Sourdough Slider Rolls

As always, if I can share my knowledge, experiences or any tips on a recipe I try to detail them in each recipe post so here are a couple of items I thought might be useful to anyone keen to give these a go.

How Do I Know My Sourdough Starter is Active?

To get a reasonable rise and softness with these rolls I like to use nice and active starter. This recipe uses half a teaspoon of surebake yeast to give the rising action a boost but the more active the sourdough starter, the more pillow-y these slider rolls will turn out.  For my sourdough starter, i know that if I feed it and leave it in a warm place on my kitchen bench, then about four hours later I will have a jar of nice and active starter to use. Another trick is the rubberband trick where you place a rubberband at the top of the level of your sourdough starter after you have just fed it and wait until the depth doubles in height. A more reliable test is to scoop a spoonful into a cup of water and if it floats, it is good and active and ready for slider bun use.

It’s the Middle of Winter, How Do I Keep My Dough Warm?

A great trick my mum taught me to get a warm place for dough rising and proving is to just turn on the oven on a very low heat for a few minutes. This creates a great warm place in the kitchen to leave your bread products to rise and prove even in the middle of winter.

Do You Have to Cover the Dough With Plastic Wrap? It’s Not Very Sustainable.

Short answer is no. Long answer is that the dough needs to be covered whilst rising and proving to prevent a skin from forming which results in hard stodgy crunchy bits in the bread and it helps with heat retention. However, once again, a tip that originated from my mum, is to use a slightly damp warm tea towel to cover the bowl containing dough. This technique works well when using a warmed oven as your warm place as the sealed oven retains the moisture. On a hot summer’s day, it is probably not the best of ideas as the tea towel could easily dry out and give you the unwanted skin effect. Personally I have used plastic wrap for this recipe because I reuse it after the main rising proving stages to cover the slider rolls whilst they are rising and I do not like the idea that it is possible for tea towel remnants to stick to my rolls as they are rising; I figure that any plastic that sticks to the rolls while they are rising will be easy to remove or at least easier to remove.

I Do Not Like Dry Flour on Top of My Rolls, What is a Good Substitute?

I sprinkle or sieve over the top of these rolls using plain white flour, this is to prevent sticking to the plastic wrap or whatever is being used to cover them whilst they do a final rise. However, you could substitute with semolina flour for polenta which will both give a bit of texture or bumpy crunch to the outer crust of each roll. Similarly if you do not have non-stick baking paper to line your baking tray, flour, semolina flour or polenta could also be sprinkled over the baking tray prior to placing each shaped roll.

Can a Stand Mixer be Used Instead?

Of course. Feel free to save your energy and use a dough hook attachment on your stand mixer if you have one. Just knead until the dough comes together a well combined smooth dough. It will still be a bit sticky but if you are finding the stand mixer is struggling to form a dough then add an extra flour a tablespoon at a time making sure each addition is well incorporated into the dough before considering adding more flour. The same goes when hand kneading, if the dough is being too sticky and difficult, add extra flour one tablespoon at a time, kneading each addition well into the dough before assessing if more flour is required. Just remember, the dough is meant to be quite sticky,

Is it OK to Egg Wash These Rolls?

Yes. Feel free to egg wash these rolls before baking to get a nice golden hue. The cheese on top can be omitted or you can egg wash first then add cheese to get the best of both additions. For an egg was I beat one egg with a tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash lightly over the top of each roll.