Dough Didn't Rise - why?
I followed this recipe: http://blog.junbelen.com/2010/03/24/how-to-make-pan-de-sal-filipino-bread-rolls-at-home/ [1]. My dough didn't rise very well. Here are some notes:
- I used bread flour.
- My yeast proofed well. I measured the temperature of the water.
- I used a stand mixer and mixed for 15 minutes. I noticed that the dough was "balling up" on the dough hook, so I was constantly pulling it off so it could get a better kneading. It seemed to me that the dough was a bit dry. I'm not really a pro at telling if kneading was done right.
- I put the dough in a slightly warmed oven with some hot water for some moisture.
- The shortening I used was 2 months expired, but it has never been opened.
The dough did not double in size. Maybe it increased by 50%. I kneaded again and then shaped the dough into buns. I put it back in the slightly warmed oven for another hour. Again, the dough increased by about 50%. After the rolls baked, there were a bit dense as opposed to the light and fluffy texture that they should have.
Any ideas what went wrong? The instructions say to "Combine flour, sugar, warm water, salt, and shortening in a large bowl and mix until well combined." According to http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/baking-101/yeast-breads/common-yeast-bread-issues/slow-or-no-rise.aspx [2], adding the fat (shortening, right?) at the wrong time slows rising time.
Could the improper kneading have caused the problem? Was the dough too dry, which caused the "balling up" effect? Did that mean I didn't get proper gluten development -- and could that have caused my problems?
Could have my shortening caused the problem? Is that stuff delicate?