ChainBaker is such an underrated gem in bread baking and I'm glad he was featured here. Does a lot of experiments with each ingredient and lets you understand each of their functions better. Hope you can dial that crust in as I'm curious how yours will fair with the commercial ones
I'll 2nd that (or 28th that based on the number of likes so far) I've enjoyed making bread for a long time but Chainbaker's channel, especially his technique videos have upped my bread game by leaps and bounds
Wow, discovering Charlie The Chain Baker during the pandemic has truly been a game-changer for me! His sourdough techniques inspired me to take my bread-making skills to the next level, and incorporating DME in my recipes has revolutionized the texture of my burger buns. Combining Sheldo's potato bun recipe with a honey glaze and flaky salt creates the ultimate kilbasa roll that has my friends raving. Both Charlie and Sheldo are absolute geniuses in the world of baking, and up-and-coming Charlie Anderson is quickly making a name for himself too. I'm so grateful for these amazing videos; they've made my learning journey such a joy!
Yeah, just wanted to leave a comment for Charlie the Chainbaker as well, awesome that he's been mentioned and as pointed out - I believe that it's a hugely underrated channel which provides us, bakers, with a ton of knowledge supported by ton of experience and experimentation (that's why I love Helen's Rennie too when it comes to cooking). And as for the video, awesome work! I actually love the concept of checking and comparing the recipes, especially as I watch every other channel too :D I ddin't have a chance to bake your NY style pizza yet, but I did really enjoy execution of each episode to get to the perfection and will follow this channel for more of such videos :D
epic breakdown here Charlie! I can say you put in a lot more research on your roll than I did when creating my recipes haha. Would make any Philly natives proud.
Yes collaboration would be sweet!! Cachia’s Bakery is what I’m trying to achieve over here! Moved to the south and my fiancés from Deptford NJ.. about 7 min from Philly. SO after trying their rolls and actually tasting what he means, I agree! There’s nothing like a roll from there. We thought it had something to do with the sea level, them being closer to the Atlantic even &/or some secret bread mafia we’re unaware of 🤣 Good job y’all!
I am absolutely loving this whole socratic-type dialogue between food tubers. Between guys like you, Mike, Ethan, Adam Ragusea etc. all giving it a go at making the “best” version of something, then battling it out and comparing/improving on each others’ recipes we are truly coming upon the ultimate forms of certain food items.
For the name of the series I’m thinking “The breakdown” Again you are incredible at nailing each part of the process and teaching the most optimized steps in these iconic dishes.
Hey Charlie, keep in mind the bread steams a bit when you wrap the finished sandwich in paper, which I recommend you do for the best outcome. This may effect what bread comes out the best.
instant like before even watching. This is literally something I've been wanting to figure out and you're just doing the work for us and putting it into a well constructed, informative video. YES
Yeah, food's got too expensive. In my family situation, we just can't spend $12 bucks at Subway for a footlong for everyone. We have to share and only go when coupons, now.
I love the topics of your videos bc I own a pizza store. Before I opened my store I went down the rabbit hole of pizza dough, and sub rolls. Commercial bakery dough and breads always have some characteristics I struggle to achieve
As a Philadelphian whose been on this journey I'm glad to see your favorite is my favorite haha. John's is my go to spot specifically because of the roll. I've made all three of the youtubers rolls you have here and while not bad, they weren't quite what I wanted. I felt the salt content was too high and almost a detriment. I'm gonna have to give your initial result here a go tonight. Staying tuned, thanks as always!
Please, update all of us and let us know how it comes out. Also, let us know if you tweak it any too. Somehow, all of us will find a way to crack the code.
Brian worked in a pro bakery before doing the TH-cam thing. He also blew up when he did. I follow all of the channels you tried but Brian quickly became my favorite. Should probably include links to their channels in the future. Its just good form when using their recipes in your own videos.
I've been on this same mission, actually - though instead of Amoroso, my baseline is my local guys, the other "sub roll" bakery, Piantedosi. Similar kind of texture though, thin crisp crust and very light dryish interior that stands up to lots of wet filling really well. So I'm happy to see this video. Thanks, Charlie!
Love that you’re bringing us along for the journey. All of those rolls looked incredible. Also great to learn about the malt powder, had never heard of that.
Keep making this kind of content, man. Your channel needs to blow up. I'm not a Philly Cheesesteak fan, but I'll be watching all these videos just because of your approach. I still hope you'll do a deep dish Chicago style pizza series.
As a Six Sigma master black belt I would like to commend you on your “design of experiment” technique” in developing your approach for finding the “optimum” approach to making Philly cheesesteak rolls. Can’t wait to try your updated versions in the next video.
This is exactly the kind of content I'm looking for! I really like how it delves deep into the R&D. With the abundance of videos describing similar recipes, we viewers want to know which is "best" and why. Immediate subscriber here. Please keep content like this coming. Thanks Charlie!
I did a huge roll testing day with a friend a while back. Our biggest takeaway was use CRISCO! I do 63% hydration with 10% CRISCO. It contains mono-and di-glycerides which help the fat bond to the gluten network and was far better than oil in our quest to get soft sandwich rolls.
also a tip: always wrap the sandwich in for a few minutes before digging in. You can put in in the oven to keep warm, but the wrap is not just packaging.
I appreciate that tip! After some further testing, I’m currently at 59% hydration with 10% vegetable oil. I tried margarine and didn’t see a huge difference between that and the vegetable oil but I’ll definitely give Crisco a try too!
Hey Jack! Do you mind if I mention your comment in an upcoming video? I tried Crisco, and you're right that it makes the rolls so much softer! I think I'm going to incorporate it into the final recipe
As always, they all look amazing. I already had subscribed to the "pick a thing I really like and continuously make it daily until I get it perfect, then move on to another" mentality you kind of display, so these videos are right at home for me. I'm moving off chicken wings and can't believe how much better I was able to make them than any place I've been to here, even those that are locally known as having the best wings. And this is LA. It really seems like any time you have to make something in very, very large quantities on a regular basis, quality takes a hit. The best version of the wings take 26 minutes in an air fryer, and people just aren't going to want to want half an hour for chicken wings. You can do it in an oil fryer with canola oil in 13, and that's acceptable, but the taste and crunch takes a small hit. Would be interesting to see if there are any places out there that acknowledge that your food will take 30-60 minutes to arrive, but it's because they're doing the absolute best version of it that they can, all from scratch.
