In this second installment of my Baking 101 series, I am tackling sub sandwich rolls. These are not crusty baguettes, these are soft rolls that are around 11 or 12 inches long and they will be similar to what you might find at your local American-style sandwich shop.
I’ve written about and made this recipe and style of roll a whole bunch and feel like I can share a few tips that might help you tackle making some sub sandwich rolls in your own kitchen.
There’s quite a bit of bread content in this particular post but I do switch it over to the processes of making a super tasty sub sandwich halfway down the page. Use the button above if you want to skip past the bread and baking tips.
Tips for making great sub rolls
I shared a video of the process for making and baking these sub rolls back in May and it still stands as representative of the full process. It’s easy to work with this dough recipe and you can make them with or without a stand mixer.
As a basic introduction, this video works well but it’s meant for Instagram and it’s hard to cram everything I know about the recipe into 90 seconds. Hopefully, some of the tips below that I didn’t include in the Instagram video will prove to be helpful to anyone reading this and thinking of making a batch of soft sub rolls.
I’ve tried to arrange everything below in the order of the process of making the recipe so you should be able to read along and get tips as the dough process plays out.
1. Instant vs Active dry yeast
I always use instant yeast in pretty much everything I bake that calls for yeast. Instant yeast works quicker and is easier to use than active dry yeast. This is because instant yeast is milled into smaller particles than active dry yeast which is one of the reasons why it dissolves and activates faster than active dry yeast.
I like to use instant yeast because it does not need to be activated. You do not normally need to test your instant yeast or activate it in warm water before baking. You can put instant yeast right into the flour, salt, or other dry ingredients and go right into mixing and kneading the dough.
You can still test instant yeast if you want, but as long as it hasn’t been in your pantry for more than a year, it probably will work. Active dry yeast is still a good product and I have heard that some bakers do not activate theirs, but it is suggested that you do so.
For me, using instant yeast is easier so that’s what I do. Also, remember that you can store your powdered yeast products in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage. I keep mine in a jar in the fridge, but I buy my instant yeast by the pound and it takes me quite a few months to go through that much yeast.
2. Bread flour vs all-purpose flour
Bread flour and all-purpose flour differ based on their protein count. Bread flour has a higher protein count than all-purpose flour, which allows you to bake bread or rolls with more structure and chew. The additional protein in bread flour means that the dough it produces should have more gluten and it should be stronger and potentially stretchier.
Bread flour and any type of flour with higher protein counts may potentially absorb more water than lower protein flours. I personally have found that this isn’t very noticeable in the bread that I bake, but depending on the brand of flour, this could potentially be an issue if you want to swap one type of flour for another.
Basically, I’ve found that all-purpose flour and bread flour are fairly interchangeable in a home-baking dough recipe, but the final bread produced by bread flour will have more of a chew in the texture. Bread flour still produces soft bread, but the texture is typically a bit more like what you expect in a sub sandwich roll.
All-purpose flour is great for soft burger buns or a soft white bread loaf, but I think bread flour is what you should be using in your sub sandwich rolls. If it’s your first time making sub rolls, I would just use what you have in your pantry which is most likely all-purpose. Once you get the techniques set up, and you’re excited to bake again, you can start buying dedicated flour for the job.
3. Use recipes that list gram weight
Get a scale and use that to weigh out all of your ingredients and to weigh out perfectly uniform dough balls. Baking with a scale means you can more accurately bake from a recipe but it also means that any changes you might make to the recipe will be consistent.
It’s also easier to add dry ingredients and wet ingredients like water without really having to measure anything with tablespoons or cups.
I just put my bowl on the scale, press the scale’s tare button, add flour with a spoon, and then use that same spoon to add sugar, salt, and yeast. A scale is a good thing to have in the kitchen and it will definitely make your baking products more consistent and easier to make.
4. Let things rest
Just like you and I, dough occasionally needs a nap.
Dough often will benefit from a rest just prior to the shaping process. If you are struggling to get a shaped dough “log” to roll out to the length that you are shooting for, a 10 or 15-minute rest gives the gluten a chance to relax and it can help the dough to stretch further.
When gluten strands are tight, allowing the dough to rest will let the strands loosen which will make them more pliable. This means the dough should be able to stretch further after a short rest under a clean kitchen towel. And it works. I always shape the divided dough into balls and allow them to rest for 15 minutes under a clean kitchen towel until it’s time to shape into long baguette-ish dough logs.
