The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Rolling technique

cw's picture
cw

Rolling technique

Hi,

I've been having trouble rolling out dough into a rectangle with corners (then used to make loaf bread).  Every time I try to roll it with rolling pin (horizontally, then vertically), the edges remain curved.  Then if I press harder, the edges of the dough becomes damaged.  Can anyone lend some expertise on how to roll out dough into rectangle with sharp edges (without damaging the edges)? 

 Thanks for any advice!

CW 

I will try out those methods next time, thank you for your help! =)

 CW 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

First of all, Welcome to TFL, CW!

I'm sure you have checked out  "roll out dough" on  youtube so I will spare you.  Have you noticed that when one rolls out a round shape it takes on a round shape after rolling?  Then to make corners, an attack maneuver is used to pull out corners and make the shape not-round?  Not exactly ideal but used 99% of the time.

Try patting a cube shape from a round blob of dough first, then roll out, there will be a big difference!  Pssst, don't tell anyone, it's one of my most guarded secrets!

Mini O

mcs's picture
mcs

CW,
I don't know exactly how you're doing it, but I usually do it like this for my sticky buns, croissant, and puff pastry doughs.
1.  Spread it out with your hands in the shape of the rectangle you want
2. Even it out slightly with your rolling pin going from front to back and left to right (now your dough would look like it's missing its corners)
3.  Starting in the center, and pressing harder now, roll out diagonally towards the corners.  Each time, start in the center and pick a corner to go towards.
4.  Now you even out your mistakes.  Places that are too long, I lift off the table and crunch up a little to make the dough fatter there. I use the rolling pin then to roll the fat section of dough towards the areas that need it.
A sidenote:  with some rolling pins, you may end up with more even results if you have your hands on the part that rolls the dough as opposed to the handles.  Also, it's easier to roll the part that's close to you thinner than the far side, so do the opposite and try to press hard on the far side.
-Mark

http://thebackhomebakery.com

cw's picture
cw

Hi,

I've been trying to get those corners every now and then, when the recipe called for rectangular dough.  But I still haven't been able to produce corners.  I did try patting the round dough into a more rectangular shape at the beginning of shaping.  And I tried to lengthen the dough into required dimensions and then rolling from the center to get the corners as suggested.

Both methods helped a bit and I did get something that looked like rectangle, but I still ended up with round corners, whereas I was looking for edgy corners.

Here's what I've been taught:

First, from middle roll left, then from middle roll right, then middle to top, then middle to bottom but on each roll, stop before getting to the end of the dough. 

Second, repeat the first series of rolls and stopping closer to the end of the dough.

Now the dough should look kind of like rectangle, but with rounded corners and  lumps near those corners.

Third and last, repeat the series of rolls, but rolling to the end to push the lump into the corner.  This is supposed to create the edges.  However, I still get rounded corners and not sure where I'm going wrong.

If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciated it.

Thanks again! 

 

photojess's picture
photojess

I've never strived for perfectly square corners, figuring I wouldn't get them anyway.  I just leave the corner areas  a little thick, and then before filling and rolling (for sticky buns), I just tug at them a bit, to square up the starting side first, then after rolling, and before completing the roll, I tug at those last two corners.  it all gets pinched anyway to seal, so I don't worry about it.

Are you sure you need perfectly rectangular dough?  I'm not sure, but for some recipes, maybe you do.  I accept imperfection for my sticky buns, as when they rise, you'd never know!

xaipete's picture
xaipete

If you roll into the corners, instead of up and down. you will get a rectangle. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it works.

--Pamela