Need some help making a naturally leavened croissant.
I have spent the better part of a month trying to get this done. A Piece of Bread in tasmania has accomplished this and put their formulas up on a drop box. I have been following this feeding schedule leading up to the leaven for the dough.
| Ingredients | Reg feed (12 hrs) | Build #1 (4-6hrs) | Build #2 (4-6hrs) | Sweet Build (12hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100g | 100g | 100g | 206g |
| Water | 100g | 100g | 100g | 206g |
| Starter | 50g | 100g | 100g | 61g |
| Sugar | 59g |
Sweet build I found passes the float test at 4 hours in, but is suggested to use after 12 hours. All the temperature of the water I used ~30 ° C.
They have had 5 different types of recipes I've seen in the past 4 years and here are the formulas that I've noticed.
| Ingredients | Version 1 | Grainz | Formula 2 | Water formula | Cream formula |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Starter | 38% | 26% | 19% | 25% | 25% |
| Water | 26% | 33% | 39% | 44% | 33% |
| Cream | 17% | 17% | 0% | 17% | |
| Sugar | 15% | 19% | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Salt | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| egg | 12% | ||||
| butter | 15% |
Same thing. Desired dough temp is 28-30 ° C.
Bulk ferment is 6-8 hours. Doing folds every 30-40 minutes (my place is pretty cool nowadays). Shaping them at 80g each. Baking 400 ° F and then doing to 350 ° F to finish.
Most results yield a very tight crumb. There is nothing wrong about the layering, standard croissant layering. I've done it enough times to get it down pat. But at this point the crumb is more doughy than spider web like. They said you can retard the shaped final product for 3 days. I know it is an issue with the leavening. I have done Tartine's croissant before but that does require commercial yeast to be added to it. But I'm trying to make it 100% naturally leavened. I've had slight success where it proofed maybe 30% but now I am at a standstill. I cannot get past that. Proofing is an issue of course between of butter leaking out of pastry past 27 ° C.
I don't know if anyone else could recommend any different recipes or perhaps any adjustments to the technique. I think a problem is how much initial enrichment there is in the dough. The fats in the cream is inhibiting it from rising or for instance in the "old" formula the butter and egg. I'm thinking of cutting back on the sugar by half, the cream by half and replacing that with water to keep the hydration around 50%. Should I add more water to make the dough more soft?
Any help would be great thank you.
... but your solution may be to manipulate your levain.
I read a bit here that you can make your levain more osmotolerant by adding sugar to it:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19670/it-possible-create-osmotolerant-sourdough
I’ve no idea if that’s the solution to your problem or not, but you might give it a whirl.
Edit: apparently you may be doing this already.
I have achieved success. Thank you
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67655/i-am-so-happy-year-later-naturally-leavened-croissants
Hi! I've made naturally leavened croissants, but always spiked with a little yeast, and I may be trying 100% fully leavened as a fun project this coming week. My results have always been decent, not expert, but here are a few things I've learned that maybe helpful?
1. Watch the temps, stay below 25C. I'm not sure what point you define the final dough temp 28-30C; if it's anything after the first mixing, that may ultimately be too warm for the butter. You do hint at the 27C, but I'd go below 25C. Of course, that'll slow things down.
2. With the final proof, wait to bake until those rolls are jiggly... and I mean jiggly. If you can, maybe don't bake a few and just watch the proof until they collapse o get yourself an understanding of the timing.
3. I've noticed a correlation in my breads with dough size and open crumb: the smaller the dough, the more open the crumb. I was going to suggest trying a smaller size, but 80g is already pretty small?
My question about this is that you mentioned people can retard the dough, etc. I have read and maybe experienced** that with naturally levained doughs, longer fermentation results in a chewier crumb. Croissants aren't supposed to be chewy.
Going to keep a watch here, please let us know if you have any success, good luck :) I'm giving this a go next week since I now have ability to maintain stable proofing temps; I just need to find a way to cover the rolls without damaging them so they don't dry out.
** My best looking ones had an 8 hour final proof temp, and they required a true "bite" to get through, unlike the faster yeast-risen doughs which were way more delicate
Hi there I have achieved success. If you need any advice you can PM me. But thank you for your advice.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67655/i-am-so-happy-year-later-naturally-leavened-croissants