Whole Wheat Rolls
One of the fun things about culinary school is picking up tips and tricks to share with friends. Last week, I completed week one of the Intro to Baking course, in which we focused on yeast breads. Like so many things, working with yeast doughs is a matter of practice. And, I’ve decided, yeast doughs are divas of the kitchen–yeast ferments and dough rises in its own good time. In a professional kitchen you can do a few things to manipulate the process, like popping dough in a proofing box to speed up fermentation. Ultimately, though, dough is ready when it’s ready.
Yeast doughs are divas of the kitchen.
That said, I picked up a couple of tricks anyone can do at home.
Plastic wrap and a Sharpie makes it easy to monitor dough as it rises.
The first falls under the gee-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that category, and makes it easier to determine if dough as risen enough. When you put kneaded yeast dough into a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then use a permanent marker to draw a circle the size of the dough. This makes it simple to tell at a glance if the dough has doubled in size. (You also can press two fingers into the dough, and if the indentation remains, it’s ready.)
The second trick is to use a digital thermometer to test the doneness of bread. This is especially helpful for yeast bread, like pullman loaves or brioche, that is baked in pan, since you can’t pick up a baked loaf and tap the bottom to hear if it sounds hollow. Instead, you slip a thermometer into the side of the bread and when it registers 200F, it’s done.
This is a variation of helpful tip I picked up from the instructor from my previous class to determine when fish is done: Slip the tip of a sharp knife into the side of the fish and hold for 5 seconds. If the tip is warm/hot when you remove it, the fish is ready. This worked like a charm every time, and I ended up with fish that was cooked just right and never overcooked.
