Recipe: Kaiser (Vienna) Rolls (9 dozen)

Your friend can probably adapt this to fit the circumstances. If she has problems, have her contact her flour supplier and ask for help.

Have fun.

Joe

KAISER (VIENNA) ROLLS

Ingredients Pounds ounces Yield: 9 dozen
Sugar - 6
Malt - 2
Salt - 2
Eggs - 6
Oil - 6
Water 3 -
Mix the dry ingredients with the eggs and water. Stir well to dissolve.

Yeast - 6
Water (lukewarm) 1 -
Make yeast solution and set aside.

Bread flour (high gluten) 8 -
Sift, add the flour, stir slightly, add the yeast solution and develop to a smooth dough.

1. Place the dough in a proper place to ferment (fermentation room or dough trough). Cover the dough to prevent crust formation as for all yeast doughs.
2. Allow the dough to rise well (time depends upon amount of yeast and fermentation conditioned) and punch. Allow to rise again and take to the bench.
3. Scale the dough into presses (weight of presses will vary from 3 to 5 lb. Depending upon the size of the roll and quality of the dough). Round up in the presses and allow to relax 15 minutes.
4. Press out the dough and separate the pieces by dusting them lightly with rye flour. Rye flour used in make-up will prevent running together of the sections of the roll and avoid "blindness".
5. Flatten each piece of dough slightly into a round or partially round shape. Place the thumb of the left hand in the center of the piece of dough. With the fore finger of the left hand pick-up about a section equal to one-fifth the dough and fold that portion slightly over the thumb. With the outside of the palm of the right hand hit the dough up against the side of the thumb. Pick up the second section and follow the same procedure. The fifth or final section of the dough is given a slight twist with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and the section is pushed into the gap made by removing the left thumb from the corner of the roll. The final edge must be pushed into the center so that it is firmly impressed. This will prevent separation in the proofing and baking.
6. After the roll is formed place it face down on a clean portion of the bench. When a full press is made up, the rolls are picked up and placed in a roll box that is covered with a clean canvas roll cloth or a box which has been sprinkled with poppy seeds, face down. Be sure there are enough poppy seeds to prevent sticking while the rolls are proofing.
7. Allow the rolls to get slightly more than proof (avoid maximum proof) and prepare for baking.
8. The rolls are baked at 425 F. with a generous amount of steam in the oven. Allow the steam to enter the oven about 2 minutes before peeling the rolls.
9. Dust the roll peel with cornmeal and pick the rolls up gently and turn them face up (with the fold facing up) on the peel. Allow sufficient space on the peel for each roll to expand in the baking process.
10. Place the peel into the oven, being careful to avoid the steam that comes out when the oven door is opened, and stop the peel with a quick snap of the wrists and jerk of the arms the rolls are removed from the peel and are now on the hearth of the oven where the peel was. Practice is necessary to develop the skill in peeling hard-type rolls baked on the hearth.
11. Allow the steam to enter the oven until the rolls start to take on a light-brown crust color. Stop the steam and bake the rolls until crisp and dry. Be careful of underbaking, for the rolls will feel very soft and soggy, which is not characteristic of a Kaiser roll.
12. Remove the rolls with a roll peel by slightly tilting the peel upward and sliding the peel under the baked rolls. When the rolls are on the peel, lower the peel to a level position and draw the rolls out. Deposit them into a roll basket.

Note: These rolls may be baked on sheet pans dusted with cornmeal, although they do not have the same bloom and oven spring when baked on pans. An equal amount of sugar may be substituted for malt if malt is not available. An increase in the amount of eggs will yield greater volume and a crisper roll crust.