Awesome work! Glad you focused on the fluffiness because I too found that the Pro Home Cooks recipe was a bit too dense. Keep it up and look forward to more results.
Charlie wait…. You go from perfecting my favorite kinds of pizza to my favorite anything that’s between bread: Philly cheese steak…. I’m gonna send you my doctors bills after I get too fat from these recipes 😂😂😂
Thanks for making this and I'm glad it popped up on my recommended, I'm not (currently) a baker but I've been wanting to make a good cheese steak with some dry aged ribeye (that's something I do). The three recipes I was looking at are just the ones you did. Guess I'll have to subscribe and see what else you've been doing. Like your format, very similar style to Ethan's (I like that).
Charlie ... This is what we use for the meat (search: "Kroger Beef Shaved Steak"), because it's affordable and already cut. It's $5.99 here. At walmart, it's $5.88 (S: "Beef Shaved Steak 1 lb"). So, that's very affordable, then we use thin sliced Provolone cheese. But, again, like I said, we haven't conquered the rolls yet. We just buy them next-day at Jimmy John's until we master them.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Again, this is seriously great content. Remember. Lot of people are being ALMOST CRUSHED by Inflation. Maybe not you, but older people are really feeling it. We're able to make it okay, but we are feeling it and really cutting down. But, I know families (swear to you) that are fearing month-to-month. So, people being able to replicate stuff at home (on the cheap and close enough to restaurant quality) is something that a ridiculous TH-cam fortune could be built on.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Yeah, @CA, don't fucking mess with cutting it yourself. We've tried and not worth getting slicer out, and that price is ridiculously cheap. The meat costs more than that. Granted, you might only get 14 oz vs. 16 oz, but it's not enough of a difference to mess with it. It works perfect for PC-Steaks. Trust me. It's excellent and readily available.
Charlie, watching Angelo’s stories for what seems like forever, Danny (the owner) does an overnight poolish and what appears to be another over night bulk ferment. Also looks like a combination of double zero flour and something else. See that video of Nino and Brad making pizza, Nino does a double zero in his preferment and a more KAF AP style protein level Caputo flour for his mix. I suspect Angelos is pretty similar ratio wise. Angelos also uses Le 5 Stagioni’ flour from Agugiaro & Figna Molini. Malt is the secret ingredient in most good bread doughs, it works wonders. Let me know if you ever want a good bagel recipe!
I just wish he would provide a traditional recipe. I am new to baking and have no idea how to convert his percentages to actual measurements. Would love to try his recipe though.
Your videos are always so well made and interesting. I don't know if you do all of this on your own or if you have a team but you are nailing this, everything is well planned and organized. I don't necessarily have a thing for food channels but you are making this so interesting, perhaps it's your methodology or enthusiasm. In either case, thank you.
Ah the next installment of a massive deep dive to recreate something as best as possible at home. Love it. I was surprised that no Joshua Weissman recipe was used, but whatever cause this series rocks!
This is great content. Lot of us are trying to copycat Subway and Jersey Mike's, because the food is just too expensive now. Who wants to spend $12 bucks (Subway) or $ 16 (JM) for a sub? For us, we just can't. We're older now and a more limited budget, and we're taking care of a very old parent that can't live alone by herself, so we've got to save. And, feed everyone from (say) Subway (even) just ain't possible, unless we've got the BUY ONE GET ONE FREE DEALS that are 2 subs for $12.99, when they have coupons -- which we had yesterday, actually. Thus, everything is going to be copied and created with a scientific process almost, where we can replicate it and reproduce whatever exactly and whenever we want. So, your channel helps us progress towards that goal.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Maybe a suggestion, which you don't have to implement. Is adding the cost variable to the end result. Then, people know how much final product costs. Like you'd rock people's world, if they find out a good Hoogie Roll only costs 50 cents or whatever to make.
I like your approach. And thanks for using baker's percentages. It's really the best method of communicating what's in a dough. For your crust: Try spraying with water immediately before putting the loaves in the oven then enclose it for the first part of the bake. I'm not actually sure how I'd do that with the size of the loaves you're working with. Perhaps bake them in a sheet pan and cover that sheet pan with another upside down sheet pan. I'm not sure if that will allow enough rising height though.
Great video, I also just did Brian/Ethan's rolls and had the same thought. Worth mentioning that Dough Conditioner contains both enzymes and malt powder. It's often used in commercial breads to get that fluffy texture.
Great video. Like the NY slice series, I will be following this one intently as well. I find it really interesting that the 3 TH-cam chefs you highlighted are the same 3 I starting following around the same time as I started following you :)
Just take a traditional European recipe without chemicals but long cold overnight ripening in the fridge. Using both, sourdough and a small amount of fresh yeast and you will have the best bread on earth
just subscribed after watching several of your videos. it's even harder to get good NY slice in Canada. The texture of roll you're describing sounds to me, like a vietnamese banh mi baguette roll. May I also suggest Joshua Weisman? he's a really good cook and makes all his components from scratch! LOL. I've seen several suggestions in the comments now re: Weisman. NEXT!
so.. your winner is ethan's recippe without sugar and sub milk with water basically. but i did love the breakdown and love that there was more to learn. great video.
Great video. I have been trying to come up with my own recipe to use for hoagies. Angelo's rolls are a notch above the other rolls in Philly and made in house. They are not the same as Carangi. If you can decipher the secrets Angelos have, you will be in set. Also then I won't have to keep experimenting.
You gotta try Liscio’s from South Jersey. That’s what Pat’s and Genoa’s use, which they don’t have the best cheesesteaks, but I think that bread is the best.
I've been making Ethan's hoagie recipe for my sammiches and it's been awesome. And adding the Italian seasonings on the top makes for an extra tasty roll. However I'm always up for trying out new ones. The second roll in the lineup there that you were really digging, was that the one with the 2% malt?
I'll have to try that! Yes, that was the one with 2% malt (my recipe #4). I'm just realizing that I should have laid them out in order from #1-4 to make it easier to follow haha.
Amoroso rolls purchased frozen or from the store use a different recipe than the ones sold to sandwich shops. The frozen/store rolls have a much longer shelf life, whereas the ones that sandwich shops have delivered fresh will only last a day or two.
Honestly the bread is the most important part of a sandwich, and is the main reason (another reason being sauce) I haven't had a good sandwich since Quizno's went bankrupt decades ago..