5. Shaping process
Once the dough has rested and you’re ready to shape it into sub sandwich roll shapes you want to turn a dough ball into a tube shape. When I do this, the first step is to flatten the round dough and start to shape it more like a rectangle. In order to get a bit more structure to the dough I fold the dough once into a half moon shape that’s a lot like an empanada. I seal the seam, press that half moon into a bit more of a rectangle, and then I roll from the seam side into a dough log.
Remember if you can’t get the dough to stretch quite as long as the recipe says it should, you can cover the dough logs and let them rest for 10 minutes or so and their gluten structures should have relaxed allowing you to roll them to the proper length.
6. Keep things taut
Keeping the tops of buns, rolls and pretty much any dough tight is very important to maintaining the structure of the finished bread. When you keep the top tucked in and tight, you’re avoiding potential uneven expansion of the dough during the baking process. This means that the top of the finished and fully baked bread will be smooth as if it were baked in a commercial bakery.
A sub roll mold will go a long way to helping with a consistent roll, but keeping the top of dough taut and smooth will do the rest.
7. Sub roll mold
The use of a sub roll mold is totally optional and I don’t really expect anyone to buy a silicone mold specifically for baking bread rolls unless they are serious about baking. But if you’re interested in making bread and you want to make more consistent rolls, this sub roll mold is 17 bucks and it can be rolled up and squeezed into the tiniest corner of your cabinet.
Allowing the dough logs to rise in a sub roll mold means that the dough will rise and then bake at a consistent width and height due to the silicone mold helping to shape and guide the dough that you spent time working on.
Here’s my sub sandwich roll recipe that you should try. Use the tips above to help your rolls be more consistently shaped.
Sub sandwich rolls
This is a great recipe to use when you need a good American-style sub sandwich roll. These sub rolls are not too crusty with a soft interior and pleasant chew for a deli-style sub sandwich, cheese steak, or po-boy.
Get RecipeTurkey and cheese sub with three special components
Now that we’ve proofed all the bread content, here’s the sandwich that I made this week with these super soft sub rolls. It’s a roasted turkey sandwich with roasted garlic mayonnaise, pimento cheese, lettuce, and a red pepper relish. Keep reading to learn about each component.
Roasted turkey
I’ve already admitted many times before on this sandwich blog, that I love roasting my own turkey breast to slice and use in sandwiches. If you cook the turkey to temperature it will be great on sandwiches and works well with lots of different sandwich ingredients. This recipe is coated on the outside with a little bit of oil and then dusted heavily with Cajun seasoning before being cooled in the fridge until it’s time for slicing.
Deli meat slicer?
I’ve shared some details about this slicer before. I’ve had it for about 3 years now and it works great for me, but I can see how it wouldn’t be something that everyone needs. The slicer I use cost me around 100 bucks on Amazon and I use it about once a month to slice some sort of large hunk of meat into thin slices.
I kept the box that it came in and after each use of the slicer, I will disassemble and clean all the parts, dry them thoroughly, and put it all back inside the box and the box goes into a basement closet.
So it works for me and I definitely think I got my money’s worth out of it. But your mileage may vary. You can just use a sharp knife and a bit of patience and still make a really good sandwich.
Oven roasted Cajun turkey
A little spicy and super seasoned moist turkey, ready for slicing. Sandwich turkey is at the next level right here.
Get RecipeRed pepper relish
This is a recipe that I created in an attempt to recreate a relish that I snuck into one of my sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s a few months back. The relish is a little sweet but balanced by brightness and tanginess from vinegar and pickling liquid. This means it’s this relish is a small component that has a big footprint on the flavor of the final sandwich.
If you eat a lot of sandwiches, this is a great component to keep in the fridge. it brings big pop to pretty much any combo of sandwich flavors.
You don’t have to strain off the liquid, but you also probably won’t need all of it. You just want the liquid to cover the relish and keep it moist in the jar or container. If you have any leftover liquid and you want a use for it, you can add it to some olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a great salad dressing. Or you can do what my wife did and turn it into a fun red pepper-focused cocktail.
Robin’s Red Pepper Cocktail
2oz vodka (Robin used Tito’s)
.75oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
2-3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1oz red pepper relish liquid
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 20-30 seconds. Double strain into a coupe glass.
If you’re worried about heat, this relish really isn’t very spicy. It really all depends on the cherry peppers that you can get access to. If you want to avoid spice you can probably buy milder peppers that will work just as well in this relish.
Red pepper relish
This sweet and tangy red pepper relish is a great addition to any deli-style sandwich or salad. Add a couple of spoonfuls to your next BLT to level things up.
Get RecipePimento cheese
I just wrote about pimento cheese for a sandwich a couple of weeks ago and honestly, this was the same batch that I made for that sandwich. I knew I had some pimento cheese left over and felt it would really work in this sandwich as well.
