Rolling pin size matters for croissant?
Does the size of the rolling pin make a difference in making laminated dough for croissants?
I have been making laminated dough by hand using a 12" (excluding handles) solid wood rolling pin for some time. I noticed that when I roll the laminated dough at a narrow width (ex:5.5-6") the dough will role smoothly and not curve and deform at the edges. On the other hand, when I role the dough at the recommend width (7-8") the dough will curve and bulge at the edge. This made me wonder weather using a longer rolling pin (ex: 15") would allow me to role the dough at the recommend width without having to deal with curved bulgy edges?
My theory is that when I hold and role the pin, most of the pressure is applied in the center thus the edges of the dough become curved and bulged in the center. If I use a longer pin this will increase the center area where most of the pressure is applied and covers the entire width of my dough equally, is that correct?
bulge you're talking about but the act of rolling pushes the upper layers more than the lower layers of dough when rolling. I suppose ideal would be a roller both above and below the dough for the least amount of friction. Perhaps the temperature of the butter has more to do with the layers holding together as they are rolled out than the size of the pin.
I was looking thru this video from American Test Kitchens and instead of comparing rolling pins, they were making deep dish pizza rolling out the dough and adding butter. Rolling up the dough jelly roll style and then ev. rolling out the laminated dough. Notice the action of the pin on the dough log at the 7min 40 sec mark in the video. Notice how the top layer gets stretched more than the lower layers to the point that the ends are soon face down.
I know that this is exaggerated but you can see the slipping nicely. With colder butter the slipping will be less as in cool croissant dough. Which also implies the importance of the dough/butter temperature. This top side stretching of the dough is often corrected by flipping the dough upside down and then stretching the smaller bottom layer. The further the layers are from the pin surface, the more the differences will be. The pressure will form a thinning in the dough on the rolled side and extend the edges over the edges of the dough underneath. Flipping the dough and rolling stretches those thicker layers pushing the edges back with the force of the now topmost rolled layer.
It is very easy to move the pin to the edges and roll gently and evenly to spread out the dough. Getting the dough too thin too soon at the edges presents a danger. It is much easier to make them thinner if desired than to make them thicker if rolled too thin. Notice the rolling pins in the video, they are tapered pins so that the edges will be thicker with each pass of the pin. Watch how the centre of the pin moves all over the dough. The pin is longer than the dough but ends also serve as handles. I don't have a tapered pin but good sized one and a smaller pin as well. There is much to be said about the hand technique of rolling out dough, the pressure and speed at which it is done and how often the top and bottom are flipped to correct for unevenness.
Those who roll out laminated dough will more than often use a different rolling technique than when rolling out plain dough. I hope they chime in.
Thanks for the very detailed reply. I made this drawing to illustrate what I mean by the dough curving/bulging at the edges:
I dont think temperature is a problem because I role the dough in a cold room (66f) over a marble slab that is ice-pack cooled for 15 min before lamination. The dough is kept in fridge and then transferred to freezer for 15 minutes before rolling. The rolling pin is also kept in the freezer until work begins. Everything is kept as cold as possible without freezing the dough.
As mentioned in my first post I noticed a difference one time when I rolled at narrower width and that is what prompted me to ask weather a wider rolling pin (ex 15" vs 12" I have now) can help me role my dough at standard 7-8" width and not have to deal with curvy edges.
forgot to mention, that I flip the dough every single time i role it.
long narrow stripes of wood (or similar) with the desired thickness next to the dough as you roll it out? This might help determine if the width of the roller is the problem or the empty space under the roller creates the difficulty. The wood stripes would support the dangling end of the rolling pin and prevent it from pushing dough back into the middle where it eventually shows up as a curve on the top and bottom of the dough rectangle.
I have also seen rather clever rolling pin guides bands that can help with rolling out of dough. (From the looks of my last rolled cookies, I could use some of these myself!) They fit over each end of the pin and as you can see vary in size and thickness. Start with larger rings and work smaller to the desired thickness. I like the idea of putting them all on the ends with the thickest ones outside and remove them as the dough gets thinner. Seems to take all the eyeballing and time consuming guess work out. :)
It sounds like you are suggesting constructing a border around the dough, so that If the desired dimensions for the fully rolled dough are 24"Lx8"W I would put the two wood stripes 8" apart and role the dough between them, correct?
