The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Hard Rolls

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Hard Rolls

Last week HeidiH posted about her Heavenly Hard Rolls. I've made lots of rolls but I don't think I ever went after an actual hard roll with a soft chewy crumb before. So I called Stanley Ginsberg at nybakers.com and ordered some Pivetti 00 Rinzfornato flour since Heidi was so excited with her results. I really like that I have access to what I consider exotic ingredients at a reasonable price with Stan. The couple extra bucks for shipping is a bargain to be able to use premium flours for a special project in my opinion. 

Anyway, I followed HeidiH post exactly except for I only applied one coat of egg wash and seeds. Those of you who know me, know I almost always doctor up the recipe. It's a over powering urge I find hard to control. This time I was good. The rolls were scaled at 100G's each and just about filled up a 1/2 sheet pan perfectly. I baked at 375F for 35 minutes with normal steam and left the sheet pan in the oven an extra 7 minutes with the door cracked open with a wooden spoon.  The crust is crusty and the crumb is soft and delicious just like Heidi promised. Thanks!

Comments

Syd's picture
Syd

Spot on, Eric.  That is just the sort of roll I like.  Nice open crumb with a crisp crust.  I love the contrast in textures.  I am a very textural person as Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods often says!  Did you score them with a cross on top?

Best,

Syd

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Hey Syd,

I did score these with a small serrated tomato knife. My wife complained the points were hard and the poppy seeds bothered her teeth. So next batch I think I'll proof them just a little longer, say 40 minutes instead of 20 and skip the scoring. I think that's more customary but I'm not for sure. I really liked the flour and flavor.

Eric

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

Nice rolls, Eric.  I have to ask...have you tried them for Pastrami sandwiches?

I'll be sure to try that formula, as I like crunchy crusted rolls, too.

Glenn

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Thanks Glenn. I haven't tried them yet with pastrami but I plan to. I know it's not traditional but I'm putting together a big grad party for my daughter with a variety of meats. I'm looking for one roll to use for everything. There is only one guy who would know the difference so I think these will work fine.

Eric

Franko's picture
Franko

Eric,

These look perfect for a slice of good cheese and tomato, or maybe some hard salami...or all three.

The crumb looks so soft and spongy, just the way I like a hard roll to be, and with a chewy hard crust to compliment it. A small thing, but next time you bake these rolls, you might want to pan less at a time to avoid the marriage of some of them. It's good to have a reasonably close fit when baking buns, as they'll be moister, but the crust suffers a bit when there isn't enough room for the oven heat to circulate thoroughly. It's one of those things where finding the right balance in the panning and what you you expect from the rolls in terms of crust and crumb during baking may take a bake or two to refine. 

Always a pleasure to see one of your bakes Eric,

Franko 

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I had one today with a nice slice of tomato a few fillets of anchovies and a little oil and smushed capers. It was tastyyyy. Tonight I made some braised pork chops with a medley  of veggies and again the crumb was a perfect soaker for the sauce.

I know what you mean about crowding the rolls. These were baked in a higher than normal sheet pan. Not a jelly roll pan quite but high enough to hold my plastic cover high enough for proofing.  That's the differance between a home baker and a pro who needs every product to look professional. Thanks for your comments Franko.

Eric

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I bake my rolls on an upside down pan.  I did it one time and liked the results so...  do it all the time now.   If I slip some cardboard or use a placemat under the parchment, the switcheroo is made easy and you can crowd the edges without hitting the pan.   (Just don't forget it's there!  Melting plastic -- yuck!)  Brushing with milk helps the seeds stick and still keep the shine.  I also use a small scissors to score and depending on what you want the score to do, careful not to criss-cross cut the roll so the points don't rise up, the expanding dough then spreads sideways with a nice rounded shape.    A whole pan of rolls could look like a variety of rolls by just using 3 or 4  different scores without all the extra work.

Are you ready to fold Kaisers yet?  :)

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I'm having trouble understanding what you mean about the cutting.

Eric

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

I'm glad you mentioned Kaisers, Mini. That was the first thing I thought about when reading HeidiH's (?) post. It brought back memories of eating in the bier keller, the informal bar/cafe in the Frankfurter Hof, in the early fifties. A flaky hard crusted Kaiser with a split brat and some brown mustard that would melt the chrome off a bumper hitch was almost daily fare for me. These hard rolls are the first which match my memories.

Eric, you must absolutely fold some Kaisers.

cheers,

gary

varda's picture
varda

those rolls look great.   I went back to look at HeidiH's post and it looks like you could decide to do this a couple hours before dinner without having to think too far ahead.  -Varda

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Gary, That's a good idea. I'll have to give that a try. Norm posted a video showing how it's done a few years ago, smashing his thumb.

Varda, Yes they move right along. You need to be around a few times to stretch and fold but yes they are quick.

Eric

HeidiH's picture
HeidiH

I just discovered this thread when I was looking for my post so I could throw some more rolls together.  I'm glad you all are enjoying them!