Loved this video! But I think you're missing one thing that (I'm guessing) nearly all commercial bakeries use: Dough Conditioner. I have a feeling that it won't be listed on the packaging because the amount is so small it isn't legally required. And no, I'm not saying everyone should use DC for every loaf of bread they bake.....A french pain de campagne certainly shouldn't have it. But I really like a quote from Brian Lagerstrom on this issue....he was trying to make a perfect hamburger bun at home. And he was like (and I'm paraphrasing) "I thought DC was just for dumb, industrial style bread. Well, it turns out that mass produced hamburger buns are exactly that: Dumb, industrial bread." From what I understand, nearly all commercial bakeries use it🤷♂
Good video quality, good audio quality, in depth explanations and not overwhelmingly cringe to appeal to "neurodivergent" zoomers no reason not to sub. Also pretty sure spraying the dough with a mister before putting it into the oven helps develop a crispy crackly crust
I just made Ethan's Hoagie Rolls yesterday. This was the second time I've made them. First time I left out the Malt Powder because I didn't have any This, still no Malt Powder, but I put in a little Blackstrap Molasses. They are so good! Next time I'm trying the Barley Malt Syrup I use in Bagels.
Charlie, check out something called dough conditioner. I bought one made by a brand called scratch. It’s got a combination of several ingredients that turn your bread into super fluffy goodness. It’s like diastatic malt powder on crack.
Charlie: Another fantastic video...but can you clarify your conclusion? When you say that the best result in your test was the 'diastatic malt one'... Do you mean specifically your recipe #4? Thanks.
Yes I was referring specifically to my recipe #4! I'm still playing around with a few factors in order to make them as perfect as they can be, but I think that will be pretty close to the final recipe.
my man! i've been doing this same research for months. i miss cheesesteaks. good cheesesteaks. my wifi network is called john's roast pork for christ's sake
Can you give a link or a Google search term for all of us here to have as a reference? Hey, put links separately in a reply, because YT might delete comment. Do a Google search term. I guess "vietnamese baguette" might work. Right?
Yeah, great. They fucking deleted my search term response that I just gave you. I responded, but looks like it got deleted. So, shit, I'll recreate it below.
Damn them. Well let me break it out. I searched it and found "fullofplants" with a period and a com-pany (not pany on it). Then, the recipe was, "How To Make Bánh Mì (Vietnamese Baguette)". So, that might help @Charlie out to progress faster.
It's funny you mention that because recently came across a Bahn Mi video that has helped me make a few important realizations (this one: th-cam.com/video/wwbW3zibmMI/w-d-xo.html). You're right that it's pretty close in style to a good cheesesteak roll!
I'm glad you thought Brian's was the best. He's the man. And he used to work at Union Loafers in St. Louis, which has the best sandwich I've ever eaten, if you ever find yourself in that area!
I just made Lagerstorm's sub roll today and found it too dense. Next in the queue was Ethan's, but thanks to this vid I'm going to skip it and follow your lead. Thanks!
Dude, fantastic job. you do like I do in your refinement of process. Glad to see while Brian's wasn't enriched like the others that you gave it props then went your own direction. I make a cast iron focaccia with super expensive cloth bound cheddar that I have 3 cities worth of eh, support groups... addicted to :) its one of the many ways I give back to the community. Anyway I started with Lagerstrom's focaccia recipe and refined it. Anyway, I am at Kroger gotta grab some things then home to try again with cheesesteaks. I'm making some now that are divine, but I always find some way I could improve...this time it's the bread. Ive made Brian's sandwich bread previously and enjoyed it though felt it was a bit dense for my tastes. Interested to try this malt powder.
I'm vegan and I love love loved this video! Testing and science-based cooking is fantastic. I want to try to make one with vegan butter, one with soymilk, and one with both to see how they turn out.
Great vid... Can you tell me what oven temp you used for your rolls, was it an eggwhite wash you painted them with for sesame adhesion? and did you use the icecube steaming process? thanks man!
Putting the dough in the fridge for 24-hours makes a huge difference. Take the same dough, bake it put half in the fridge for 24-hours. You got a way bread the next day
Hello, how many grams of flour did you use for these hoagies? They are the perfect size. I own a NY style pizza shop and looking to add sandwiches to the menu. Let me know and I’ll name a sandwich after you:). Love your attention to detail and your tenacity, keep ‘em coming. Thanks
I used 225g of dough for a 10" roll! So I think that would be 131g of flour based on the recipe from this video. I shaped them to around 9" long, but they end up closer to 10" by the time they're baked.
Very interesting assessment! I've only made Mike's recipe and had to modify it to reduce the sugar. The result was good byt even at half of specified sugar it was too sweet for me. I used alpha-amylaze as specified and found interesting is that it is a 4% formulation with 96% "filler" being glucose (label disclosure). Trying to figure out how that compares to diastatic malt because the 1/50 doesn't ever seem to have good reference. There is such secrecy about dough enhancer contents and even knowledgable experts selling the stuff seem rather unsure of technical details. It seems that the malt will always taste better.
Bread is no easy task, and the pros all use dough improvers. And NEVER use milk from the fridge. Evaporated milk or scald your own whole milk. Milk enzymes are the enemy of soft chewy bread. I bake yeast breads almost daily, I don't mess around with "homemade", I want better than bakery at home. The diastetic malt is only going to give a harder bread overall, Dough improver/conditioner is the way to go. It will provide the good points of the diastetic malt but not the tough finish. The milk is the worst culprit, scald or use evaporated milk. I guess I should add I was married to a man born and raised in Chicago, according to his family, Amoroso is the only true cheesestake bun. Mike G did his homework and he was right about the Amylase.
Can you explain what you mean by " Dough improver/conditioner"? Is that something we can buy? I wish you'd make videos on what you've learned. Lot of us want to bake good bread (like Subway or Jersey Mike's) at home, because it's gotten too expensive for families to eat out now.
