Saltless Baking

I decided to try my hand at making dinner rolls. Specifically, the Ultimate Dinner Roll recipe from the Sept./Oct. 06 issue of Cooks Illustrated. These rolls involve an initial rise then, once portioned into roll shapes, a slow 24 - 48 hour proof in the fridge before a final 6 - 8 hour rise in a cool room before baking. I have made my dough and it is now part way through the first rise. I just realized that I forgot to add the salt when mixing the dough. I don't want to start again (that would require another trip to the store) so I'm asking the bakers out there (particularly the bread makers) how bad will these rolls be? Will it just be a matter of muted taste, or does that salt provide some necessary chemical reaction?

Steve,

In Tuscany, they intentionally and traditionally make bread without salt. Frankly, I'm not much of a fan of such bread -- not surprisingly, it's very bland. The absence of salt will not mess up the development of the dough -- in fact, salt inhibits the action of yeast -- so it is to my mind just a question of flavour.

Especially since these are rolls, a little sprinkle of (sea) salt on the surface before baking might be a nice touch. Or else serve them with some good olive oil (or butter) and some sea salt on the side.

I think I'd be inclined to make little flat breads with some or all of them dressed with salt and herbs and oil or with some other salty items, such anchovies, olives, etc.

Antonius

Oh, I hate it when I do that! I sometimes try to knead in the salt, seldom with good results .

This site, courtesy of the Kansas Wheat Council, is a lab experiment on the effect of using or skipping salt in a pita bread recipe. You may have already noticed that your rise was faster, so you'll probably not be able to trust the rising times in the recipe but rely on your own judgment instead. More importantly, as you've guessed, without salt the taste will be pretty flat. Can you add an egg wash and some coarse salt and call them pretzel rolls? Or turn them into cinnamon buns and add some salt with the butter and cinnamon & sugar? I'm afraid that if you don't get some salt in there somewhere you'll be kicking yourself for having done all that work for such a disappointing reward.


Edited to add another idea. Forget the dinner rolls. When you're ready to shape, make your dough into bread sticks which you brush with olive oil and then dust with garlic salt and maybe some fresh herbs or Parmesan. cheese. Or forget the garlic salt and just make yourself a dish of olive oil, crushed garlic, sea salt, a few crushed red peppers, and some oregano or rosemary and brush your bread sticks with that. Since it's a dinner roll recipe they won't end up particularly crunchy, but I think you'll be happy with them anyway.

Do you hear me saying that you need to get some salt in there somewhere?

Thanks Tony & Ann. I think the idea to finish with a sprinkle of sea salt along with the butter will (hopefully) rescue this recipe. I am a rank amateur when it comes to baking. That is usually Julie's domain, so I'm more or less blundering my way through this adventure. Luckily, the rise times are long and slow and at low temp (except for the first one) so the speed of the rise may not be effected that much.