Hello again Ratniss…So I had a moment to look at the recipes you used, and I can see the issues with them. But rather than review those issues, it is probably more productive to talk about the methods that will help you bake a good croissant.
As I mentioned earlier, I think the Weekend Bakery recipe is a good recipe. Having used Weekend Bakeries recipe many times, I can say without hesitation it is a reliable recipe.
No rise: most likely the layers fused together when the butter leaked out. That in turn prevented the croissants from rising during proofing and no oven spring when baked. A lack of rise is also caused by using a young dough. Dough quality improves when aged over 2 and 3 days.
Tough chewy texture: the cause is too much water, not enough milk fat, and over development of the gluten. The critical step is the mix--if you over mix, it will only get worse as laminated dough is heavily worked. More on that below.
No Flavor: flavor is created from fermentation of the dough, either aging the dough and/or using a preferment. The Weekend Bakery ages the dough over 3 days. Most bakeries use at least a two day process to ensure the gluten relaxes, and to give the dough time to ferment and develop flavor.
When using shorter production processes, its best to use a preferment known as a poolish. I explain poolish in more detail at the end of this post.
Troubleshooting:
- Mixing: the first critical step is mixing the dough. IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU DO NOT OVERMIX. Laminated dough is unique in the amount of handling. It’s mixed, then rolled and folding at least 8 to 10 times during the laminating process. Then it is stretched in the shaping process. Every time it is handled, it develops more gluten. There is no way to undo the gluten development. At best, you can rest it to get it to relax, but you cannot reverse gluten once the dough develops it. So if the dough is overmixed at the beginning, you only make it worse as you laminate it.
- Dough: watch the dough carefully. As soon as it comes together in a smooth mass, stop mixing. If you are using a stand mixer, this should be about 3 mins of mixing. I set a timer to make sure I do not over mix.
- The dough should feel very soft.
- It should NOT feel firm.
- It should NOT have resistance when you press it.
- It should NOT spring back when you press it with your finger.
- Protein: use a flour with protein 10% - 11%. You can mix flours as well. I mix all purpose, hard winter wheat flour with 11.5% protein with a 10% protein, soft white wheat pastry flour.
- Sift: Clumped and compacted flour will requires more mixing. So sift and then thoroughly whisk the flour and dry ingredients together to ensure the others ingredients are evenly blended in the flour.
- Butter: a small about of butter is added to the dough when it is mixed. Melt and cool the 40 grams of butter that is mixed into the dough. I find melted butter helps bring the dough together fast and better than soften butter.
- Order of ingredients: I place the wet ingredients in the bowl first, then the sifted and whisked dry ingredients.
- Beurrage (butter block):
- If you live in a warm climate, you can stabilize beurrage by mixing it with some flour. Use about 10% - 15% flour to the weight of butter. Mix flour and cold butter in the mixer until just combined, then form into a square between plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill. It should also make the butter more pliable.
- Do not let the butter get too warm when making the beurrage.
- A butter with a higher butterfat content, 83% or higher works best as it has less natural water. The extra water in lower butterfat butter make it harder and more brittle, so more difficult to roll. The extra water also gets absorbed by the flour and makes the croissant tough and chewy.
- Lock-In Method: the lock in method is important. If the beurrage is not securely locked in the dough, it will leak while rolling, proofing, and baking.
- The French method shown in the Weekend Bakery post is best, especially for beginners. The French method locks the beurrage in on all four sides, so there is less risk of leaking. I always use the French method.
- The dough and the beurrage should have the same flexibility. Bend the dough to see how it feels. Then bend the beurrage. They should have similar resistance.
- If the beurrage is too hard it will not roll out between the dough. It will break apart and separate into pieces inside the dough pocket. The layers will fuse in the spaces where the butter is broken.
- Before you begin laminating check the temperature of the beurrage; it should be around 55°F (12°C) - 60°F (15°C).
- Rolling: before you begin rolling, use the rolling pin and gently tap from the center out to the edge. Tap just enough to stretch the dough, but not so hard you break the beurrage .
- Turn the dough and repeat in all four directions. By tapping over the dough, the beurrage and dough are stretched out together.
- After tapping over the dough, begin rolling from the center out. With each pass of the rolling pin check to make sure the dough is not stuck to your work surface.
- If you roll over the dough when it’s stuck, you will stretch and tear the upper layers inside. Torn layers inside will cause leaking during proofing and baking. And it fuses the layers so the croissant won’t rise properly.
- Watch the dough with each pass of the rolling pin. If it shrinks back immediately stop. Cover it and place it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
- Dough that shrinks back when you roll over it is a sure sign that there is too much gluten development. Depending on the amount of gluten development, you can still get a decent croissant.
- Poolish: the standard preferment used in croissant for flavor development and improved dough quality
- A poolish is equal parts by weight of flour and water
- Up to 2% yeast is added to start the fermentation process.
- The amount of yeast used depends on how long you ferment the polish.
- Less than 8 hours, more yeast is used
- More than 8 hours, less yeast is used
- If too much yeast is used, the poolish will rise, then go flat. It will not be any good.
- To make a poolish, subtract .25 of the flour and water from the recipe. If you use the Weekend Bakery recipe is contains:
500g flour
140g water
11g yeast (4 teaspoons)
500 g x .25 = 125 grams
Subtract 125g flour from the 500g to make the poolish:
Use
125g flour for the poolish
375g flour for the main dough
Subtract 125g water from the 140g water to make the poolish.
Use
125 g water for the poolish
14g water for the main dough
If you are going to use the poolish within 8 hours, use 1/4 teaspoons yeast.
If you are going to use the poolish in 8 hours to 12 hours, use 1/8 teaspoon yeast
A poolish must be used within 24 hours. If the poolish has risen, then deflates in the bowl, it has fermented too long and cannot be used. A good poolish will be bubbly and full. See pic
When you are ready to mix the main dough:
- Check the poolish to make sure it is full and bubbly
- Place all the poolish in the mixer bowl.
- Sprinkle the remaining yeast over the poolish and mix to incorporate.
- Add the 140g milk and remaining 14g water, then mix to just loosen the polish.
- Add the remaining sifted and whisked dry ingredients, and mix until the dough just forms into a mass, there is not visible dry flour, and it is stiff soft.
Continue with the recipe as instructed