@Poe Lemic Amazon and king Arthur Bread flour company sell dough improver (also called dough conditioner, also called dough enhancer, and called bread and cake improver). You follow the instructions on the package, adding it to your bread recipes. I make a LOT of soft yeast breads, sweet yeast breads, and the number one thing to remember is the enzymes in milk keep gluten from proper development. Scald your milk over med-low heat until milk reaches 180 degrees, then immediately remove from heat and allow to cool to 110° before adding to your recipes. The dough enhancer/improver/conditioner will ; 1) stay soft fresh longer 2) rise higher 3) be Chewier 4) reduce the rise time It will be more like bakery/store bought soft breads. The diastetic malt is best only for artisan style breads like sourdough or other hearty tougher breads which require the crusty exterior. I also sometimes use Instant Clear jel (also available from Amazon and king Arthur Bread co), I add 1 &1/2tsp (1+ 1.5 tsp) per cup of flour in the recipe. This is completely optional, of course but it adds moisture and keeps bread fresh longer. If you want to stop buying bread and keep your homemade bread from molding as fast, you can purchase mold inhibitor from LORANN oils, also can be found on Amazon. Just follow the directions on the bottle. Keeps your bread fresher, and prevents molding for longer. Flour is important, if you're looking for a pizza dough or hearth/artisan bread use bread flour with over 14% protein. For chewy yeast breads and sweet breads like cinnamon rolls use bread flour with at least 12.3% protein Typical all purpose flour is OK, but not ideal with only about 11% protein. The protein is a factor for gluten development for chew, which is why all purpose flour isn't the best choice for a hoagie/sub roll type bread. Water can be a serious issue too. If you have city water, chlorine can affect your bread, or if you have well water, like me, just use good low chlorine filtered water for best results. If I can think of anything else I will get back to you. I hope this is helpful.
Just thought of something else... A stand mixer is great for kneading without having to add additional flour. It is easy to over knead but it's just as bad it under knead so watch videos and practice. The windowpane test isn't always the best time. Remember that enriched doughs will need longer kneading times. Things that make an enriched dough are eggs, milk, butter, sugar, all the good stuff 😋 Never rush rise time, I put my dough into a cold oven and turn on my oven light. I check back after 45 min on a hot day, or about an hour if it's cooler in the house. Knowing when it's proofed enough can take practice with some recipes. But if you over-proof just punch the dough down and start the 1st rise over again. It actually improves your bread anyway but not necessary for you if you are using the dough improver. In sweet doughs like yeast rolls, you can stop out some of the sugar in the recipe for powdered sugar. It adds moisture and softness like texas roadhouse 😋 For example, if your recipe calls for 1/4 c of sugar (or 4 tablespoons), then add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar (confectioner sugar). Yeast... 99% of my breads I make with instant yeast simply because it's the only yeast I can find in bulk nearby. I know some people won't use anything but active dry but I see no difference. A bread machine is your best friend.... I have an 8 qt commercial kitchenaid stand mixer and the bowl is so large that I can't use it for most of my breads. Instead, I put all of my wet ingredients into my bread machine and then thoroughly mix my dry ingredients into the wet, then select the dough setting and let my bread machine do the work. When the kneading is done I turn off the bread machine and move the dough into a bowl to rise in my cold oven. Wet dough is best.... The wetter the dough the better, which is why I don't knead by hand, it requires extra flour and it's too easy to overdo the flour if you're not already a semi-pro...lol. Look into the type of breads you want to achieve. I like the soft crust so I brush my dough with a little warm evaporated milk right before I bake it. Egg wash is for a dark crust, and there's several options between. Keep an eye on your bread and if they began to darken too much, slip a piece of aluminum foil over them while they finish baking. I like to keep a large spray bottle next to my ovens and right before I put the bread in to bake I spray the inside of the oven with water. Bread loves steam. I usually do another spray halfway through if I can remember.
Interesting that you tried all those variables… and we’re big fans of Brian, Ethan, Mike and ChainBaker here. One question: did you never vary your flours? Think you could alter the chewiness by using various protein %, from King Arthur bread flour on down to a lower protein all-purpose.
Charlie can you please be more specific about what flour and yeast you used? What protein content flour? Did you use fresh compressed yeast, instant dry yeast, or active dry yeast?
ChainBaker is such an underrated gem in bread baking and I'm glad he was featured here. Does a lot of experiments with each ingredient and lets you understand each of their functions better. Hope you can dial that crust in as I'm curious how yours will fair with the commercial ones
Yeah his channel has been a big help so far!
I'll 2nd that (or 28th that based on the number of likes so far)
I've enjoyed making bread for a long time but Chainbaker's channel, especially his technique videos have upped my bread game by leaps and bounds
Wow, discovering Charlie The Chain Baker during the pandemic has truly been a game-changer for me! His sourdough techniques inspired me to take my bread-making skills to the next level, and incorporating DME in my recipes has revolutionized the texture of my burger buns. Combining Sheldo's potato bun recipe with a honey glaze and flaky salt creates the ultimate kilbasa roll that has my friends raving. Both Charlie and Sheldo are absolute geniuses in the world of baking, and up-and-coming Charlie Anderson is quickly making a name for himself too. I'm so grateful for these amazing videos; they've made my learning journey such a joy!
Yeah, just wanted to leave a comment for Charlie the Chainbaker as well, awesome that he's been mentioned and as pointed out - I believe that it's a hugely underrated channel which provides us, bakers, with a ton of knowledge supported by ton of experience and experimentation (that's why I love Helen's Rennie too when it comes to cooking).
And as for the video, awesome work! I actually love the concept of checking and comparing the recipes, especially as I watch every other channel too :D I ddin't have a chance to bake your NY style pizza yet, but I did really enjoy execution of each episode to get to the perfection and will follow this channel for more of such videos :D
@@DanoneczkQs Check out Sheldo's Kitchen too. He doesn't post anymore sadly, but what he has up is really fantastic.
epic breakdown here Charlie! I can say you put in a lot more research on your roll than I did when creating my recipes haha. Would make any Philly natives proud.
Hey Mike I really appreciate that!! Your channel was a big inspiration for me to start mine in the first place so it's cool that you came across it!
@@CharlieAndersonCooking hell yeah dude, keep up the good work. Your content is great!
Let's see a Collab baby!!
Yes collaboration would be sweet!! Cachia’s Bakery is what I’m trying to achieve over here! Moved to the south and my fiancés from Deptford NJ.. about 7 min from Philly. SO after trying their rolls and actually tasting what he means, I agree! There’s nothing like a roll from there.
We thought it had something to do with the sea level, them being closer to the Atlantic even &/or some secret bread mafia we’re unaware of 🤣
Good job y’all!
I am absolutely loving this whole socratic-type dialogue between food tubers. Between guys like you, Mike, Ethan, Adam Ragusea etc. all giving it a go at making the “best” version of something, then battling it out and comparing/improving on each others’ recipes we are truly coming upon the ultimate forms of certain food items.
