Croissant fault help
Hi everyone ,
I'm at bakery school and I've really been struggling with croissants. Today half our class ended up with these croissants or with a similar fault:
Out teacher doesn't know what the fault is. I was super confident with my laminating. This exact problem has happened once before for me. Everyone had different hydration. Some used the sheeter some did it by hand. Same proofing temp/humidity. Same cooking temp and time. Some were perfect. Some had this fault.
I thought perhaps last time I used too much flour when completing my turns so I didn't use any this time. My best guess is that I didn't roll them tight enough right at the end and heat got in between the layers because I can kind of see some gaps from the outside. Does anyone have any other ideas?
It would only be a guess but perhaps your dough got too warm between turns so the lamination broke down. Or you were overproofed which caused a collapse in the structure during the bake. Do you use malt in your formula? That could add a lot of enzymatic activity which would further deteriorate your structure if you proofed too long.
Again...all guesses at this point on my part.
Zuri
Hey Zuri, thanks for the reply. We don't use malt in the recipe. I proofed them for about 50 mins at 27°C/75% humidity so not sure if it was that. I took a picture of the layering before the final roll and it looked as it should.
I'll try to keep an eye on the proofer a bit more intensely next time.
Not enough adhesion during rolling. That can be remedied by making sure the sheets are free of any residual flour and even a little moisture sometimes via misting sprayer. It's hard to imagine ocerproofing at 50 minutes but if the temps are high and the yeast is really active then it can happen fast. As for the beautiful 5 and 7 steps on each croissant they look really nice geometrically !
Hi there,
I'd have a look at lamination first. I'd check these:
(1) Use a dough sheeter no matter what. Laminate to 6 mm for the folds and down to 3mm before cutting the croissants.
(2) Lab temperature 21C max, 15-16C even better.
(3) Dough straight out of the chiller for the fold and immediately back to the chiller.
(4)Double cling wrap the dough.
(5) A little (really little) flour allowed in the sheeter but just a little. Clean the sheeter belts with a bench knife to scrap all old flour out before you start using your machine.
I find your proofing time too short, what's the proofing temperature?
Hey, the proofer was at 27°C / 75% humidity.
So you go down to 6mm for every fold? I've been doing around 12mm at the moment.