour depends on the humidity of the kitchen and for all I know the phases of the moon. Yeast breads are much more forgiving compared to quick breads in terms of the ingredients. But the challenge is to keep the thing kneaded without packing too much flour into the dough, which will also make it too heavy in consistency when baked.

Reply to
Claire Petersky

WOW! Thanks a lot! I fully intend to try this method this weekend. Will post the results on Monday. Thanks to you and all who helped! This site is truly wonderful for those of us who are fairly new to cooking techniques.

Reply to
Bernie

I had the benefit of learning at my father's knee (knead ?) -- he was a great baker. If you don't have the benefit of learning from someone in his kitchen, you've got to draw on other resources. So feel free to ask!

Reply to
Claire Petersky

I agree, its great to be able to read tips from others and try out new ideas. Thanks everyone!

Reply to
melliea

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