June 26, 2019 - 4:19am
Rough surface on croissant dough
Hi everybody!
Im Ivan am not a pro baker and searching for desperate help.
I tried making croissant for several time and every time gave different issue.
I have been trying with different recipe and I always have this rough surface issue. Do anyone know how come this issue keep appear? I have rest the dough for 1hour each time I do a turn. Total 3 turn.
I have been try cover the dough with cling wrap, baking paper and also cloth.
I really need some help here. :(
Share
How do your croissants turn out at the very end, when they are baked? It might be that the "rough dough" problem you are having is insignificant if the croissants turn out well in the end. Do you find that your croissants are deficient in any way after they are baked?
Hi James, thank you for the reply!
The croissant turn out to be very heavy, look dense and the crust is flaky. Is bit weird i know.
7C9B177F-B1E6-4938-BCEF-C93CD36E58DE.JPG
409627A3-9835-4773-BC25-534CAF842660.JPG
The look is very dense but when eat, the texture is soft.
Do you think before baking the rough surface could be overwork or when chilled procedure i did wrong?
Appreciate alot!
I've been using the Tartine recipe for croissants and it calls for yeast to be added two separate times. I wondered why this was so and excluded the second addition once to see what would happen. The croissant turned out to be slightly heavier and denser. Could that be what is causing the heaviness you are experiencing? Could it be that the dough is being overworked? Are you following the recipe very closely or deviating in some way? I'm sorry I can't be of more help.
Hi jameseng,
I have been using Dominique recipe from masterclass. I would agree with you that my dough could be over work. I have done another round the surface turns out better after give it a longer rest.
I do follow the recipe very closely this round, but the result is still quite bready. Really not sure why now. Im looking into another recipe now.
You have to know your butter. If you are using a high quality European butter, and you don't melt it that much by working it into shape, you might not need the whole hour.
And that's what I'm seeing here. You have what looks to be pieces of butter in the dough that are too chilled to roll out with the rest of the dough and soft butter. When you initially role your butter square into the dough, make sure its pliable. Then only rest in the fridge long enough to make it firm, yet pliable again. It takes mine maybe 40-45 minutes using Plugra butter in a 75 degree house.
But I think Your problem also may be in the level of proof. It looks like your croissants are a little proofy when you roll them. I'm seeing a 3 step croissant? That's not enough to get the crispy texture and spiderweb crumb you're looking for. Use the recipe and method detailed in TX Farmer's sourdough croissant post.
Hi bakersroom,
Yeah i agree with you that i overwork the dough hence the butter is start to oozing out from the dough.
May i know more about what you mean by level of proofing? and yes before i roll or shape my dough it is a little proofy.
Yes, im doing a 3 fold croissant. Did you tried the TX Farmer's sourdough croissant recipe? I will definitely try that recipe next!
The dough has fermented too much before you are trying to roll it out. Either eliminate or reduce fermentation time.
Some ideas and questions for you...
Is this rolling by hand and not a sheeter?
What is the temperature where you're working/rolling dough? How cold is your fridge? Keeping croissant dough cold and pliable is the number 1 goal to create a good baked croissant.
Are you adding a lot of bench flour during your rolling?
Just wondering if maybe your dough is getting too cold in between turns and then the butter becomes brittle and breaks in between the layers of dough. Combined with a little too much bench flour, and it might explain your leopard spots. It's kind of hard to tell from this image. Maybe next time you make them, make a photo from further away.
Hi julie99nl,
I use sheeter for my croissant. I think the dough is not very cold. I will take note on the dough must be cold and pliable steps!
Yes that rough i did add alot of flour when im rolling it. Thanks for the tips!
Ivankcy,
I thought you were probably using a sheeter. I think if you use an absolute minimum of bench flour when sheeting and cutting, you'll probably make some good progress. Also, if you're in a warm kitchen maybe try to use the sheeter early in the morning before a lot of ovens are too hot? If that's possible.
When I'm sheeting croissants, I also sometimes only chill for 20 minutes and then just get the dough through the sheeter fast with just an extremely light dusting of flour.
good luck with your next try!
The last time I made croissants at home, I brought some frozen ones from the bakery home to compare the sheeted dough to hand rolled dough.