Hi Jim.
I struggled to get soft rolls for a while, but I think I've more or
less cracked it - the results I get are still not as soft as the
burger buns you can buy in a supermarket (although obviously they
taste a whole lot better!).
My recipe is (sorry it's in metric ...)
700g strong flour
14g salt
20g solid vegetable fat (Trex brand in the UK)
20g skimmed milk powder (the lactose sugar is not eaten by the yeast
so remains in the dough and caramelises to give a brown crust in the
short cooking time
455g water (65% hydration)
1.5 tsp instant/easyblend yeast
Knead and rise as normal (I allow to rise at least 4 hours in a cool
place). Divide into 15 equal pieces, shape into rolls. Place on a
parchment lined baking sheet (arranged 5 x 3) and allow to rise in a
warm place, covered with oiled plastic wrap, until doubled in size.
The rolls will spread out and touch each other, or "batch" so that
the sides don't have any crust, they will need to be torn apart when cooled.
Bake in a very hot oven (230 C) for ten minutes, turning round 180
degrees after five minutes if your oven heats unevenly.
Remove from the oven and transfer from the baking tray to a wire
rack, and cover with a dish towel (tea towel to us Brits) until cool.
This prevents all the steam from escaping so keeping the crust soft.
Please let us know how you get on. I'd be interested to hear other
people's techniques for getting soft rolls.
- guy
www.breadsecrets.com