For the name of the series I’m thinking “The breakdown”
Again you are incredible at nailing each part of the process and teaching the most optimized steps in these iconic dishes.
Hey Charlie, keep in mind the bread steams a bit when you wrap the finished sandwich in paper, which I recommend you do for the best outcome. This may effect what bread comes out the best.
Even when I'm eating it at home, I wrap my sandwiches as if I got them to go to get that steaming effect.
instant like before even watching. This is literally something I've been wanting to figure out and you're just doing the work for us and putting it into a well constructed, informative video. YES
Yeah, food's got too expensive. In my family situation, we just can't spend $12 bucks at Subway for a footlong for everyone. We have to share and only go when coupons, now.
I love the topics of your videos bc I own a pizza store.
Before I opened my store I went down the rabbit hole of pizza dough, and sub rolls.
Commercial bakery dough and breads always have some characteristics I struggle to achieve
As a Philadelphian whose been on this journey I'm glad to see your favorite is my favorite haha. John's is my go to spot specifically because of the roll. I've made all three of the youtubers rolls you have here and while not bad, they weren't quite what I wanted. I felt the salt content was too high and almost a detriment. I'm gonna have to give your initial result here a go tonight. Staying tuned, thanks as always!
Please, update all of us and let us know how it comes out. Also, let us know if you tweak it any too. Somehow, all of us will find a way to crack the code.
Did you try it?
Brian worked in a pro bakery before doing the TH-cam thing. He also blew up when he did. I follow all of the channels you tried but Brian quickly became my favorite. Should probably include links to their channels in the future. Its just good form when using their recipes in your own videos.
Settle down Daren.
i love these videos and how in depth you get when trying to remake these foods, keep it up
YESSSS BRO!!!! I’ve been trying to find a legit steak roll recipe for over a decade.
Homie did SO MUCH work in one video. Thank you dawg!!
I've been on this same mission, actually - though instead of Amoroso, my baseline is my local guys, the other "sub roll" bakery, Piantedosi. Similar kind of texture though, thin crisp crust and very light dryish interior that stands up to lots of wet filling really well. So I'm happy to see this video. Thanks, Charlie!
Sir. Just came across your channel. You are brilliant. A great teacher. And no profanity! God bless you. I am a subscriber
I always forget that this channel hasn't even broken 100k yet. Such great quality content as always :)
Love that you’re bringing us along for the journey. All of those rolls looked incredible. Also great to learn about the malt powder, had never heard of that.
Keep making this kind of content, man. Your channel needs to blow up. I'm not a Philly Cheesesteak fan, but I'll be watching all these videos just because of your approach. I still hope you'll do a deep dish Chicago style pizza series.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it! I definitely want to tackle Chicago deep dish at some point
me neither, but I'm looking for the perfect sub roll. crisp chew and yet soft enough so my sub innards don't shot out the other end!
As a Six Sigma master black belt I would like to commend you on your “design of experiment” technique” in developing your approach for finding the “optimum” approach to making Philly cheesesteak rolls. Can’t wait to try your updated versions in the next video.
I make a handful of Brian's recipes. Made his ciabatta over the weekend, loved it.
This is exactly the kind of content I'm looking for! I really like how it delves deep into the R&D. With the abundance of videos describing similar recipes, we viewers want to know which is "best" and why. Immediate subscriber here. Please keep content like this coming. Thanks Charlie!
I did a huge roll testing day with a friend a while back. Our biggest takeaway was use CRISCO! I do 63% hydration with 10% CRISCO. It contains mono-and di-glycerides which help the fat bond to the gluten network and was far better than oil in our quest to get soft sandwich rolls.
also a tip: always wrap the sandwich in for a few minutes before digging in. You can put in in the oven to keep warm, but the wrap is not just packaging.
I appreciate that tip! After some further testing, I’m currently at 59% hydration with 10% vegetable oil. I tried margarine and didn’t see a huge difference between that and the vegetable oil but I’ll definitely give Crisco a try too!
Hey Jack! Do you mind if I mention your comment in an upcoming video? I tried Crisco, and you're right that it makes the rolls so much softer! I think I'm going to incorporate it into the final recipe
@@CharlieAndersonCooking By all means, I would be honored.
@Charlie Anderson has the new vid come out as of yet?? My issue is finding the Diastatic malt in bulk!
the amount of effort that goes into these vids is crazy
As always, they all look amazing. I already had subscribed to the "pick a thing I really like and continuously make it daily until I get it perfect, then move on to another" mentality you kind of display, so these videos are right at home for me.
I'm moving off chicken wings and can't believe how much better I was able to make them than any place I've been to here, even those that are locally known as having the best wings. And this is LA.
It really seems like any time you have to make something in very, very large quantities on a regular basis, quality takes a hit. The best version of the wings take 26 minutes in an air fryer, and people just aren't going to want to want half an hour for chicken wings. You can do it in an oil fryer with canola oil in 13, and that's acceptable, but the taste and crunch takes a small hit.
Would be interesting to see if there are any places out there that acknowledge that your food will take 30-60 minutes to arrive, but it's because they're doing the absolute best version of it that they can, all from scratch.
Keep grinding and making videos of this quality and your channel will explode. I am certain of it.
I appreciate that! Thanks for watching
I like this format of trying 3 recipes for a particular food from TH-cam's most popular videos/creators
Awesome work! Glad you focused on the fluffiness because I too found that the Pro Home Cooks recipe was a bit too dense. Keep it up and look forward to more results.
Charlie wait…. You go from perfecting my favorite kinds of pizza to my favorite anything that’s between bread: Philly cheese steak…. I’m gonna send you my doctors bills after I get too fat from these recipes 😂😂😂
Thanks for making this and I'm glad it popped up on my recommended, I'm not (currently) a baker but I've been wanting to make a good cheese steak with some dry aged ribeye (that's something I do). The three recipes I was looking at are just the ones you did. Guess I'll have to subscribe and see what else you've been doing. Like your format, very similar style to Ethan's (I like that).
Charlie ... This is what we use for the meat (search: "Kroger Beef Shaved Steak"), because it's affordable and already cut. It's $5.99 here. At walmart, it's $5.88 (S: "Beef Shaved Steak 1 lb"). So, that's very affordable, then we use thin sliced Provolone cheese. But, again, like I said, we haven't conquered the rolls yet. We just buy them next-day at Jimmy John's until we master them.
