Dinner rolls, the post-mortem

I made 36 enriched sourdough rolls for the family on Thursday. Here's the debrief.

What went right:
- Cold retard from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday at 6am gave the crumb the soft, slightly sweet flavor I was after
- The egg wash + flaky salt on top was right. Don't skip either.
- I made them small — 50g each instead of the 75g I used to do. Better for a crowded plate.

What went wrong:
- I underestimated bake time by ~7 minutes. The first batch was a hair pale. By batch three I had it nailed at 22 minutes at 375°F.
- The pull-apart shape (rolls touching in the pan) meant the centers steamed instead of crusted. Some people prefer that — I don't. Next year I'm going to space them with 1cm gaps.

Crowd-sourced wisdom:
My uncle suggested brushing with melted butter the moment they come out of the oven instead of egg wash before. I tried half the batch each way. Egg wash for color, butter for fragrance. Next year I'm doing both.

Hope yours went well.

— Sarah