To begin with, here's a link to my blog:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45415/update-working-pictures
Pics of my earlier efforts from another thread:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/347305#comment-347305
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/347254#comment-347254
My problem (clearly...) is with achieving that trademark honeycomb interior. Lest you think I'm just after good looks, I also want this kind of crumb because there is a completely different bite to such a croissant. It tastes different. Anyone who has felt the difference between an excellent croissant and the bready kind I end up with can attest to this.
I feel that I've tried all kinds of things now. I have done all I possibly can to keep the dough and the butter pliable and cold without forcing things, etc. I chill the bench I work on, I chill the rolling pin, I rest the dough abundantly. I have tried 'walking' over the dough with the rolling pin before really rolling to make sure the butter is able to lengthen, etc. I rest the dough at all stages, including before final shaping.
No matter what I do, and even if some batches 'improve', I seem to be able to end up with the brioche you see in above threads. I do not understand this. Even months ago, I was able to count the layers in the dough after the third fold, but they seem to obliterate the second I bake the little bastards!
So, to summarize, cold / rest / recipe should really not be big problems. All ideas are welcome. I'm starting to think I have a extraordinarily melty butter on hand...
my best success with laminating croissants is when i make my own butter from heavy cream. it's super pliable. (i use the whey in the dough too)
i also tend to favor a more kneaded dough structure, though i've gotten into trouble before with dough that i can barely roll out by hand (i don't have space at home for an industrial sheeter unfortunately)
I haven't tried that, but I think I will, just on the off chance that it might be what's causing my failures.
As for kneading, I can't say that I've noticed too much of a difference other than the resting times. That said, I have only kneaded for 7-8 mins at most - i.e. pretty far from a window pane. I could off course try and knead the dough to a point where I know it is well developed, and see where that takes me. I'll try anything at this stage.
The thing I don't get is why I'm getting excellent layering on the outside so often, but none of it in the interior.
If you haven't already paid attention to her detail on this:
1. Mix everything but the rolling butter, knead until gluten starts to form. In my KA mixer, 3min at first speed, 3 min at 3rd speed. The dough is not very smooth, but not sticky. Pat flat and put in fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
NOTE5, some recipes ask for a thorough kneaded dough, some ask for no kneading at all. I think the objective is to have a strong dough with well developed gluten structure AT THE END. All the rolling, folding, even relaxing in the fridge would strengthen gluten, so it's not a good idea to knead the dough too well in the beginning. It will make rolling near impossible (if you don't have a sheeter).
I have tried several schedules when it comes to the first fermentation (2,4,6,8 hours in fridge), and several different degrees of kneading. I usually do 5-6 minutes of mixing + kneading; that is, the initial mixing and kneading take something like 6 minutes alltogether. It corresonds pretty well to txfarmers description of "not smooth but not sticky". I've also tried not developing the dough at all, aswell as kneading it a bit more than this. So far I lean in favor of more kneaded...
Link to pic of my last batch, which got around 4-5 mins of kneading. I followed Hamelman's recipe at finecooking.com, with the exception that I left the dough to rest at least 1 hour between each fold:
https://goo.gl/photos/7rCsgdh9NKR7m5aU6
Limp shape and quite bready. Good taste with a crispy outside, but all in all not what I'm looking for.
I've come to the conclusions that I'll never really understand what I'm doing wrong if I don't have the chance to make direct comparisons between doughs that've been treated differently. I think I need to be able to compare the results, side to side, and go from there. For that reason I've decided that everytime I make the dough I will divide it into two equal portions (butter likewise) and try out different things with each.
I hope this will get me closer to the result I'm looking for. I can also be little less careful if I have two "chances" not to mess up instead of wasting so much butter and dough (and time spent) in one take.
I'm having troubles embedding the pics directly into my posts, so here's a Google Photos link to the results of the last bake:
https://goo.gl/photos/9Fwvv3UCW8P8btoB6
Spoiler: they suck royally! I'm not very upset about it (however, the first 20 times I was), just on the verge of going against all conventional advice that I've heeded so far.
I did as I said I would do and split the batch, which worked fine save a few headaches calculating dimensions etc. All in all, there was not significant difference between a dough that had been kneaded just to incorporation (~3 mins) and one that got ~7 minutes of additional kneading.
I would've been pretty down if it wasn't for the fact that I've stumbled upon what I hope is the single most important factor in my failing quest: my use of weak flour. Weak meaning 8,5% protein flour. Seriously, there was barely any difference at all when it came to rolling and folding between these two doughs and that says something, I think.
I won't bother using this flour again for croissants. Strangely, it's been okay for regular breads (it IS a quality flour, despite protein %) but I think it might be a big part of my failing. Further tests will tell.