Interesting, I appreciate those tips! I've been struggling to find a good pre-sliced beef so I'll definitely check those out.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Again, this is seriously great content. Remember. Lot of people are being ALMOST CRUSHED by Inflation. Maybe not you, but older people are really feeling it. We're able to make it okay, but we are feeling it and really cutting down. But, I know families (swear to you) that are fearing month-to-month. So, people being able to replicate stuff at home (on the cheap and close enough to restaurant quality) is something that a ridiculous TH-cam fortune could be built on.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Yeah, @CA, don't fucking mess with cutting it yourself. We've tried and not worth getting slicer out, and that price is ridiculously cheap. The meat costs more than that. Granted, you might only get 14 oz vs. 16 oz, but it's not enough of a difference to mess with it. It works perfect for PC-Steaks. Trust me. It's excellent and readily available.
Charlie, watching Angelo’s stories for what seems like forever, Danny (the owner) does an overnight poolish and what appears to be another over night bulk ferment. Also looks like a combination of double zero flour and something else. See that video of Nino and Brad making pizza, Nino does a double zero in his preferment and a more KAF AP style protein level Caputo flour for his mix. I suspect Angelos is pretty similar ratio wise. Angelos also uses Le 5 Stagioni’ flour from Agugiaro & Figna Molini. Malt is the secret ingredient in most good bread doughs, it works wonders. Let me know if you ever want a good bagel recipe!
YES! bagels!!!
I just wish he would provide a traditional recipe. I am new to baking and have no idea how to convert his percentages to actual measurements. Would love to try his recipe though.
Chleb (Ethan Chlebowski) means bread in Polish.
Your videos are always so well made and interesting. I don't know if you do all of this on your own or if you have a team but you are nailing this, everything is well planned and organized. I don't necessarily have a thing for food channels but you are making this so interesting, perhaps it's your methodology or enthusiasm. In either case, thank you.
Those rolls all look great. I agree that diastolic malt powder would be the best. Makes me want to make some cheesesteas this weekend!
Ah the next installment of a massive deep dive to recreate something as best as possible at home. Love it. I was surprised that no Joshua Weissman recipe was used, but whatever cause this series rocks!
Yeah his was almost the same as Brian's so I just picked one of the two. I'm glad you like the series though!
This is great content. Lot of us are trying to copycat Subway and Jersey Mike's, because the food is just too expensive now. Who wants to spend $12 bucks (Subway) or $ 16 (JM) for a sub? For us, we just can't. We're older now and a more limited budget, and we're taking care of a very old parent that can't live alone by herself, so we've got to save. And, feed everyone from (say) Subway (even) just ain't possible, unless we've got the BUY ONE GET ONE FREE DEALS that are 2 subs for $12.99, when they have coupons -- which we had yesterday, actually. Thus, everything is going to be copied and created with a scientific process almost, where we can replicate it and reproduce whatever exactly and whenever we want. So, your channel helps us progress towards that goal.
I'm glad the videos have helped! Yeah it's definitely more cost effective to make them yourself, and they taste better too!
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Maybe a suggestion, which you don't have to implement. Is adding the cost variable to the end result. Then, people know how much final product costs. Like you'd rock people's world, if they find out a good Hoogie Roll only costs 50 cents or whatever to make.
Very nice. I love how you analyzed this. I'll try your diastatic malt powder next time. Thank you.
We need an iron chef-like contest between youtuber chefs
Josh Weissman uses the amalayse and it REALLY works well. Looking forward to trying some of these. Thanks Charlie!
I’m so excited for this series. I’ve been looking to get into making my own rolls because no store bough rolls are cutting it
Wow. Great work on this
I like your approach. And thanks for using baker's percentages. It's really the best method of communicating what's in a dough.
For your crust: Try spraying with water immediately before putting the loaves in the oven then enclose it for the first part of the bake. I'm not actually sure how I'd do that with the size of the loaves you're working with. Perhaps bake them in a sheet pan and cover that sheet pan with another upside down sheet pan. I'm not sure if that will allow enough rising height though.
You put in the homework for sure. I use the malt powder in my recipe and have very good results. Nothing beats a good home baked sandwich roll.
glad to see your channel is blowing up fast. even though it's an algorithm you can clearly see some meritocracy here
Love the recipe experimentation and alterations!
Great video, I also just did Brian/Ethan's rolls and had the same thought. Worth mentioning that Dough Conditioner contains both enzymes and malt powder. It's often used in commercial breads to get that fluffy texture.
The best Philly cheesesteak role is a hybrid between French and Italian bread
Great video. Like the NY slice series, I will be following this one intently as well. I find it really interesting that the 3 TH-cam chefs you highlighted are the same 3 I starting following around the same time as I started following you :)
Note to Self:
100% flour
64% water
1.0% yeast 1.8% salt
3% oil (+up ?)
2% diastatic malt
Just take a traditional European recipe without chemicals but long cold overnight ripening in the fridge. Using both, sourdough and a small amount of fresh yeast and you will have the best bread on earth
Very nice! I love all those dudes you referenced. ...and you are climbing my list.
Very interesting! Need to get my hands on diastatic malt powder! Thanks for sharing this.
Another awesome series Charlie
just subscribed after watching several of your videos. it's even harder to get good NY slice in Canada. The texture of roll you're describing sounds to me, like a vietnamese banh mi baguette roll. May I also suggest Joshua Weisman? he's a really good cook and makes all his components from scratch! LOL. I've seen several suggestions in the comments now re: Weisman. NEXT!
so.. your winner is ethan's recippe without sugar and sub milk with water basically. but i did love the breakdown and love that there was more to learn. great video.
Great video. I have been trying to come up with my own recipe to use for hoagies. Angelo's rolls are a notch above the other rolls in Philly and made in house. They are not the same as Carangi. If you can decipher the secrets Angelos have, you will be in set. Also then I won't have to keep experimenting.
Alright Mr. Anderson, well done! I stopped watching TH-cam recipes because of the fluff and stuck to Pinterest. But that ended today, keep em coming!
You gotta try Liscio’s from South Jersey. That’s what Pat’s and Genoa’s use, which they don’t have the best cheesesteaks, but I think that bread is the best.
This dude is a legend.
Thank you for doing these!