About this part: "or the empty space under the roller creates the difficulty." and "and prevent it from pushing dough back into the middle where it eventually shows up as a curve on the top and bottom of the dough rectangle."
I am not sure I understand how this happens. I always was under the impression that the curvy/bulgy ends are a result of applying too much pressure in the center on the dough. Are you saying the empty space on the sides cause this uneven pressure?
Are you saying the empty space on the sides cause this uneven pressure?
Yes, because the rolling pin can easily tilt into the space as you roll. There is nothing to stop the pin from tipping toward the work surface. Try using two long strips of wood and see if that helps. They can be round or flat. As a test, try a couple of chop sticks overlapping the ends. Because they are short, they may be a little awkward and move around a bit but the end effect is similar. For ceramics, I use square dowels as they tend not to roll away from me.
Pressure on the center... yes and no. Yes, dough is being pushed out from the center but no, not only from directly pushing down on the dough. I think as you roll over the dough there must be a little sideways tipping left or right over the sides and this action, as the pin slightly tips toward the work surface, tapers the dough making the center thicker or more bulky. Then when pressing again directly in the middle, that thickness of dough is forced toward the ends causing it to round. Only you can tell if this is happening.
The sticks or rolling pin spacers might help, worth a try anyway. I think I have a toy railroad track that might be the right thickness. I will go digging in the basement. My mom still has a Lincoln Log set somewhere -- a couple of those long green roof pieces would work nicely too. :)
Thanks, this clarifies so much. I will try to get the sticks to try this, but I wonder if pressing down on the center of the rolling pin would reduce this side-tilting problem? Hence, I would use my traditional pin just like a french pin without the handles and put my hands over the center and press and role.
It's difficult to get perfect corners. Even some sheeters with long rolling pins produce some curved corners.
For me, I gently pull the curved corners out a bit and gently roll to get an even edge. Sometimes the corners end up getting longer than the center, so then I have to squish them back to get an even edge.
I don't think pulling the corners works when laminating, because the butter layer could easily get disturbed and lose continuity within the dough. I used to press the sides in with the rolling pin to get the rectangle corners but this was creating dead areas with no butter.
I find no problems with gently pulling the corners out to align with the edges. During the shaping, I gently stretch the triangles to elongate and see no problems with losing lamination by stretching; though, some people prefer rolling to elongate. Even the pasty chefs pull the curved corners out to align with the edges during lamination. Just look at some of the laminating techniques on youtube. Though, I think squishing the dough in does crush the layers a bit, but you can always trim it.
I saw a youtube video where the top and bottom edges get cut off. Like you said, it's those edges that contain no butter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC66iLTXen8
in the pictures...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33346/croissants-buttery-heaven
Small update, I got a larger rolling pin to test and from the 3 batches i completed since then I can say the results were unexpected. While the larger pin is better to use, its effect on the edges of the dough is less than what I thought.
First the good stuff about the larger rolling pin. It's longer pin (20" vs 10") allows me to use it like a french pin, pressing it with both hands in the center over the dough. This gives a nice effect of a gentle rolling, but tends to press the dough sideways at the edges. Hence, the ends of the dough would become a little wider than the center. It's heavier weight means I can focus less on pressing it against the dough and more on rolling it. This leads to a more even amount of pressure being applied throughout the rolling.
Overall I am happy with the new rolling pin, but in the process of testing it I also noticed it is possible to get curvy dough's edges with it. After few attempts I realized the biggest cause of the curving. It comes down to the amount of flour being used to dust the dough and table surface and also where it is being applied.
I normally apply the flour to the entire surface of the dough by rubbing it by hand. As long as I did it quickly the dough would not heat up and would be evenly coated and feel not sticky to the tough. This insured that flour dusting was never over done, but it left vulnerable spots.
At the edges the flour was not enough and this was causing the dough to stick to the table and force the center to curve out. The solution was to apply a second amount of flour to the edges without rubbing it. As long as rolling was done evenly, this insured the dough would never curve at the edges.