Hey, Beth; about those sourdough dinner rolls...

[testkitchen45]

I made them yesterday (Sunday), and any goalie would have been PROUD to have them as hockey pucks. How much time do you normally leave b/w feeding your starter & making the rolls?

I fed my starter Thursday, I think (could've been Friday--the days are starting to run together as I prep for T'giving), & left it out on the counter so it wouldn't go to sleep again. Maybe I should have made the rolls the day after feeding the starter? They seemed to rise OK until after the final shaping; they pretty much didn't rise worth mentioning after that but silly me, I baked them anyway. Waste of good oven heat.

Live & learn. Thanks!

[Beth]

I feed my starter the night before I make a dough or earlier in the same day. If they rose the first time, I would have thought they would rise the second time too. Maybe they just didn't have enough oomph left (technical term) or maybe they needed longer? Sorry.

BTW, the boys have made the KA White Bread 101 our go-to dinner roll (the name of the recipe in their Baker's Companion but seen on their site last week under Soft White Dinner Rolls).

[testkitchen45]

Originally Posted by Beth

I feed my starter the night before I make a dough or earlier in the same day.

Thanks. I think this is the key; I waited too long.

Do you ever do the last rise (on the cookie sheet for about 30 min) in the fridge? Will the fridge totally retard the rise; & if so, for how long do the chilled rolls need to sit out b4 baking? I'd like everything up to this point to be done the day before if possible, so that on serving day, all I need to do is pull the tray from the fridge for X amt of time, & bake.

[Beth]

I often put dinner rolls or breakfast rolls (especially cinnamon rolls) in the fridge. I generally take them out while the oven heats unless they don't look like they have risen enough. I like them to be considered oven ready at that point. If the dough tends to have a slow rise, I might leave the shaped bread or rolls on the counter to start to rise and then put them in the fridge once I can see that they are starting to puff a bit.