Begging for croissant help
My croissants are dense and do not have a full honeycomb. I'm on my 50+ try over the last 6 years and have made every mistake possible.
I'm using 82% butter fat and king Arthur's flour and rolling by hand.
Just after a envelope and book fold it's almost impossible to roll out without hours of resting. Also the butter layers seem to merge somewhat just with these folds, i can't tell. I couldn't imagine trying to fold it any more by hand.
Also my edges crack a bit on the last fold and when I fold in half to rest on the second or third fold it cracks in the middle where it's folded damaging the outer layers.
My recipe use 450g flour, 280ml milk and 55g sugar, 11g instant yeast, 12g salt, 40g butter.
I mixed the initial dough until i could stretch the dough so it was transparent thinking that would solve my problem but it was so hard to roll out after the first fold.
They are rising now. I have them in the oven around 76 degrees with bowls of water and towels at the bottom. I figure I'm going to let it go for 4 hours before i cook them.
Everyone i see rolls out the dough so easy, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. Initially the recipe called for 500g flour so I cut it back to 450 thinking maybe there was too much flour yet it's the same problem every time.
I don't leave it on the counter for more than two minutes and put even pressure on the dough when rolling out and do not press hard.
BURNETTdlFeb 13 2023 - 3:52pmAlso my edges crack a bit and
Also my edges crack a bit and when I fold in half too rest on the third fold it cracks in the middle where it's folded damaging the outer layers.
I use a similar recipe but with 450g flour, 280ml milk and 55g sugar
I use a different recipe, however one key point is to not overmix or overdevelop the gluten. You are not trying to create a strong gluten mesh like you would in a bread dough. My recipe specifically says to only mix about 4 minutes to combine ingredients, then remove the (still rough) dough to a bowl to rest for a couple of hours. It only gets one fold, and then if formed into a square and refrigerated overnight.
It's also important to have butter at the right temperature and plasticity when creating the envelope, you don't want soft butter.
I agree that you may be overdeveloping your dough at the outset and your formula seems a bit dry which may be the reason the edges are cracking. You don't want to mix croissant dough to the point of pulling a window. I generally mix on very low speed, for hydration, for 5 minutes; then no more than 3 minutes on higher speed for development.
Also, it's unclear to me if the butter you list in the formula is butter that is included in the dough mix or roll in butter. Most formulas include some butter that is mixed in with the dough and then a separate amount that is the roll in butter and used to create the lamination. When doing the lamination, particularly the first turn it is important that the butter and the dough have the same stiffness. What I found to be successful is to pound the butter in to the butter block and then refrigerate for an hour and flatten the dough out and freeze for an hour before starting the turns.
Hope this helps
Honestly I've tried to do the dough less developed and ive run in to similar problems. I always get lots of flakey layers but it is dense and no little to no honeycomb.
I use unsalted Kerry gold. 40g in the dough and 280g in the butter block.
It's 82% and it starts to get soft and pliable very fast out of the fridge.
I'll try freezing the dough square like you said.
It also might be a problem with proofing. One time I turned on a hot shower and left in bathroom for 2 hours and if I recall they actually rose and I got some honeycomb. Right now I'm keeping in the oven around 78 degrees for 4 hours. I've also read that over 80 degrees i risk ruining the proofing.
It's very cold and very dry where I am.
How do I know if the dough is mixed enough(or too much) or if I'm using too much flour? Is there a trick to how sticky or tacky it should be?
I used to bake at higher temps like you, but I had trouble with butter leaking and some burnt bottoms. Now I bake for 15 minutes at 375, then 10-15 minutes more at 350. Have been getting great results. Hardly any butter leaks and great color.
Good luck,
Phil
My formula is different than yours but after a lot of trial and error I worked out a process that works for me and would work with different formulas. Mix dough; 1 hour at room temperature; refrigerate 4 hours; flatten out and freeze for 1 hour; make butter block and refrigerate for 1 hour; 3 turns 30 minutes to 1 hour in between with dough refrigerated. Refrigerate overnight before sheeting and shaping.
After mixing my dough has picked up and the texture is smooth and soft, but firm, not tacky or sticky. If you are having that much trouble your dough has way too much strength. Try limiting your mixing as I mentioned before.
I don't use high fat batter in dough, only for roll in. When doing turns you do need to move quickly so that the butter does not get too soft. If the butter is too soft when doing the turns it will be absorbed by the flour which will also affect the crumb structure. Best to only do 1 turn at a time and refrigerate between 30 minutes to an hour in between. I don't do book folds but do 3 letter folds and roll out length to about 3 times the width before folding and refrigerating.
Croissants proof best with humidity and heat generally around 80°F. Without the humidity the dough can dry out and create a skin on the surface of the croissant which will affect its rise during proofing and baking so I egg wash right after shaping to keep the surface flexible and again right before baking. I think your color looks good, too many croissants I see are way underbaked and pale. You don't want to egg wash the sides or that can seal the lamination which will affect the oven spring and interior texture. Your oven temp may be a bit high which could cause a crust to form to early in the bake which can also affect the oven spring and the interior crumb. I bake at 400° for 6 minutes and reduce to 375° for the remainder of the baking.
In calculating percentages in your formula it seems as if the butter for your butter block as a percentage of your flour is at 62% - which is a lot. I generally keep my butter block around 30%. Also, when you adjusted your formula because the dough seemed stiff you reduced flour, generally it's better to make adjustments by changing the liquid, increasing or decreasing, as necessary. When I adjust a formula I generally adjust about 5% at a time. You might try using some water instead of all milk as well.
Hope this helps
Thanks for your help and great suggestions!
Do you mind sharing your recipe and or a pic of product or is it proprietary? It's interesting you are only using half the butter.
I'm basically using the recipe off weekendbakery.
I sent you a private message with some additional information.
Just saw this thread, are you still having trouble with croissants? I also hand roll at home, and sometimes I use kerrygold as well. Let me know if you have questions.
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69cbakery, I admire your hand rolling skills. Those look beautiful!
Dave
Thanks Dave! I started during quarantine and it’s been my favorite hobby since.