I covered a dedicated pimento cheese blog post in the first year of this sandwich blog that still has some pretty good information about it if you want to read more.
Here’s my mom’s pimento cheese recipe that I’ve been eating all of my life. It’s great for snacking or sandwiches.
Mom's pimento cheese
Pimento cheese is an awesome addition to a sausage biscuit sandwich. Growing up, I enjoyed a lot of pimento cheese sandwiches, with just the spread and sliced bread. This recipe also works great as a snack with crackers or pretzels.
Get RecipeRoasted garlic mayonnaise
I love this roasted garlic mayo recipe. It’s super flavorful and savory, and it comes together very quickly as long as you have an immersion stick blender. I made a YouTube video claiming that the method was a 2-minute marinade, but this version has a lot of garlic roasting time and that 2 minutes is just for putting the mayo together after the roasting happens.
You do not have to roast garlic while it’s still in head form. I often buy loose, pre-peeled garlic at the store to save some time and you can use those cloves pretty much the same way any garlic roasting recipe will instruct you when using a whole head of garlic.
Here’s my favorite mayonnaise recipe. Give it a shot once and you’ll be hooked.
Roasted garlic mayo
You like sandwiches. Sandwiches like you. You need this roasted garlic mayo to enhance your love with sandwiches.
Get RecipeTurkey sub sandwich photos and recipe
Here are some of the sandwiches I made with the components I wrote about above on the soft sub sandwich rolls I also wrote about above. You’ll just have to scroll back up if you want to read more. Or you can keep scrolling to see all the photos and get my recipe for this great sandwich.
Roasted turkey, red pepper relish and pimento cheese sub sandwich
This savory turkey sub sandwich is accompanied by a creamy pimento cheese spread and a bright, tangy, and sweet red pepper relish. Try it with my roasted garlic mayonnaise recipe for an even better sandwich experience.
Ingredients:
Pimento cheese- 1 pound cheddar cheese (mixture of sharp cheddar and medium cheddar)
- 4 ounces chopped pimento peppers
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3⁄4 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 9 ounces hot, red cherry peppers in liquid
- 1 tablespoon hot cherry pepper juice
- 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into large pieces
- 1⁄2 yellow onion, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1⁄4 cup sugar
- 1⁄4 cup white vinegar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄8 teaspoon MSG (optional)
- six to eight inch sandwich roll, sliced
- 1 to 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
- 4 to 6 ounces roasted turkey (link to recipe)
- pimento cheese spread (from above)
- shredded lettuce
- red pepper relish (from above)
Directions:
Pimento cheese: grate cheddar in a food processor or on a hand grater.
Add cheese to a large bowl with sugar, Miracle Whip, or mayonnaise and stir to combine.
Add everything back to the food processor with the blade attachment instead of the grating attachment.
Pulse the processor until you get your desired consistency.
Add half of the pimentos and some of the liquid from the jar. This will loosen the cheese mixture in the food processor a little and should allow it to become a bit smoother.
When the cheese mixture looks like it would be spreadable, taste it and add any salt and pepper that it might need.
Add the remaining pimentos and all the liquid from the jar and pulse one or two more times. This will allow your pimento cheese to have visible pimentos in it. If you add the pimento all at the beginning, you will blitz it until it's all too small to see.
Package up the pimento cheese in a sealed container and store it in the fridge for a week or so.
Red pepper relish: drain the hot cherry peppers and reserve the liquid.
Add the drained cherry peppers and 1 teaspoon of the liquid to a food processor along with the red bell pepper pieces, onion, and garlic. Pulse everything in the food processor until it looks like a thick salsa.
Place a medium-sized skillet over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
Move everything from the food processor to the skillet and saute, stirring for 4 or 5 minutes. Add the sugar, white vinegar, salt, and MSG (if using) and continue to cook, stirring often for 20 minutes to reduce some of the liquid.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow everything to cool for about 5 minutes. After the relish has cooled a little you can move it straight to a jar or you can strain it to remove some of the extra liquid. Any excess liquid works great when mixed into a salad dressing.
Store the relish in a jar or sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
Sandwich assembly: slice a sandwich roll lengthwise and apply some mayonnaise to the bottom piece of bread.
Top the mayonnaise layer with a pile of sliced turkey and then spread pimento cheese on the other side of the roll.
Top the turkey with a handful of shredded lettuce and then spoon some red pepper relish on top of the lettuce. Close the sandwich and serve.
Check back next week
Next week I will be making a vegetarian sandwich. Yeah, this might be news to some but sometimes I skip on the meat! Don’t worry, it’s a great sandwich that I’ve been making for a while now.
