Since I was only making a few (8), I just used my hands and a rolling pin. I've never owned a tortilla press.
I made a batch of super-dud rolls today. For some reason I thought I could make the "small batch dinner rolls" from memory but once again I was incorrect. Did the dumbest thing... I kneaded the dough, blah, blah... then formed the little balls for rolls and put them in the greased baking pan. Then apparently my mind took a vacation and I brushed the tops with egg wash BEFORE the final rise. Of course they didn't rise and just sat there like the hockey pucks they are. I baked them anyhow just for the halibut, then into the trash they went.
It's mostly for color and that "glossy" appearance, and to hold sesame seeds in place if they are added. Or, to add a layer of goo that won't allow them to rise.
I know there is some discussion of pizza dough on the forum someplace but I'll just put this here. A couple of weeks ago I made pizza dough and made a pizza with half of it, then froze the other half. Last night I took the dough ball out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw out for today. The dough seemed fine but was really sticky when thawed...much more so than when it was freshly made. I had to add a few teaspoons of flour to handle it, so I let it rest for about 20 minutes because there was no way I could roll it out. It kept snapping back with every roll of the rolling pin. I finally resorted to using some olive oil to be able to press it into an amoeba shape on some parchment paper. Added sauce, cheese, toppings and into the oven it went. The pizza tasted OK but the crust was definitely lacking; not nearly as tasty and satisfying as when the dough was fresh. Do you freeze pizza dough and do you notice any degradation when thawed? I had it wrapped in a couple of layers of saran-wrap in the freezer.
@Beth Gallagher I've never frozen any raw dough. I always bake the pizza/bread/rolls and then freeze them. Maybe once I made individual pizzas and par-cooked the crusts and froze them. That's strange yours did not turn out OK. I'm sure you know that there's tons of sites that recommend doing this. ps: This is also the Homemade Pizza thread. I searched, and we made a formal pronouncement earlier on. As an aside, you would not believe the weird range of non-food threads in which the word "pizza" appears: Rodeo People Are Dying More Than Before Is Dr. Fauci Responsible For the Virus That Causes Covid-19? Credit Card Surcharge Residents Who Won't Listen To Apt Complex Mgr I'm Thinking of Traveling This Summer Why Don't They Teach Finance to Kids Biden Political Memes The Education System Is Making Kids Stupid Plus many, many more. I only skimmed less than half the Search Results. It's kind of fascinating.
I'm thinking we got off topic on pizza dough on the Kitchen Gadgets thread or one where we were discussing pizza stones, the Breville, etc. I recall one discussion about how to get the raw dough off the peel and onto the hot stone. You know how we are, lol. At any rate, I won't be freezing pizza dough again. It didn't seem to save me much time and the end result was not very good.
How odd. I've said before that I don't believe that any more than a fraction of the people who write cooking articles have set foot inside a kitchen, and those that have wander off into "I guess this should work" land.
I make pizza dough but I don't thaw it out. I actually make the whole pizza then freeze; and bake it frozen. Fresh is difinetly better, but frozen pizza tastes pretty good when you are tired and hungry. We think so anyway. I use card board cake rounds to freeze my pizzas on. I wrap cake rounds with nonstick foil. Shape dough onto pizza rounds as thick or thin as you like. Let it rise to the thickness you like because it doesn't really rise that much during the baking, after it has been frozen. Prick dough several places with a fork and finish making the pizza. I wrap the pizzas in plastic wrap and freeze. When we are ready to have a pizza, I remove the frozen pizza off the foiled lined board onto a parchment lined baking sheet.... and bake!
I've slowed down on bread baking but still make a loaf every week. I made some today but used the bread machine; I don't like turning on the oven when it's so hot outside. A few weeks ago I shared my favorite "everyday bread" recipe with my youngest son; he made two loaves this week and sent pictures.
He's a "hand kneader." He said my little granddaughter loved the bread. Also, he hand-sliced the bread; I was impressed by the uniformity.
Today was bread-making day. I was getting the bread flour out of the cabinet and noticed a package of "vital wheat gluten" and have no idea why I own this. So I decided to add some to the bread since I read that it makes the bread softer and "spongier" or something. The end result is a loaf that looks pretty much the same but does not have the great flavor of my regular recipe. Seems like the crust is tougher and just not as flavorful. Now I need to figure out what I bought that stuff for before I toss it.
I was watching Cook's Country yesterday and they made one of my favorite breads, prosciutto bread, it also goes by the name Lard bread. Years ago I tried making it, it came out okay but not as good as the ones you can buy. I buy this mostly around the holidays, occasionally I'll pick up a loaf to satisfy my taste buds out of the holiday season. The Cook's Country recipe call for two other Meats besides the prosciutto, plus provolone cheese. Besides yeast they used a light lager beer to mix with the flour. In my opinion the ratio they had of dice meat and cheese to the dough was incorrect, as the dough was being kneaded the meat or cheese was falling out of the dough. To Purchase this bread usually you have to go to the Italian deli or Bakery. The loaves I pick up just have prosciutto and a cheese, I have seen other combinations of meat like prosciutto and pepperoni with a cheese. This Lard bread is a delicious treat when it's made right, however I didn't find The Cook's Country recipe that appetizing. I'm thinking of trying to make this again sometime down the road if I can find a recipe that looks good. I'm starting to get the prosciutto bread itch, I'm going to start collecting the ingredients to try and make it again.