I Think I May Have Made the Best Hoagie Loaf Ever! (At Least For My Skills LOL!)

Well, from all the knowledge I have gained here, I decided to take my knowledge of how ingredients affect bread and it's overall texture and baking characteristics and decided it was time I made my attempt at my perfect hoagie roll. Soft, pillowy, but with enough strength that when split from one side would hold up to the assault of 1 pound of toppings! (In my case it was literally 1 pound of finely chopped steak meat, onions, mushrooms, and heaps of garlic aioli I kid you not.) I also warmed the bread very slightly under a broiler with garlic butter spread on top before assembling the sandwich which may contribute to strength, so I recommend you do the same! Warmed almost hot but still softer, but not toasted really, maybe only slightly.

Please, please, someone try this recipe out for their hoagie and let me know I'm not crazy or just lucky on one attempt. I seriously think that it may be a contendor for a true philly cheesesteak bread you would get at any Philly location from the hours i have spent reading online. But here goes my formula, only thing lacking was the amount of exact water, but I will get that perfect next time I make them and post back.

   Soft Hoagie Rolls Recipe - 

    200g KAAP

    115g KABF

    1 cup warm water

    20g Instant nonfat dry milk

    1 tablespoon butter flavored Crisco (For the butter flavor, but also shortening for it's crumb properties over butter)

    1 tablespoon sugar

    1.25 teaspoons salt

    1.5 teaspoons ADY

Mix flours, sugar, salt, and instant milk in bowl of mixer. Dissolve ADY in the warm water and add slowly to bowl while mixer is on low. Increase speed to 2 on KA mixer and knead just till gluten forms then allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Return to speed 2 and add Crisco to bowl. Knead until easily passes windowpane test. (Overall I would say the dough was mixed/kneaded for 12-15 mins) Remove dough from bowl, lightly spray mixing bowl with Pam and return dough to bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a very warm place until slightly more than doubled, about 1.5 hours.

Dump dough into very lightly floured counter and split in half. Lightly degas the dough balls and form into hoagie style loaves however you wish. I did so by lightly pressing the dough to the desired length (about 9 inches I'd say, maybe more maybe less) in a rectangle-ish shape then folding the ends into a triangle and then rolling fairly tightly from one side and then sealing from the other. Place the loaves on a piece of parchment onto your bread peel. Allow to rise in a warm place until almost doubled.

30 minutes before baking preheat the oven to 550 degrees with a stone on next to lowest rack. Brush bread with heavy cream right before baking, then slide bread and parchment onto the stone and pour a cup of water directly onto the bottom of the oven and quickly shut door. Immediately turn oven down to 475 and bake until golden brown but not darkened too much, about 10-12 mins I believe. I opened the door to let the steam out the last 5 minutes of baking. My internal loaf temp came out at 207 degrees, and I assume continued to rise slightly. You may want to experiement with baking temps, but I liked this method. It gave me a darker sturdy bottom and a light golden top. 

**** Note I started out by adding 3/4 cup of water and increasing from there, and I assumed it was ABOUT a quarter cup of warm water that I ended up adding. The dough should be fairly sticky, but clear the sides of the bowl and ALMOST clear the bottom, so it isn't a super wet dough at all, just tacky that leaves a little residue on your fingers. 

This bread had a soft crust, not crackily. It was very very sturdy and almost chewy, but tender and easily bitten through at the same time. No amount of juice or pressure tore the bread on the side that was unsplit on the hoagie. It was great because I have had serious problem with other bread recipes I've tried splitting from the other side and becoming an absolute horror to eat, and I mean an absolute, messy, use a fork kind of sandwich horror! Good luck and please please let me know how this bread turns out if you make it. I am very proud of it and hopefully can replicate it again and get the exact water amount down for you guys. I'll get a picture also. 

-Cory Baughn