I've been making Ethan's hoagie recipe for my sammiches and it's been awesome. And adding the Italian seasonings on the top makes for an extra tasty roll. However I'm always up for trying out new ones. The second roll in the lineup there that you were really digging, was that the one with the 2% malt?
I'll have to try that! Yes, that was the one with 2% malt (my recipe #4). I'm just realizing that I should have laid them out in order from #1-4 to make it easier to follow haha.
Ethans recipe is great
@@CharlieAndersonCooking
Thanks! Adding text overlay for things like that is always appreciated for us scatterbrained viewers lol :)
just bought the malt, will try them soon!
Amoroso rolls purchased frozen or from the store use a different recipe than the ones sold to sandwich shops. The frozen/store rolls have a much longer shelf life, whereas the ones that sandwich shops have delivered fresh will only last a day or two.
They seemed to be baked by a different bakery too. They still seem like the best choice if you don't want to make your own roll.
Honestly the bread is the most important part of a sandwich, and is the main reason (another reason being sauce) I haven't had a good sandwich since Quizno's went bankrupt decades ago..
Brian made an awesome roll for his meatball sandwich, it might be worth checking.
Loved this video! But I think you're missing one thing that (I'm guessing) nearly all commercial bakeries use: Dough Conditioner. I have a feeling that it won't be listed on the packaging because the amount is so small it isn't legally required. And no, I'm not saying everyone should use DC for every loaf of bread they bake.....A french pain de campagne certainly shouldn't have it. But I really like a quote from Brian Lagerstrom on this issue....he was trying to make a perfect hamburger bun at home. And he was like (and I'm paraphrasing) "I thought DC was just for dumb, industrial style bread. Well, it turns out that mass produced hamburger buns are exactly that: Dumb, industrial bread." From what I understand, nearly all commercial bakeries use it🤷♂
Good video quality, good audio quality, in depth explanations and not overwhelmingly cringe to appeal to "neurodivergent" zoomers no reason not to sub. Also pretty sure spraying the dough with a mister before putting it into the oven helps develop a crispy crackly crust
I just made Ethan's Hoagie Rolls yesterday. This was the second time I've made them.
First time I left out the Malt Powder because I didn't have any
This, still no Malt Powder, but I put in a little Blackstrap Molasses. They are so good!
Next time I'm trying the Barley Malt Syrup I use in Bagels.
Charlie, check out something called dough conditioner. I bought one made by a brand called scratch. It’s got a combination of several ingredients that turn your bread into super fluffy goodness. It’s like diastatic malt powder on crack.
Yeah I’ve been playing around with that exact same product actually for my Amoroso-style recipe! I think I may end up incorporating into the recipe.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Nice, looking forward to it
This is the deepest dive recipe channel ever! By 99.9, 9, 9%
Damn dude that is one heavy duty entry door you have there.
I mean I usually think I’m into bakers percentages and figuring things out, but this is so impressive as far as how much is put into this
Charlie: Another fantastic video...but can you clarify your conclusion? When you say that the best result in your test was the 'diastatic malt one'... Do you mean specifically your recipe #4? Thanks.
Yes I was referring specifically to my recipe #4! I'm still playing around with a few factors in order to make them as perfect as they can be, but I think that will be pretty close to the final recipe.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Thanks so much!
my man! i've been doing this same research for months. i miss cheesesteaks. good cheesesteaks. my wifi network is called john's roast pork for christ's sake
Great cooking series!
Can you deconstruct new Orleans fried chicken next
I was thinking that a Vietnamese baguette might be the softness you're looking for.
Can you give a link or a Google search term for all of us here to have as a reference? Hey, put links separately in a reply, because YT might delete comment. Do a Google search term. I guess "vietnamese baguette" might work. Right?
Yeah, great. They fucking deleted my search term response that I just gave you. I responded, but looks like it got deleted. So, shit, I'll recreate it below.
Damn them. Well let me break it out. I searched it and found "fullofplants" with a period and a com-pany (not pany on it). Then, the recipe was, "How To Make Bánh Mì (Vietnamese Baguette)". So, that might help @Charlie out to progress faster.
It's funny you mention that because recently came across a Bahn Mi video that has helped me make a few important realizations (this one: th-cam.com/video/wwbW3zibmMI/w-d-xo.html). You're right that it's pretty close in style to a good cheesesteak roll!
Aldi's sells Amoroso bagged rolls.....put them in the oven with their instructions and they are very close to fresh.
I feel like this confirms Ethan knows what he's doing pretty well.
I'm glad you thought Brian's was the best. He's the man. And he used to work at Union Loafers in St. Louis, which has the best sandwich I've ever eaten, if you ever find yourself in that area!
I just made Lagerstorm's sub roll today and found it too dense. Next in the queue was Ethan's, but thanks to this vid I'm going to skip it and follow your lead. Thanks!
Dude, fantastic job.
you do like I do in your refinement of process.
Glad to see while Brian's wasn't enriched like the others that you gave it props then went your own direction.
I make a cast iron focaccia with super expensive cloth bound cheddar that I have 3 cities worth of eh, support groups...
addicted to :) its one of the many ways I give back to the community.
Anyway I started with Lagerstrom's focaccia recipe and refined it.
Anyway, I am at Kroger gotta grab some things then home to try again with cheesesteaks.
I'm making some now that are divine, but I always find some way I could improve...this time it's the bread.
Ive made Brian's sandwich bread previously and enjoyed it though felt it was a bit dense for my tastes.
Interested to try this malt powder.
You can do best with flour, yeast, milk, sugar, egg and butter.
I'm vegan and I love love loved this video! Testing and science-based cooking is fantastic.
I want to try to make one with vegan butter, one with soymilk, and one with both to see how they turn out.
Great vid... Can you tell me what oven temp you used for your rolls, was it an eggwhite wash you painted them with for sesame adhesion? and did you use the icecube steaming process?
thanks man!
Cheap restaurants like ciabatta bread because no one can tell when it's stale.
Seeing this in my subs: "Aww shit, here we go again"
Putting the dough in the fridge for 24-hours makes a huge difference. Take the same dough, bake it put half in the fridge for 24-hours. You got a way bread the next day
Hello, how many grams of flour did you use for these hoagies? They are the perfect size. I own a NY style pizza shop and looking to add sandwiches to the menu. Let me know and I’ll name a sandwich after you:). Love your attention to detail and your tenacity, keep ‘em coming. Thanks
I used 225g of dough for a 10" roll! So I think that would be 131g of flour based on the recipe from this video. I shaped them to around 9" long, but they end up closer to 10" by the time they're baked.
