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How long ahead of time for dinner rolls?

8 years ago

I have a refrigerator dinner roll recipe that I really like. I usually make the dough the day before I bake it. What's the longest time ahead I can make up the dough and keep it in the frig? Would I still need to punch it down regularly?

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Comments (7)

grainlady_ks
8 years ago
If you don't make yeast breads frequently, I suggest you bake your rolls ahead of time and reheat them in foil. That's the safest method IMO, and the one I personally follow, even after decades of weekly bread-making.

When it comes to refrigerated dough, I suggest using a refrigerator dough recipe (one designed for refrigeration), and Betty Crocker's Potato Refrigerator Dough recipe for a number of reasons.

A good refrigerator dough will include mashed potatoes (or reconstituted potato flakes will work for mashed potatoes). The purpose of the mashed potatoes? According to Lloyd M. Moxon, author of "The Baking Book" and a microbiologist who specializes in yeast biochemistry: Mashed potatoes (or any pureed vegetables) is vital for refrigerator doughs because it preserves moisture in the dry climate of a refrigerator. A regular yeast dough can quickly dry and become unworkable the longer it is retarded in the refrigerator.

The Betty Crocker's Potato Refrigerator Dough recipe recommends to refrigerate at least 8-hours but no longer than 5-days. In my cookbook " Betty Crocker's Baking Classics" there are also additional recommendations for making:

-Braided Dinner Rolls

-Parker House Rolls

-Crescent Rolls

-Hamburger Buns

The recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/make-ahead-potato-bread-dough/62a1773f-638e-4903-8742-c6746f0a90d0
ci_lantro
8 years ago
With refrigerated roll dough, I don't like to use it beyond 2 or 3 days. Longer than that and it starts to turn into sourdough. Which is OK if you like sourdough. With holiday meals, I like a kinda' sweetish dinner roll.
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lindac92
8 years ago
My basic roll dough came long ago from a Fanny Farmer cookbook....no potatoes and it keeps very well for easily 5 days and gets better tasting. I am sure in the "olden days" there weren't so many ways to keep things from drying out in the refrigerator.
My recipe is the basic 2 cups milk, 2 portions of yeast, salt 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, half a stick of butter and enough flour to make dough. It does get a bit more "sour" but certainly even more delicious.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
8 years ago
DH is the baker and makes it the day before...it has a small diced cooked potato. Not really that much. Two days ahead is not a problem. He puts it in a knotted plastic bag with a bit of room for expansion into the fridge. Depends on the recipe me thinks. We might just bake them ahead and freeze if we decide to drive xmas morning. If we travel wed he will prep and take the pre-made dough and fridge it at my folks for friday...still deciding the menu. Three days is a stretch but have had success in the past. Failures are not an issue in my family...so many things come out great.

He is making a couple boule loaves today so that is a good back-up. I'll freeze one for slicing later on the day.
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I did this for Thanksgiving: my old Betty Crocker book has a recipe for brown & serve rolls & I used the directions w/ my own dough recipe. Basically it tells you to bake the rolls @ 275F for 20-30 minutes, w/o browning, then you can refrigerate or freeze. I refrigerated half & froze half, wrapped tightly, in their pans - there were 96. When it's time to serve, you bake them @ 400F for about 10 minutes. If you're brushing anything on like egg wash or butter, do that before they go in the oven the 2nd time.

Both batches came out great. The refrigerated ones I held for about 3 days, the frozen ones were held for about 2 weeks before baking & serving. I thawed them for an hour before baking.

My recipe was a basic white bread dough made w/ whole milk, melted butter & honey.

HTH
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Up to two days. I've made these a couple times. I do cloverleafs, shaping the dough into balls instead of rolling out and cutting into strips.

Poppy Seed Dinner Rolls
grainlady_ks
8 years ago
Other things to consider when using refrigerated (retarded) dough....

-Chilling the dough forces the yeast into dormancy so it's no longer eating up all the available sugars. This means the bacteria can feed on them and the result is more flavorful acids.

-Potential problem from retarding dough (a period as long as overnight) is reduction of ovenspring, and if you are making loaves, the loaf volume may be smaller, as well as the size of rolls.

-Alcohol evaporates from the surface of the dough and some of it becomes vinegar, and that's the "sour" note others have referenced after prolonged retarding.

-Chilling the dough also makes for a more open texture.

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