Italian Rolls (Big Batch, Cold Rise)

A big batch of crusty Italian rolls for a crowd, made with one cold-rise dough. Mix Saturday at noon, let it rise in the fridge overnight, then shape and bake on Sunday. Built for Oven Pulled Pork sandwiches for about 30 people. Makes about 5,900 g of dough, about 59 rolls at 100 g, 2 per person.

Ingredients:

Dough (baker's percentages are based on the flour weight):

  • 3,500 g (about 29 cups) bread flour (100%)
  • 2,200 g (about 9 1/4 cups) cool water, about 65°F (63%)
  • 70 g (about 3 3/4 tablespoons) fine sea salt (2%)
  • 28 g (about 3 tablespoons, or 4 packets) instant yeast (0.8%)
  • 105 g (about 1/2 cup) olive oil (3%)
  • 70 g (about 1/3 cup) sugar (2%)

Total dough: about 5,973 g (170.8%). Plan on about 5,900 g after scraping the bowls.

Half batch (for a stand mixer, make it twice):

  • 1,750 g bread flour, 1,100 g cool water, 35 g salt, 14 g instant yeast, 52 g olive oil, 35 g sugar

For the tops:

  • Flour or semolina for dusting

Instructions:

  1. Saturday, about noon: mix the dough. A home stand mixer cannot handle the full batch, so mix two half batches, or mix the whole thing by hand in a large tub. Stir the yeast and sugar into the flour, add the water and olive oil, and mix until no dry flour remains. Rest 15 minutes.
  2. Add the salt and knead 8 to 10 minutes (dough hook on medium-low, or by hand) until smooth and slightly tacky.
  3. Bulk ferment 2 hours at room temperature, covered. Give the dough one or two sets of folds, at about 30 minutes and 60 minutes: lift each side and fold it over the center.
  4. About 2 PM: divide the dough into 3 or 4 oiled containers or bowls (a big single mass stays warm in the middle and overproofs). Cover tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours.
  5. Sunday, about 12:15 PM, divide and preround cold: turn one container at a time onto a lightly floured counter and divide into 100 g pieces (about 59 total). Roll each into a loose ball. Cover and rest 15 to 20 minutes.
  6. Shape: flatten each ball slightly, fold the top down and the bottom up, then roll it into an oval about 5 to 6 inches long, pressing the seam closed to build surface tension. Press each roll slightly flat.
  7. Dust the tops with flour or semolina, or roll the bottoms in semolina. Set seam-down on parchment-lined half sheet pans, about 10 per pan (about 6 pans).
  8. Proof covered about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy and a gentle poke springs back slowly.
  9. Heat the oven to 400°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. If you like, score each roll with a single lengthwise slash.
  10. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, rotating and swapping the pans halfway, until golden and about 200°F inside.
  11. Cool on racks before splitting.

Yield:

  • About 59 rolls at 100 g, on about 6 half sheet pans. That is 2 rolls each for 30 people.

Home oven batch notes:

  • Bake 2 pans at a time, so 6 pans takes about 3 rounds.
  • Keep the pans waiting for later rounds covered in the fridge so they do not overproof. Take each pair out about 20 minutes before its turn.
  • Let the oven come back to 400°F for about 5 minutes between rounds.

Sunday timeline with the pork:

  • 8:00 AM: the pork goes in the oven.
  • 12:15 PM: divide, preround and shape the rolls while the pork finishes.
  • About 1:00 PM: the pork comes out, and the oven goes to 400°F for the rolls.
  • About 1:45, 2:15 and 2:45 PM: the three rounds of rolls bake.
  • About 3:45 PM: the rolls are cool. Split and fill with the warm pork.

To serve:

  • Split the rolls lengthwise, toast them cut-side down for a minute if you like, and pile with pulled pork.

Cook's Notes:

  • Yeast is set at 0.8% instead of 1% because of the long 24-hour cold rise. Cool water keeps the big batch from overheating during mixing.
  • The dough is fine in the fridge for 18 to 36 hours, so the timing is forgiving.
  • Split the rolls only once fully cool so the crumb does not turn gummy.
  • Leftover rolls freeze well. Reheat from frozen at 350°F for about 10 minutes.

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