Italian sandwich roll recipe needed

[ewilson04341]

i am originally from maine and want to make the the italian roll from scratch because i so miss the original italian sandwich from maine
Can someone out there help me with this?????

[PieSusan]

JoeV has recipes on the bread page and pictures and videos.

[quicksilver]

Go to the bread catagory and look for JoeV's thread dated 12/01/08, called "Italian Sub Sandwich Bread". Pics are included, and mouth watering!

[PieSusan]

Here ya go:
Italian Sub Sandwich Bread

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by ewilson04341

i am originally from maine and want to make the the italian roll from scratch because i so miss the original italian sandwich from maine
Can someone out there help me with this?????

ewilson, did you look at JoeV's recipe & picks? How did you make out?

[ewilson04341]

yeah i looked at it and printed and read it through but this calls for a crusty bread this bread i am talking about is not crusty its actually a soft bread sort of like a hot dog roll but yet again a hot dog roll is not the right consistency i am looking for. Call me Picky its about the bread with this sandwich.

[JoeV]

Originally Posted by ewilson04341

yeah i looked at it and printed and read it through but this calls for a crusty bread this bread i am talking about is not crusty its actually a soft bread sort of like a hot dog roll but yet again a hot dog roll is not the right consistency i am looking for. Call me Picky its about the bread with this sandwich.

Dear Picky,

If you want a soft crust do not put any type of glaze on the bread. Just bake it, them when the bread comes out of the oven, rub a stick of butter on the top and cover with a tea towel. this will hold the moisture in the top crust and soften it nicely.

A soft crust is not really a quality of Italian bread, a chewy crust is its signature with a soft, airy crumb. If you want very nice sandwich rolls with soft crust, try my Basic White Bread recipe. It has sugar, milk and butter in the dough, and you can shape the dough to any shape you desire. I make this recipe for our sandwich/hamburger rolls every 7-10 days. they are delicious and they freeze well. Yes, I have made them in the shape of hogie rolls (tubes), using 4 oz of dough per roll. For very soft crust, eliminate the egg wash.

Enjoy!

Joe

[jonnyroyal]

I know how You feel!!! Ilived in southern Maine for 49 years. I spent 15 years working in Boston, NYC, and Philly. I know live in Northeastern Nevada and have not been able to find anything that comes close to an Italian Sandwich. I have made friends with a local Baker and have been trying to explain to her what a REAL Italian Sandwich looks like. My next step is to have one sent overnight on FEDEX so We can disect it. So if you have any luck I would love to hear about it.

[mabrodis]

Did any of you try that roll recipe? As a kid I went to Maine for vacations and loved Amato's sandwiches, still do, everytime we are back there we eat literately dozens of them.

I have tried to recreate the sandwich roll many times and have had zero success. All the recipes I have tried end up being more like traditional Italian bread (thin/thick crust, dry airy inside), which could not be more different from Amato's bread. Amato's is dense, almost undercooked, not even a hint of a crust on it.

When in Maine last year I bought some of the bread just to eat it plain, thinking I could figure it out. The bread basically tasted like a hotdog bun, though less sweet, denser and if eating by itself you would say it needed more salt.

The frustrating part is most recipes for hotdog buns are basically white bread recipes also...so, still trying...the recipe could be something simple and just the procedure is unique, if we only had a insider at the Amato's bakery.... :)

I suspect the bread is baked in a low oven, since they have no browning at all.

-Mark

[Inancook]

For those of your searching for the Maine Italian "Sandwich" roll, here's what I have come up with.

Although, I'm still searching and haven't really tried a recipe yet, I am from Maine and I know exactly what you are looking for. I've been thinking lately that the consistency of the Italian sandwich roll is much like the Yeast Dinner Roll. I'm thinking we could make the roll and rather than make balls for the dinner roll, maybe make long ropes. What people have to understand is that they must bake next to each other so they become attached, not separately like other sub rolls.

These are really nothing like an "Italian roll", but have a very soft crust like on the top of a split hot dog roll. They are called Italian sandwich rolls because of the "sandwich" not the roll. They were originally made for Italian workers in Maine by an Italian baker and they evolved into the "Italian Sandwich" most all Mainers love and crave.

I think the very soft crust is made by some sort of dough enhancer or another bakers trick, not necessarily by brushing with butter or a towel but I'm not sure. They are unlike any other rolls I have come across EXCEPT the dinner roll, which comes very close. I am including a link for the dinner rolls so you can see what the consistency looks like, just imagine them in long rolls rather than dinner roll size, (same height though) but about 11 or 12 inches long.
http://www.recipebridge.com/g/ODI1NzYyMzo6OjoxMTA=

It is the crust that might come out differently but I think this type of roll is the basis and we just have to find out how they get that crust consistency although this crust in this recipe looks very close. Happy hunting.