Finally caved and tried the tangzhong method for bread, totally changed my mind about soft rolls

I always thought adding a flour paste to bread dough was just extra work for no reason. Then my sister sent me a video from a King Arthur Baking blog showing how the starch absorbs more water and stays soft for days. Made a batch of milk bread rolls last night and they were still pillowy this morning, not rock hard like my usual stuff. Has anyone else had a specific technique completely flip their opinion on something they thought was useless?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren9761mo ago

Same here @noah_barnes, I messed up my first tangzhong by eyeballing it and got a gummy mess too. Weighing it made all the difference, and my rolls stayed soft for three days straight.

noah_barnes1mo ago

That first batch of King Arthur tangzhong milk bread is a total game changer, but here's what bugs me - did you actually weigh your tangzhong ingredients or just eyeball it? I ask because I tried the recipe three times before I realized I was adding too much flour to the paste and it came out gummy. Once I used a scale for the 20 grams of flour and 100 grams of water, the texture finally clicked. What specific brand of bread flour did you use too, because I swear my rolls came out way fluffier with King Arthur's vs the generic store brand.