# Advice re: Pilsbury crescent rolls



## Greg Who Cooks (May 2, 2014)

I cooked half a package 2 nights ago. Wrapped the other half and refrigerated it.

Will they come out okay if I cook them tonight?

I'm worried that they appear to be packed under pressure. Is keeping them under pressure important?

Or can I just follow the package recipe and have them come out as usual?


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## salt and pepper (May 2, 2014)

Take them out and roll them, then cover and let them rise for about 20 minutes before baking.


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## Kayelle (May 2, 2014)

You've nothing to loose Greg. Just bake em and see.

By the way, good to see you posting again. Anything new?


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## Dawgluver (May 2, 2014)

My thoughts too.


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## Addie (May 2, 2014)

Greg, when The Pirate was small I had bought a bunch of Pillsbury Biscuits. They were on sale for five cents a can. I had put them in the fridge and went back out. When I came home every single can had been open. I wanted to kill. He wanted to see "Poppin' Good" come out. I rolled them up, wrapped them tightly with foil and put them into the freezer. They were fine. And so are yours.


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## Greg Who Cooks (May 3, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> You've nothing to loose Greg. Just bake em and see.



Wel I did, and my conclusion is that no, Greg, they aren't as good! 

I did leave them out on the counter for a while before I rolled them up, and a bit longer after that too, not on purpose but just because that's what I did.

They didn't seem to rise much, if any, before I put them in the oven, nor did they rise much during baking. I ended up with rings, not crescents.

My conclusion is that there is a good reason why they "pop" when you open them. They are packaged in a pressurized atmosphere, perhaps nitrogen or perhaps just plain air, and then enclose them in the can. Inside the can the container keeps them pressurized.

When you open them before cooking the pressurized nitrogen or air expands until it neutralizes with atmospheric pressure, thus adding a sort of "air pressure leavening."

So in my opinion Pillsbury and other brands of crescent rolls and biscuits are purposefully pressurized to add an extra kick to rising, beyond normal baking leavenings, to make them lighter and more fluffy.

Incidentally I had a few crescents left from a few nights earlier (kept them in the fridge) and they were more pleasing and tasty and definitely fluffier than the ones that were left as dough in the refrigerator. My advice is don't bother trying to save the dough -- just bake the entire batch and keep the uneaten ones in your fridge for perhaps up to 2-3 days.



Kayelle said:


> By the way, good to see you posting again. Anything new?



As most know, I'm retired, and lately I have mostly been working on an business project intended to provide me more income and greater financial stability in the future. The transactions have been complex and protracted and have driven me to distraction receiving PDFs, printing them, signing them, scanning them to PDF and sending them back. Travel too is required. I expect to complete the entire project during summer, and then I can kick back and my business will mostly take care of itself, and I'll have more time for fun.

I've been working on some for-fun Internet projects including a coding project where I'm learning to deliver content to mobile devices (iPads and Android tablets) and I have taken on tech admin duties at an open source software project.

Between all that and cooking duties I haven't been doing much posting in any forums.


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## GotGarlic (May 3, 2014)

Greg Who Cooks said:


> Incidentally I had a few crescents left from a few nights earlier (kept them in the fridge) and they were more pleasing and tasty and definitely fluffier than the ones that were left as dough in the refrigerator. My advice is don't bother trying to save the dough -- just bake the entire batch and keep the uneaten ones in your fridge for perhaps up to 2-3 days.



Bread actually stales more quickly in the refrigerator than when kept at room temperature. 

Good to see you back, Greg


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## Cooking Goddess (May 3, 2014)

Wow Greg, you've been busy enough for both of us - thanks.  I hope you're taking time to breathe.

I always bake up the entire can of any biscuit, crescent roll, etc. I put the leftovers in a zip-lock bag and just keep them in the bread box or on the counter. When we want the leftovers, I either wrap them loosely in foil and pop into the toaster oven for about five minutes...or just nuke them for about 15 seconds each on power level 2.

You could always bake half of them as rolls for your meal and half as danish for dessert or, if you wrap them, for breakfast the next day. I've made this recipe with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries...you get the picture! When I have extras for the next day I'll just pop them into the preheated toaster oven on about 400, right on the rails of the rack, and let them warm a couple minutes. Almost as good as just-made.

