Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Here's a pic from buns I made a few weeks back...thankfully, I'm ambidextrous when it comes to rolling my dough into balls.



Amy

Any, those are gorgeous!
fitzie

oh my...gorgeous. what recipe do you follow?

They are perfect...I could not do that with both hands, let alone a broken wrist!
Ilene

The recipe is from BBA (Bread Baker's Apprentice)...white loaf, variation 1. I'm going to have to try the one Emilie pointed to! I'm always interested in making different enriched doughs.

Ilene, actually rolling dough is one of those things that is either "natural" for you, or "can" be learned. When I first started baking in earnest, I sucked at it, but after a few weeks of daily work at it, became proficient. It was not natural for me.

Yet, when I did the bread tutorial in San Antonio, Frank picked up on the technique in about five minutes flat. A natural bread roller if there ever was one.

Amy

OK, Amy....I have now been motivated to give it a try....I have the book and as soon as the truffle mania is over, I am on to the hamburger rolls!
Ilene

thanks, I have BBA too so will give it a try. I made whole wheat hamburger buns from CL's The Complete CL Baking Book and we really really liked them. Then for some reason I never made them again.

Wow... those are beautiful, Amy. And all without a newfangled hamburger bun pan! (Although I'll always love mine; unfortunately I have a major weakness for bakeware.)

I'm going to crack open my copy of BBA and check out that recipe. I've had that book for a long time, but unlike sweets, for some reason I typically jump on the internet for yeast bread/rolls recipes.

And in the cookbook trivia department, Peter Reinhart seems like a really normal, down-to-earth guy. He came to Richmond a few years ago and taught a demo class at SLT and was really affable and approachable. I had thought he might be a bit puffed up, so to speak, since his book jackets all describe him as an "acclaimed" baker. But he was just as nice as he could be. And it was definitely the most informative class I've ever taken.

Emilie

OK. I got Peter Reinhart's recipe off the internet so I'm going to try his hamburger buns today. I love sandwiches on buns.

The only breads I've really had luck with are Julia's French bread and Edna Lewis' potato rolls. Something about the words yeast and knead. Scary -scary.

Is BBA a book you would recommend for a novice bread baker?

fitzie

Fitzie,

I think BBA is very accessible for novice bread bakers. And, this is a very easy recipe. A couple of pointers...

* I find my first rise is faster than what he quotes; better to err on the side of being slightly not risen enough
* I scale my buns to 2.5 oz. each
* It's really hard to describe how to roll a dough ball (demonstration is so much better), but you are looking to keep the side of your rolling hand on the "bench" (counter top) the entire time, using your pinkie to pull the dough under itself each time you roll. Your goal is is to end up with something that looks like an innie belly button on the underside of the ball. It takes practice, but you will have that "ah ha" moment when you are doing it perfectly, and your hand remembers that movement.
* After you've rolled them and placed them on an oiled parchment sheet covered with saran wrap, wait 20 minutes (for the gluten to relax a little) and then flatten the balls into a hamburger roll shape (as opposed to the round ball shape you started out). Cover the buns again and continue proofing.
* Don't forget to egg wash prior to baking, and put on whatever seeds, e.g., sesame, poppy you like.
* Rotate the pans top-to-bottom and back-to-front half way through the baking.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Amy