The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Im an idiot

redcard's picture
redcard

Im an idiot

Im like the guy whose computer guru told him he was too dumb to own a computer. I am starting to supect Im too dumb to attempt to learn to bake.

 tried today to make yeast rolls using a recipes from all recipes. Very simple measure mix let rise spoon dough into cupcake pan let rise again and bake for 10 min.

I expected rounded rolls on top but got flattened ones. Texture I expected the doughy soft texture but got a corn bread consistency. They tasted good enough to eat but were not the yeast roll I get at say Golden Corral I used all purpose flour would bisquick be better?

Any advice besides quit trying:O(

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

great roll recipes from TFL/  Heres one that works very welladn you can cut it in half to test out.

INGREDIENTS

19 oz AP flour 1 Tablespoons yeast 1 Tablespoons salt 3 Tablespoons sugar 4 oz butter 14 oz warm milk

DIRECTIONS

Add yeast to warm milk and let sit 1 minute; stir and add melted shortening.

Have dry ingredients ready and add to milk. Mix on medium speed until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

Place dough in a well-greased bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Stir down and form into rolls (note that dough is sticky) and let them rise again. Bake at 425degrees until brown and brush with butter while hot.

Courtesy of Thomas Chacon - who I haven't seen posting here lately but the name sake of the Chacon!

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

It's hard to tell how much experience you have as a baker, but I wish someone had told me this years ago, long before I discovered it for myself:  most people who get paid to bake, while not rocket scientists, are good at what they do because they studied it at a school for baking.  My advice is to do what they do:  learn from an expert, whether in a school or at home following a text book (not a bread cook book).  Text books are written to build your knowledge from the ground up.  While working through a text takes time, if it's a good one, you'll love learning bit by bit, gradually developing a solid foundation of knowledge from which to work.   You'll eventually figure out how to look at a recipe and absolutely know how it's going to turn out.  In addition, you'll develop a sixth sense for what advice you're getting at TFL is good or not so good.

My advice is to buy and work through DiMuzio's Bread Baking.  It's short, clear, and yet thorough; just right for a beginner.  And it's reasonably priced, especially if you buy it used through Alibris, for example, where a good used copy can cost less than $25.

 

 

EvaB's picture
EvaB

this is a biscuit mix and has baking powder in, for yeast rolls you want a solid but soft dough, not a spoonable mix like muffins those are quick breads and usually have no yeast at all!

Try the Cafeteria Lady rolls or Southern yeast rolls both on this site. easy to make even me who makes terrible bread can manage a decent roll.

Its not you can't bake, but as a poster higher up said take a class, or read the posts here and try a simple roll recipe from here, while I like allrecipes I rarely use a bread recipe from there, I like to use a good recipe book like the Bread baker's apprentice or one of the tried and true bread recipes from any one of the great baker's on this site.