January 8, 2010 - 7:57am
How to get a flat Kaiser Roll after baking
I find it challenging to get to a flat kaiser roll after baking. Have watched youtube and following Peter Reinhart's book closely on the stamping & proofing. My problem is that the Kaiser roll always turn up to have risen high like a volcano in the centre even though I have turned it upside down after stamping & turn it back before putting into oven. Has anyone experience the same problem & any advice? Thanks.
Jin
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Fully proof the formed rolls before baking. Under-proofing results in more exuberant oven spring. According to Greenstein, as I recall, in the bakery, kaiser rolls were proofed to 4 times their original size. For us amateurs, proofing to twice the original size may be more realistic.
Hope this helps.
David
I have had exactly the same problem they look great going in then I get the volcanos I 've tried them twice and gave up. Guess I'll try again
I find the knotted rope method makes a decent Kaiser roll. Certainly not authentic, for the purest, and I could use some more care in the shaping, but all in all...
Reinhart's BBA Kaisers are great by the way.
Not the best, but no volcano peaks:
Those look great! You followed everything from BBA recipe? I would have been thrilled if mine came out looking like that. Mine tasted great but they looked like some sort of desert they puffed up so high. I followed BAA recipe but I guess next time I'll just proof for a lot longer
Yes. Pretty much tried to follow the recipe as faithfully as I could on the first try. I feel that is the only way to fairly judge a recipe, no alterations.
He does say one can use whichever method one desires in shaping. Which method did you use?
My opinion is that unless one is pretty proficient at it, trying the authentic folding method, results in too much dough being bunched toward the center. That may cause the peaks. One could always try pressing the center in with the thumb. Can't really say when would be the best time to do it though.
I'm thinking maybe the problem was in the shaping, both times I tried making them I folded them as in the Youtube video. They looked good until they came out of oven. I 'm goig to try again you knotted them?
Yes. The typical knot, but instead of letting the ends pop out of the top and bottom, I try to press the ends of the rope together on what would be the underside, or inside the roll. Sometimes the ends pull loose though, as it proofs.
These are some KA sweet potato sandwich rolls showing the two different rope in a knot methods. The poke thru method is a little easier and the rolls may look better, but not as much like a Kaiser.
Ends poke thru method:
Ends pressed together inside or underneath:
Those look great! You followed everything from BBA recipe? I would have been thrilled if mine came out looking like that. Mine tasted great but they looked like some sort of desert they puffed up so high. I followed BAA recipe but I guess next time I'll just proof for a lot longer