Croissant trial #1: New flour, increased PFF%, double book folds, new work flow

There is no word that can describe how happy I am about this batch!

The formula of this batch I derived from Wayne Gisslen's Professional Baking 7th Edition, so I can't tell you the exact formula, except for tweaks that I did:

1. I used this new fancy flour that resembles French's high protein T45 flour, at least on paper (the price is more than twice my usual flour. Worth it!)

2. Instead of the popular three single folds, or one single fold + one book fold that is widely used in France, I found my preference to be two book folds

3. I used 100% hydration, 26,67% PFF overnight levain to increase extensibility. The current state of my bran starter is 9:4:2 bran:water:sugar. I used 0.625% starter (baker's percentage). 

4. Instead of resting for hours, after a lamination is done, I froze the dough for 20 minutes, then worked the dough, another 20 minutes rest, and so on. The goal was to laminate without giving the dough a chance to expand while keeping the butter pliable, avoiding butter from breaking

During the final roll, if I can't finish it in one go (which I won't), I rest my dough in freezer for 20 minutes, another rolls and freezer rests, until I get 0.3 mm thickness. I shaped the croissants, froze them, and use them whenever I see fit.

5. I did a sort of steaming, with my usual setup for crusty bread. The oven temperature was 180 °C lower, 270°C upper, for 30 minutes. I baked them directly on stone

6. I reduce yeast to half a teaspoon for every 500 gram flour

7. Instead of folding the dough, I cut the lengthened dough into three (for single fold) or four (for book fold), then stack them together. This helps relax the dough for the next rolling.

8. I didn't use egg wash. Instead, I glazed them with pandan infused thick simple syrup coming out of the oven (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)

9. I proofed them until they got reeeaaally jiggly

Verdict

I'm so happy with the result. Yesterday I felt inspired by Michael's post about making true sourdough croissants, the next trial will be about true sourdough croissants, with even higher PFF%.

Regards,

Jay