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!

"Bernie" > schreef in bericht
ups.com...
>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!
>

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.

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

at Thu, 11 May 2006 17:37:00 GMT in <1147369020.679286.89920
@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>, (Bernie) wrote :

>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.

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

> 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.

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.

> 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.

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.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

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.

"Bernie" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Your suggestions were very helpful. In fact, I did not knead the dough
> very well as the recipe only called for mixing the ingredients.

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.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

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.

"Bernie" > wrote in message
oups.com...

> This site is truly wonderful for those of us who are fairly new to
> cooking techniques.


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!

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Bernie" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>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.

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.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky wrote:
> "Bernie" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>
>>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.
>
>
> 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.
>
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.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”

Thanks. Any help is greatly appreciated.

>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.


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

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.

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