Blueberry-Cheese Rolls Recipe - Kraft Recipes


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## Mad Cook (May 3, 2014)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Wow Greg, you've been busy enough for both of us - thanks.  I hope you're taking time to breathe.
> 
> I always bake up the entire can of any biscuit, crescent roll, etc. I put the leftovers in a zip-lock bag and just keep them in the bread box or on the counter. When we want the leftovers, I either wrap them loosely in foil and pop into the toaster oven for about five minutes...or just nuke them for about 15 seconds each on power level 2.
> 
> ...


Could they be baked and frozen until required?

Haven't seem Pilsbury dough products for years. They had a brief flourish here in the '60s IIRC


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## Cooking Goddess (May 3, 2014)

MC, I've never had to bake and then freeze for "sometime later" since Himself and I each eat two when I make them, then two each the next day. Poof! All 8 gone in two days. I would think since it's filled with cream cheese there might be an issue with texture if they were frozen.

FWIW, I also add a little spice to the Kraft recipe - cinnamon, nutmeg, whatever you are in the mood for at the time. Actually, now that I think about it, you could probably make these savory by omitting the sugar and putting in zesty spices. Hmmm......


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## Greg Who Cooks (May 3, 2014)

I think it's a good idea to either leave the uncooked dough at room temperature, or just cook the whole batch.

I'm not "back."  I never left.  Don't worry about my absences, I'll always be back. Send me a PM if you wanna jerk my chain. I think I have PM notification switched on.

It was the big move to my new house last summer, and now it's getting my business set up, but I'll always be interested in cooking and DC is the best cooking forum on the Internet.


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## CWS4322 (May 3, 2014)

Why not just make these:

Copycat Pillsbury Crescent Rolls Recipe - Food.com - 365725


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## Greg Who Cooks (May 3, 2014)

Um, because generic crescents cost $1/can and I'm lazy?


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 4, 2014)

Yes there is pressure in the unopened container.  I've no proof, but suspect that it comes from CO2.  The biscuit dough has baking powder in it, and the yeast raised dough contain yeast.  The dough is packaged before the leavening takes place.  As the chemicals, or yeast release CO2, it both leavens and creates pressure in the container.  When the package is opened, the dough is ready to bake, and already risen.  If you "punch it down, the dough will have to be leavened again.  With the yeast product, I wouldn't expect a problem.  But the chemical reactions that produce CO2 in the biscuit and crescent dough would have been exhausted.  You could add more baking powder, but that would affect the flavor of the end product.

That's my edumacated guess.

Once opened, use immediately.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North.


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## CWS4322 (May 4, 2014)

Greg Who Cooks said:


> Um, because generic crescents cost $1/can and I'm lazy?


No, you are not lazy. Here in Canada the generic crescents are rarely $1/can. When I factor in the gas (which is about $5.50/gallon), I figure if I have the ingredients in the house, why not fire up the KA or the bread machine...


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## Mad Cook (May 4, 2014)

Cooking Goddess said:


> MC, I've never had to bake and then freeze for "sometime later" since Himself and I each eat two when I make them, then two each the next day. Poof! All 8 gone in two days. I would think since it's filled with cream cheese there might be an issue with texture if they were frozen.
> 
> QUOTE]Ah didn't know about the cream cheese. I see why there were worries about them being fit to eat after the "spares" had been stored.
> 
> The pilsbury dough in a can we used to get here years ago were just ordinary plain croissants.


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## Cooking Goddess (May 4, 2014)

Mad Cook, the cream cheese isn't in the original croissants that come in the can, it's in the Blueberry-Cheese Rolls Recipe from Kraft in the link in my comment about a half-dozen posts or so above.


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## Kayelle (May 4, 2014)

You could always make desert to go with your dinner rolls and dinner.

There's a recipe floating around somewhere about wrapping/sealing a triangle around cinnamon and sugared apple wedges and baking them in a butter Mountian Dew sauce. Darn tasty and about my extent of "baking".


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