Comments on: Free Book Giveaway: Who Can Fix My Kaiser Rolls? (WINNER ANNOUNCED, SEE 3/11 POST ABOVE)

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:42:09 +0000

George: Thanks for checking in, it would be very fun to perfect the method right from the source! Jeff

By: George

George — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:36:50 +0000

What you tried your hand at here is not the typical German Kaiser Roll (Kaisersemmel). It’s an Austrian thing, and calles a Handsemmel (Hand Roll, because it can’t be machine-made), with the dough folded inside in five petals.
These rolls are not cheap, even in Austria, and here (I live in Munich, which isn’t THAT far…) you can’t even get them.
Believe me, I know my way around break baking, but how to get these rolls to look perfekt eludes me. Next time I’m in Vienna I think I’ll get up real early, find some bakery and try a hefty bribe

I’ll let you know, should I succeed…

By: zoe

zoe — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:35:28 +0000

Hi Mary,

Never heard of it, I’ll have to check that out.

Thanks for the idea! Zoë

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:02:35 +0000

How about a version of the classic ‘kummelweck” roll so famous in Buffalo NY’s “beef on weck?”

By: Jinnie

Jinnie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:45:39 +0000

check out this link, their rolls look pretty And they explain how to
http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/1581
Hey…you never know

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:58:49 +0000

I love that variation. Maybe I have to try these again— I have to admit that I wasn’t that excited about using the Kaiser roll cutter/form. Seemed like cheating! Jeff

By: JoPi

JoPi — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:26:15 +0000

I have just found your website. Love it. I made these rolls doing just as you did in the photo, except I pushed my thumb down into the center after shaping to give the roll that little indent in the middle. Then turned them over onto the poppy seed. Flipped them over just before baking. They came out perfect.

By: Tonia

Tonia — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:24:12 +0000

I worked in a bakery several years ago that made Kaiser rolls and they used the stamp: the baker always oiled the stamp (had a lid with veg oil that dipped the stamp in) before stamping each bun. I think he let the rolls rise for a bit before stamping, then stamped, egg-washed and sprinkled w/poppy seeds and let continue rising before baking. Also, I think if you very lightly oiled your round of dough before folding, then let rise part-way up-side down, then flip over and egg-wash and seed then let raise about 15 minutes (not completely) then bake. . .?!?

By: zoe

zoe — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:35:22 +0000

Hi Ted,

In this book we didn’t use any vital wheat gluten or enhancers in our recipes. We wanted to stick to ingredients everyone would have on hand. It was a compromise for some of the loaves! In our next book we will go into the use of vital wheat gluten in some detail.

As for the King Arthur Rye Bread Improver, I’ve never used it???

Our new book will be coming out this fall. Stay tuned and hopefully we will answer your questions about Vital Wheat Gluten. I will also try to see what I can find out about the rye improver.

Thanks, Zoë

By: ted maciag

ted maciag — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:25:21 +0000

I need help with Vital Gluten and King Arthur’s Rye Bread Improver. How do I use these products with “Artisan” recipes?
To date your marvelous book gave me great basic bread, super bialys and this morning fantastic brioche (with lingonberry). The kaiser rolls of my youth in Brooklyn were not Kaiser nor Jewish….just rolls. One had to go in the bakery rear and select the rolls as they were pulled, cops and firemen fighting to be first. I have only seen them replicated on a street pushcart in Warsaw and in a Las Vegas Casino buffet. Some baker in Vegas has the secret.