The Fresh Loaf

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Need help with croissants

tarjr_253's picture
tarjr_253

Need help with croissants

My croissant recipe:

Bread flour 1kg

Sugar 110grams

Yeast (instant dry) 25grams

Gluten 12 grams

Improver 14 grams

Salt 20 grams

Honey 15 grams

Butter 200 grams

Water 450 grams

 

Beurrage: 615 grams of unsalted butter

 

I do 1 single fold followed by one book fold.

After shaping, I keep the croissants in the fridge overnight, proof for 2-2.5 hours till puffy in the morning and then back at 200°C for 18-20 mins, in a Kolb Deck oven with steam injected for 2 seconds.

 

They get a good oven spring in the first few minutes and stay that way till almost 10 mins. Around the 10 minute mark they start deflating a little. Once done, they deflate further out of the oven.

 

Note: I'm baking these at 7500ft in Thimphu, Bhutan.

 

Would love to hear from anyone what might be going wrong and how to fix it.

BaniJP's picture
BaniJP

Your inside looks a little undercooked. The only thing I can think of is that the oven is too warm. That would cause the outside to be baked, but the inside is not completely done. I can also imagine that after 10 min. the inside is not strong enough yet to support the whole croissant. Try baking at 180-190°C.

tarjr_253's picture
tarjr_253

I've got a batch literally in the last 2 mins of bake time in the oven today, they seem to have held their shape during baking much better, will upload pictures in about an hour once they've cooled properly and I can cut into one.

bottleny's picture
bottleny

I'm not sure that you already adjust the baking temperature/time and recipes to suitable for high altitude baking or not. Here is some reference:

  • Higher oven temperature & less baking time
  • Less yeast & sugar
  • More flour and liquid
tarjr_253's picture
tarjr_253

I've already made the requisite changes to the recipe. I've reduced the yeast by 20% almost, reduced the sugar by 10%.

I can't change the baking temp because that's exactly the problem, the oven temp is already too high and the centre is not cooking through.

tarjr_253's picture
tarjr_253

 

Lowered the baking temperature. Preheated oven to 195°C, placed 3.5 hour proofed croissants, steamed for 3 seconds. Internal temp of oven automatically dropped to 185°C coz of the steam, and I changed the set temp to 185°C as well. Baked the croissants for 18mins, further dropped the temperature to 180°C and baked for another 6 mins till golden and delicious.

BaniJP's picture
BaniJP

They look much better and baked all the way through now! Good job!