Are yeast rolls difficult to make?

I was looking up recipes for yeast rolls and the steps seem very specific and easy to mess up.

I also noticed in the comment sections half the people seemed to mess it up and have to try over and over with different recipes to get them right. Some said the climate where they live caused them to have to tweak the recipe.

As a novice baker, is it realistic for me to expect to make really good yeast rolls on my first try for a large family gathering? Or should I come up with something else to contribute?

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4meAndyou · F

The secret is to test the warm water or milk in which you are dissolving the yeast like you would test a babies bottle. Warm, but not hot enough to burn. Once you've got that part right, mix the ingredients quickly, (I used to use my dough hook and food processor), and cover the dough with a dampened tea towel and place it inside your oven.

If you have a gas oven with a pilot light, it will be perfect. If you don't, then set a bowl of warm water underneath the bowl with the rising dough. Temperature is everything and you really want the dough to rise until doubled in size. Then after you punch the dough down and let it rise again, re-dampen the tea towels with warm water, and if you don't have the gas oven, refresh the bowl of warm water in your oven.

You will get good results for really light rolls if you use good flour. Some bakers even use part bread flour like King Arthur's, and part cake flour which is super fine and light.

Then realize that you should NOT add a lot of flour during the kneading process. The more flour you add, the heavier the rolls will be.

coffeedimplez · 26-30, F

@4meAndyou That sounds anxiety inducing but its probably not as hard as it sounds once you actually do it. I'm a hands on learner.

4meAndyou · F

@coffeedimplez I used to make bread just because I wanted to learn everything I could, and I had this great new food processor with a bread dough attachment. 😂 I would make it for my family. I would NOT save this project for Thanksgiving day...because then you WILL have a nervous breakdown. Rolls can be frozen, BTW, and when thawed or warmed, will taste just like fresh.

coffeedimplez · 26-30, F

@4meAndyou So is the oven on while you're letting it rise? If so, what temperature?

coffeedimplez · 26-30, F

@4meAndyou Okay maybe I'll just try them as an experiment on my own time and once I perfect them then I'll share them

4meAndyou · F

@coffeedimplez No. The oven is NEVER on. That will be too hot. You would not put a living creature in the oven...and yeast is alive. Gas ovens have a small pilot light in the bottom. That keeps the inside of the oven a little bit warm even when it is not on.

If you have an electric oven, you can use the bowl of warm water to keep the yeast warm and alive and rising.

4meAndyou · F

@coffeedimplez That sounds like the best plan. Don't ever make yourself crazy trying something you've never done before on a holiday.

redredred · M

@coffeedimplez as low as possible, yeast will die at 110 degrees F