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Croissant tearing while proofing

Moritz's picture
Moritz

Croissant tearing while proofing

Hello everybody. 

 

I do alot of tests on croissants. 

 

I use t45 Flour.mix the dough for about 10-12 min on a low speed.let it rest overnight in the fridge.

I do one double fold and one single fold and give 1 hour rest between each fold. 

The lamination is great and all the process is going well.

My problem is that in the final proof ,the croissants are tearing. 

I think maybe the t45 is to weak for croissant.did someone ever used this kind of Flour for croissant.

 

I've attached a photo.

 

Thanks alot.

 

Gill63's picture
Gill63

I think T45 is mainly used for pastry/ patisserie, so that may we’ll be the cause.

I tend to use T55 for croissants, and while I’ve got a way to go to get the perfect croissant that’s not a problem I’ve had.

Gill

Nekojita's picture
Nekojita

Coming a bit late on the subject,

However, in France they usually use a T45 for croissants but not your average T45 as it made out of groat (Farine de gruau, i.e: Gruau d'or (among others)). As mentioned before, a mix of T45 and T55 works usually fine.

It is still a very pure flour but it contains much more gluten.

_vk's picture
_vk

And it was with T45. My lamination failed, so I end up with som weird shaped brioche :). Tasty and fluffy.

I had no problem with the dough tearing. Ii hold very well during all the process.

T45 has a W of 420-450 as per this site

http://www.francepanificacao.com.br/t45/

They represent of Bagatelle here in Brazil.

So I believe it is strong enough to handle croissant making.

Also here. under croissant link, T45 is there (in french):

 

http://www.bagatelles.com/croissant-exception-bagatelle-20.html

 

 

Moritz's picture
Moritz

 Thanks for replying 

 

All I know from what I experienced, if u want to get good open honeycomb,your croissant needs a strong flour with high protein levels..

The only problem is,when u hand lamination Its not that easy to roll it.but u just need to be patience and give it more rest.

That's why I tested the t 45...it has low protein levels.because it's hand lamination .i try to make my life easier ....but I really figuring out,that u really need to work only with high protein flour.

With the t 45,Maybe because I'm doing only 2 folds,it's needs more mixing time.

Tomorrow I'll get back to t55 and see how it goes.

10x

snonov's picture
snonov

Hi Moritz, I have the same problem. Croissants are tearing while they are baking. Some time it happens some time not. Tried to change everything, methods, flour, butter, hydration etc. Really don't see a connection between tearing and method or recipe. Will follow your topic. 

kendalm's picture
kendalm

I would agree about t45 being a tad weak but at the same time I don't think you need a strong flour t55 is plenty strong enough for honey combing croissants - as for the tearing, that I have noticed will happen if you let them dry out too much while proofing - providing a bit,extra egg wash might help as well as adding a few percent more water. The general goal is to go for 50% hydration bit flours all differ so maybe try 55% ?   

snonov's picture
snonov

I tried a hydration level from 50 to 60, and different flours any way some time it is tearing while baking. Noticed that it happens more likely if I froze croissants after shaping in order to bake them later.

snonov's picture
snonov

I tried a hydration level from 50 to 60, and different flours any way some time it is tearing while baking. Noticed that it happens more likely if I froze croissants after shaping in order to bake them later.

mwilson's picture
mwilson

Important to note that T45 and T55 indicate the measure of ash and do not signify strength or represent gluten. For example the flour referenced by _vk is T45 flour with a rheological spec of W 420-450, which is about as strong as flour can get. Whereas the T65 also listed on that website has a W 200-240 which is far weaker.

I too would suspect the croissant tearing issue be due to a weak flour. Moritz, what is the protein content of the T45 you used?

Moritz's picture
Moritz

8-9 % It's very weak.i usually use it for pastry. Today I used t55 .it was alot better. Croissant needs high protein flour..t45 is to weak for that.

T55 is 10-11% protein.

 

 

Moritz's picture
Moritz

It started to happen  when I changed my folding method.

 

I used to do 3 simple fold ,but I realized that I prefer the crumb of one double fold and one single fold.

Less folds which makes you roll out the dough less ,what usually gives less power .

It feels like it's a strength issue. 

I realized, because there are less folds, I need to mix the detromp for a longer period  of time. When I did three folds,I mixed it approximately 6 min. Last night I changed the flour from  t45 to t55 and mix the dough 12-13 min on low speed.

 

I'll update about the results

 

kendalm's picture
kendalm

I just posted a batch using KA AP (10%) and they turned out pretty well (well I'm happy with them).  I usually use a 9.6% t55 but side note I recently started sourdough croissants and there seems to be more gooyness with wild yeast (may due to acidity). long story short no torn dough bit one thing did cross my mind looking at your photo.  That's pretty darn puffy.  I know,some say that croissants need to go to this insane extreme and become super delicate an jiggly (which is sort of the way yours appears).  With that in mind, I only final proof for 1.5 hours any more and I see collapsed croissants.  I am thinking you may be doing a really long final - just out of interest how long do you bench these before baking ?  

Katebaker's picture
Katebaker

Moritz did you work out why this was happening? I've had the same happen to me the last 4-5 batches... Out of nowhere. I've tried different flours more kneading, less kneading, it hasn't seemed to make a difference. The last thing I want to check is the humidity during proofing, maybe I'm changing the steamy water in my oven too frequently? It's very frustrating as this has never happened before after dozens of batches! 

Amornthep's picture
Amornthep

Hi Kate, 

I already replied to Mortiz about the solution.

Good luck,

Amornthep

Amornthep's picture
Amornthep

Hi Mortiz, I’m using T45 too and I have faced the same problem as you. 
I have tried many ways over and over until I finally fixed it.

 

You mix the dough too long! So the gluten is OVER DEVELOPED.

I mix T 45 for 500g 
Low speed 3 mins. + Medium low speed 1-2 mins.

**My mixer’s speed adjustments are broken so.. just remember this**

1. Mix Low speed until the dough incorporated (about 3 mins) at this stage the dough will not SMOOTH yet.

2. Mix Med-low speed until the dough becomes smooth ( about 1 -2mins then check window panes ) 

To check window panes :

Pull some of the dough and GENTLY stretch it ,
1. Can’t Stretch >> Gluten under developed.

2. Can Stretch >>The dough should looks like cloud and if we stretch a little bit It SHOULD TEAR OFF ! 
That’s the stage we want!

3. Can Stretch  till the dough looks like a clean film >> you’re doing too much. >> like your problem now.

 

when finished mixing, I immediately put in the freezer overnight like you do.

Good luck everyone.

Amornthep