@@CharlieAndersonCooking Appreciate your response! Thanks.
I'm so glad you doing these copycat-ish vids. I hope you continue doing this as a bulk of your channel. These will be the best copycat series' on YT.
Yeah, I agree. I also like Joshua Weissman, but he goes TOO FAR OUT sometimes on food.
I’d like a video on how to make different types of french fries 👍🏻
this is quality content.
Very interesting assessment! I've only made Mike's recipe and had to modify it to reduce the sugar. The result was good byt even at half of specified sugar it was too sweet for me. I used alpha-amylaze as specified and found interesting is that it is a 4% formulation with 96% "filler" being glucose (label disclosure). Trying to figure out how that compares to diastatic malt because the 1/50 doesn't ever seem to have good reference. There is such secrecy about dough enhancer contents and even knowledgable experts selling the stuff seem rather unsure of technical details. It seems that the malt will always taste better.
Bread is no easy task, and the pros all use dough improvers. And NEVER use milk from the fridge. Evaporated milk or scald your own whole milk.
Milk enzymes are the enemy of soft chewy bread. I bake yeast breads almost daily, I don't mess around with "homemade", I want better than bakery at home. The diastetic malt is only going to give a harder bread overall, Dough improver/conditioner is the way to go. It will provide the good points of the diastetic malt but not the tough finish.
The milk is the worst culprit, scald or use evaporated milk.
I guess I should add I was married to a man born and raised in Chicago, according to his family, Amoroso is the only true cheesestake bun. Mike G did his homework and he was right about the Amylase.
Can you explain what you mean by " Dough improver/conditioner"? Is that something we can buy? I wish you'd make videos on what you've learned. Lot of us want to bake good bread (like Subway or Jersey Mike's) at home, because it's gotten too expensive for families to eat out now.
@Poe Lemic Amazon and king Arthur Bread flour company sell dough improver (also called dough conditioner, also called dough enhancer, and called bread and cake improver). You follow the instructions on the package, adding it to your bread recipes.
I make a LOT of soft yeast breads, sweet yeast breads, and the number one thing to remember is the enzymes in milk keep gluten from proper development. Scald your milk over med-low heat until milk reaches 180 degrees, then immediately remove from heat and allow to cool to 110° before adding to your recipes.
The dough enhancer/improver/conditioner will ;
1) stay soft fresh longer
2) rise higher
3) be Chewier
4) reduce the rise time
It will be more like bakery/store bought soft breads.
The diastetic malt is best only for artisan style breads like sourdough or other hearty tougher breads which require the crusty exterior.
I also sometimes use Instant Clear jel (also available from Amazon and king Arthur Bread co), I add 1 &1/2tsp (1+ 1.5 tsp) per cup of flour in the recipe. This is completely optional, of course but it adds moisture and keeps bread fresh longer.
If you want to stop buying bread and keep your homemade bread from molding as fast, you can purchase mold inhibitor from LORANN oils, also can be found on Amazon.
Just follow the directions on the bottle. Keeps your bread fresher, and prevents molding for longer.
Flour is important, if you're looking for a pizza dough or hearth/artisan bread use bread flour with over 14% protein.
For chewy yeast breads and sweet breads like cinnamon rolls use bread flour with at least 12.3% protein
Typical all purpose flour is OK, but not ideal with only about 11% protein.
The protein is a factor for gluten development for chew, which is why all purpose flour isn't the best choice for a hoagie/sub roll type bread.
Water can be a serious issue too. If you have city water, chlorine can affect your bread, or if you have well water, like me, just use good low chlorine filtered water for best results.
If I can think of anything else I will get back to you. I hope this is helpful.
Just thought of something else...
A stand mixer is great for kneading without having to add additional flour. It is easy to over knead but it's just as bad it under knead so watch videos and practice. The windowpane test isn't always the best time.
Remember that enriched doughs will need longer kneading times.
Things that make an enriched dough are eggs, milk, butter, sugar, all the good stuff 😋
Never rush rise time, I put my dough into a cold oven and turn on my oven light. I check back after 45 min on a hot day, or about an hour if it's cooler in the house. Knowing when it's proofed enough can take practice with some recipes. But if you over-proof just punch the dough down and start the 1st rise over again. It actually improves your bread anyway but not necessary for you if you are using the dough improver.
In sweet doughs like yeast rolls, you can stop out some of the sugar in the recipe for powdered sugar. It adds moisture and softness like texas roadhouse 😋 For example, if your recipe calls for 1/4 c of sugar (or 4 tablespoons), then add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar (confectioner sugar).
Yeast...
99% of my breads I make with instant yeast simply because it's the only yeast I can find in bulk nearby.
I know some people won't use anything but active dry but I see no difference.
A bread machine is your best friend.... I have an 8 qt commercial kitchenaid stand mixer and the bowl is so large that I can't use it for most of my breads.
Instead, I put all of my wet ingredients into my bread machine and then thoroughly mix my dry ingredients into the wet, then select the dough setting and let my bread machine do the work. When the kneading is done I turn off the bread machine and move the dough into a bowl to rise in my cold oven.
Wet dough is best....
The wetter the dough the better, which is why I don't knead by hand, it requires extra flour and it's too easy to overdo the flour if you're not already a semi-pro...lol.
Look into the type of breads you want to achieve. I like the soft crust so I brush my dough with a little warm evaporated milk right before I bake it. Egg wash is for a dark crust, and there's several options between.
Keep an eye on your bread and if they began to darken too much, slip a piece of aluminum foil over them while they finish baking.
I like to keep a large spray bottle next to my ovens and right before I put the bread in to bake I spray the inside of the oven with water. Bread loves steam. I usually do another spray halfway through if I can remember.
Skip the malt and just use a dough improver, it will have it all.
not surprised B mans was the bestest.. that dude has magic hands.
Angelo's makes their own bread btw
Interesting that you tried all those variables… and we’re big fans of Brian, Ethan, Mike and ChainBaker here. One question: did you never vary your flours? Think you could alter the chewiness by using various protein %, from King Arthur bread flour on down to a lower protein all-purpose.
Charlie can you please be more specific about what flour and yeast you used? What protein content flour? Did you use fresh compressed yeast, instant dry yeast, or active dry yeast?
For these, I just used King Arthur bread flour (12.7% protein) and instant dry yeast.
good job man like the video