Making croissants with different flour combinations, same protein percentage

[Dm baking]

I am experimenting making croissants by combining flours with different protein contents. I would develop the combinations so that each combination will end up having the same protein percentage.

I'm using a pastry flour with 9% protein an all-purpose with 11.7% protein and a bread flour with 12.7% protein. I can mix the low protein and the high protein flour together or I could use the all-purpose which has the middle protein content. Or I can use varying percentages of all three.

Even if I adjust the flour proportions so each combo has the same protein content, I'd like to know how the results would vary in terms of rise, cleanness of lamination, flavor and balance of extensibility and elasticity. I can run tests myself. And I probably will do some. But it is a lengthy and expensive process so before undertaking this process would be interested in thoughts from this community and whether anyone has run a similar experiment

 

[retired baker]

To me it makes little difference because I adjust the technique to get the end result I want. Theres a limit to how far you can process or roll the dough, after that point it starts ripping or will not produce flake, it cannot stretch any more.
A weaker flour makes a supple dough and can tolerate more mixing,
A strong flour will reach the limit of elasticity very quickly.

1. Layers don't guarantee flakiness,
2.you can end up with perfect honeycomb and zero flake,
3 . and lots of visible layering but still no flakiness.
These are all a result of over processing, over mixing and over rolling/folding.

I found optimum result by using hi gluten flour from general mills, don't mix it as far as a smooth dough, just bring it together, no more than a minute on 1st speed. The folding will develop the gluten easily and leave enough elasticity to allow it to flake in the oven.
A 3 fold and a 4 fold gives me ideal results.
Don't obsess whether theres butter on the tray, the client isn't eating the tray.
If you do everything to prevent butter on the tray it will not flake.

Photo is typical result of paying too much attention to the wrong thing, nice honeycomb but no flake at all, its completely over processed, you can squeeze it down into a golf ball and not a flake with come off, its from walmart, made to text book standards. Soft and spongey, heating in a toaster oven doesn't help it in the least. Probably 4 folds to ensure no butter leaks out.

I'll post more later, theres something far more important than flour or butter.

 

[Dm baking]

That's all great advice. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos from home baking hobbyist to professional chefs and they all mix their dough for at least five or 6 minutes until they achieve a window pane. I thought this was strange because you are going to continue to fold the dough and mixing it too much will reduce the elasticity. However, I never tried mixing the dough less because it seemed nearly universal that the window pane was needed. But I'm now inclined to test out mixing the dough just for a minute or two versus five to seven. I'm sure that will help prove elasticity. It was near impossible to roll out a batch I did with 100% King Arthur bread flour.

While protein content may be the same, I would have expected some differences in tenderness and potentially flavor. Pastry flours are usually soft wheats whereas bread flours are hard wheats. All-purpose is usually hard wheat that has a lower protein content than the wheats used in the bread flour. You wouldn't expect much of a difference with two croissants with the same protein content but one is a mix of hard and soft wheat and the other is 100% hard wheat?

 

[retired baker]

That's all great advice. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos from home baking hobbyist to professional chefs and they all mix their dough for at least five or 6 minutes until they achieve a window pane. I thought this was strange because you are going to continue to fold the dough and mixing it too much will reduce the elasticity. However, I never tried mixing the dough less because it seemed nearly universal that the window pane was needed. But I'm now inclined to test out mixing the dough just for a minute or two versus five to seven. I'm sure that will help prove elasticity. It was near impossible to roll out a batch I did with 100% King Arthur bread flour.

While protein content may be the same, I would have expected some differences in tenderness and potentially flavor. Pastry flours are usually soft wheats whereas bread flours are hard wheats. All-purpose is usually hard wheat that has a lower protein content than the wheats used in the bread flour. You wouldn't expect much of a difference with two croissants with the same protein content but one is a mix of hard and soft wheat and the other is 100% hard wheat?

I think you'd need to do long term testing to eliminate small variances that occur with the same recipe. 1 month one way, than 1 month using a different flour.
I made them since the 1960's and over the years I tried slight variations, hi gluten always came out best. I think king arthur Lancelot is a high gluten, the next grade down is not strong enough. I got complaints when I tried bread flour.

King arthur high gluten flour is 14% , I could work with that.

Robot or human?

General Mills "All Trumps" is 14.2%, thats what I use.

Bulk All Trumps High Gluten Flour (50 LB) - Wholesale Pricing

General Mills All Trumps high gluten flour is perfect for baking bread and pizza. Available in 50 lb bulk for wholesale.

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window pane is good for baguettes, brioche and baba, if you ever tried laminating brioche dough, its futile even with a sheeter.

 

[retired baker]

So the crucial thing is the yeast, fresh cake yeast is the way to go, I can only get dry yeast and I've only made crois one time since retiring, its futile,
if I can get my hands on cake yeast I'd start selling them from a bake stand.

Dry yeast is good for some things, danish yes but not crois.
Next time I'm down in Boston I'll grab some, but thats 450 miles away.
I'll try again with dry yeast in a few days, I have a new convection oven but I doubt it will help, the dough needs that explosive oven spring .

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I am experimenting making croissants by combining flours with different protein contents. I would develop the combinations so that each combination will end up having the same protein percentage.

I'm using a pastry flour with 9% protein an all-purpose with 11.7% protein and a bread flour with 12.7% protein. I can mix the low protein and the high protein flour together or I could use the all-purpose which has the middle protein content. Or I can use varying percentages of all three.

Even if I adjust the flour proportions so each combo has the same protein content, I'd like to know how the results would vary in terms of rise, cleanness of lamination, flavor and balance of extensibility and elasticity. I can run tests myself. And I probably will do some. But it is a lengthy and expensive process so before undertaking this process would be interested in thoughts from this community and whether anyone has run a similar experiment

High protein flour is unsuitable for croissants. Article linked below is for professional production, but it addresses flour protein and blending.

Quintessential Croissants - Bakers Journal

Many bakers shy away from making their own laminated products because they feel that it takes too long to make and it’s too expensive, or, when they

www.bakersjournal.com