Croissant Advice
I need some help with an issue we are continually getting with our croissants collapsing internally during baking.
I have been moving the baking parameters around to account for this by lowering bake temp and baking longer but I am getting a thick crust and still at times small amount of collapsing in the centre. I am currently pre-heating convection oven to 210.c and then actual bake temp is 195.c for 16 mins. On the outside the croissants at this temp look fantastic and have perfect colour and a nice shattery thin crust.
We used to bake at around 188.c for 17 mins but we were getting a harder/drier/thicker crust.
Could this be due toshaping or the amount of proofing under or over be a part?? Most people have suggested its more to do with bake time?
Any advise would be much appreciated to help stop this from happening
Thank you
Obsessed Croissantier
G
Haven't tried making croissants before, and would definitely sacrifice myself to eat all of your collapsed ones, but just a gut feeling - how tightly do you roll the dough? Could it be that it is a bit loose at the end and the CO2 just escapes instead of expanding?
Does the dough stick inside before baking? Try cutting through one before the baking.
Hi There thanks for the reply
Pretty sure its not tension as I have tried different rolling tight and loose and I still get the collapsing, this is why I feel that it is more to do with the baking?
Cheers
G
1. What are your ingredients - inc. butter fat percentage, flour protein percentage?
2. Shaping. They don't look too shabby in the photo but then it's hard to tell. Are you getting a stodgy marzipan-like mess in the middle? If so, and apologies if you're doing this already, try nicking Vs in them then give the two corners of the base a quick sideways stretch before you begin to roll up each one (and then immediately switching to pulling the apex lengthways as you continue the rolling). Doing this will give a more consistent crumb.
Good luck.
Hi There Thanks for your reply
Ingredients for our croissant are:
Flour T45 appx. 12.8%
Water
Milk
Sugar
Unsalted butter (room temp)
Instant Yeast
Salt
Butter for beurrage @ 28%
We have tried both ways for shaping the croissants. With the nick in the base of croissant and with out. We still get some yes marzipan like collapsed crumb in the centre.
I always though the nick in the base was for when you wanted crescent shaped croissants?
Cheers
G
..the butter itself is. Less than 82% will produce collapse.
Also, have you tried not using dairy in the dough? Milk and butter in the dough give a denser, richer CRX. More like brioches feuilletées than anything else. If you want puffy, flaky and crispy CRX, a dairy-free traditional CRX dough is the way to go. Using it I don't get the problems you're experiencing. Many pastry chefs reckon they taste more buttery, perhaps because you can appreciate the layers more than in the dense enriched doughs.
The V-nick is useful, not just for shaping but in any CRX because it allows you to stretch the dough sideways without ripping it. Doing so avoids a dense concentrated lump in the middle.
Hope this helps.
check your closest edge of the triangle before you roll your croissant? are you trapping dough there maybe? try trimming the edge of one triangle to expose the layers, before your roll?
alternately, or additionally, are you trapping dough when you are doing your folds? some people cut and expose the edge of the first fold that goes inside the book fold. i don't always do that myself, especially with small batches.
just some thoughts. the rest of it looks pretty phenom.
Hi Andy
Yeah we always trim before folding if there isnt butter exposed to remove all trapped dough if needed and also trim the edge/base of croissant before shaping.
We did have a perfect crumb but we are now getting this inconsistent collapsing
G
Hi,
I was having the exact same issue with my croissants. It turned out that my problem was underproofing. The dough in the middle is the "coldest" and therefore takes longer to proof than the outer layers. I increased the proofing time by about 30 min. or so, and no longer have this issue. Hope this helps.
Hi Andy,
Could you let all of us lurkers know if you solved the problem and how. Thanks