Part IV - Refrigerator Bread Dough
I mentioned in my Jelly Update that my grandma Shirley makes great bread. We don't see as much of it anymore, but it is something to get excited about when we do. If you don't think you can make bread or have failed in the past, don't give up! My grandma is proof positive that practice makes perfect. When my grandma was teaching my cousins, my sister and I to make bread she told us about burying her first batch in the backyard just after she married my grandpa. She has come a long way from burying bread in the back yard, and it didn't take her 60 years to learn, she has made great bread ever since my mom can remember.
The recipe I remember her making most was refrigerator rolls and it really is EASY. Refrigerator dough recipes aren't very common anymore. There is a post on Want What You Have that gives a little history. Most modern cookbooks don't have a refrigerator dough recipe anymore, but you can often find them in church cookbooks, especially older ones. The idea behind it is that a recipe makes several days worth of bread dough and can be kept in the fridge, so each day you can pull out what you need and have fresh bread.
The recipe is versatile too. My grandma made dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, sticky rolls, and loaves of bread from the same recipe. I tend to leave bread making for special occasions. It is probably best for my health that way. I could eat a whole pan of rolls in a sitting if I'm not careful. If you have more self control than I do, this is really a practical recipe. It can stay in the fridge for up to a week, so you are free to use a bit at a time and always keep fresh bread in the house. It is also nice for holidays because you can make the dough ahead of time. On the morning of your event, just form the rolls or loaves and set them aside to rise while you finish the rest of your preparations.
The ingredients for grandma's refrigerator rolls are very basic. Yeast, water, salt, flour, egg, sugar, and oil. Although none of the steps are difficult, I do find that I need to pay close attention when I'm making bread. I'm sure if I made it more often, it would be a bit more natural.
The first step is to dissolve the yeast in warm water. Grandma always tests the water on her wrist, like a baby bottle. I've found that I don't have a feel for it the way she does. Again, maybe that comes with practice. To get started, I'd recommend using a thermometer and following the directions on the yeast package. One package that I had on hand called for 115-120 degrees and the second called for 120-130 degrees for dissolving the yeast. I aimed for around 120. My tap water gets plenty hot, scalding really, so I had to wait for it to cool down to 120. If yours doesn't heat very well, you could warm it on the stove or in the microwave. Even though the yeast is called active dry yeast, the warm water is needed to wake it up, too hot and it will kill the yeast. I'd say it is worth taking the temperature.
Notes from Grandma and Bread Science: Although the recipe calls for plain old water, grandma uses the water from boild potatoes when she can. I typically haven't done this since I don't make many boiled or mashed potatoes, but grandma's rolls are better than mine, so I'll have to compare. I've heard and it makes sense that mashed potatoes were often served at Sunday dinner, the water was saved, and the bread dough for the week could be made from it.
It took a while, but I finally found an explanation of why the potato water works, a whole Baking Science site in fact. The potato water serves as an emulsifier, which keeps the bread from going stale. In general, it is said to help keep the bread moist and improves the texture, the two things that are wrong with my bread. Also, it may improve the volume or rise of the dough. There is a little discussion here and here about using potato water. They include a caution about keeping the potato water too long. They recommend using it in 24 hours or less, otherwise it can cause an off taste in the bread. I'm planning to make bread again in a couple of days for Thanksgiving, so I guess I'll need to plan some boiled potatoes for dinner so I can test this theory.
UPDATE: Potato water is a must!
Back to reality - In a large bowl, or a mixer bowl, combine the warm water and yeast and whisk until it is dissolved. Next, add the sugar and salt to the mixture and whisk again until they are fully dissolved. Grandma is very particular about this step. I'm not one to talk back to Grandma, so just make sure it is really dissolved. You can let it sit a bit and whisk again in a few minutes if it isn't dissolving right away. That will give you time to prep your flour.
The flour should be measured using the dip, level, pour method. This helps to get a consistent amount of flour every time you make the dough. Measuring directly out of the bag or canister may be inconsistent since sometimes it is packed more than others. To get started, sift six or seven cups of flour onto a piece of parchment (for easy cleanup). Grandma kept a piece of wax paper in the cabinet that she reused each time she made dough. For as often as I make bread, I can spare the extra piece of parchment.
Stepping onto soapbox. Sifters today just aren't what they used to be. Any good bread maker needs a sifter. I also have a little problem with buying anything and everything kitchen related, so of course I bought this great sifter. You squeeze the handle instead of turning a crank and the flour goes through several screens moved by rotating metal wheels. Whoever invented it really thought they had something. I'll even admit that it looks pretty cool. If you intend to use one of these sifters and make any reasonable sized bread recipe, you may also want to invest in some sort of stress ball, or those hand strength squeezy things. I gave up. I want a real sifter, with a nice old fashioned crank. It does the job, my hands don't ache, and it doesn't take an hour to sift six cups of flour. After about a cup of flour through the sifter the first time, I gave up and sifted through a mesh strainer with a whisk. I don't think this is as fine a sift as I would like, but I shouldn't need strength training to make bread dough, at least not for my fingers. And, stepping off the soapbox.
After you sift the flour into the yeast mixture, beat thoroughly for two minutes. This is another picky point. Make sure it gets smooth. In test kitchen fashion, I tried using my mixer for bread dough for the first time. It was a lot easier to go the entire two minutes and the half flour dough was smoother than I probably get it otherwise. In terms of mess, I'm not sure the mixer was really an advantage though. I slopped a little flour out of the sides and kept having to remove the dough hook to sift in flour.
In some ways the mixer was nice for incorporating the flour. It was quicker to mix in each addition of flour, about one cup at a time, however, I kept having to remove either the dough hook or the bowl to make room for sifting. There is something a little nostalgic about mixing it myself too. I'm torn though because the mixer bowl cleaned up very nicely. Where i usually lose patience in adding the last of the flour, it incorporated relatively easily without leaving dry bits in the bottom of the bowl which in turn made for a smooth dough and easier kneading. So, take your pick. Logic tells me to use the mixer, but as a creature of habit, I'll probably forget and pull out my bread bowl next time.
I'm not a kneading expert, but the idea is to fold the dough over and press the edge into the center of the dough with the heal of your hand. It takes a decent amount of pressure to get each fold to stick into the center. There isn't any strength training required though.
If you are done for the day, put the dough in a very large oiled bowl, turning the dough over to oil the top of the dough too and put the lid on. I even wipe a little oil on the lid of the bowl to make sure it doesn't stick when it rises. Put the dough in the fridge and punch it down daily until it is all used up. I'll go into detail on the rest later.
Recipe - Refrigerator Rolls
2 pkg. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (Update: 1 cup tap water, 1 cup potato water)
2 tsp. salt
6 1/2 to 7 cups white flour
1 egg beaten well
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and salt and whisk until dissolved. Measure flour by dip, level, pour method. Add half the flour to yeast. Beat thoroughly, two minutes. Add egg and oil until combined. Gradually beat in remaining flour until smooth. Knead until smooth. Put in a greased bowl and turn to grease top. Cover with lid and refrigerate. Punch down daily until it is all used.
Make into rolls or loaves, let rise, and bake. For rolls, preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 12 to 15 minutes.
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