February 6, 2017 - 8:28am
Tearing croissants
Hi everybody
For a while I have been making croissants and I always encounter the same problem. They tear when I bake them and I don't know why.
I make sure not to roll them tight.
I proof them for aproximately 2 hours at 24-26 degrees which is perfect according to the recipe.
I have tried baking them at various degrees 180, 220 etc.
The result is always the same....they tear.
Can anyone help please?
best, Kristoffer
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What is your steaming method?
Thank you for your reply.
None. I don't steam when I do croissant and pastries. Only when I bake Sourdoughs.
Best,
Kristoffer
I was probably too specific, are you using a wash on the surface before baking? (egg? milk?) This partially has the same effect as steaming WRT allowing the outside to stretch before setting to prevent bursting.
Judging by the pictures, you either have an extensibility issue (different flour from the formula) or a yeast activity issue (first inkling is towards under-proofed).
...then seeing if the problem is duplicated? Alternatively, post the recipe you're using here. Sometimes typos mean, for example, too much yeast is used (a distinct possibility looking at your photo). And I'd echo everything else totels says. It could be any one of those issues but without more info it's impossible to say which.
I egg wash twice and follow the recipe in detail. I use cake flour - should I perhaps try a stronger bread flour?
Yesterday I proofed them for 4 hours - it still happened. How long do you proof yours?
Traditionally croissants are made with french T55 flour, judging by your access to "cake flour" you are in the USA, your best bet to get a closer approximation would be to mix 50:50 all-purpose flour and white strong bread flour. The cornstarch in your cake flour is not helping, and as mentioned before, you do want quite a bit more protein, cake flour is nearly the lowest protein possible.
Hi guys
I will definitely follow your advice. Will let you know how it goes.
I am in South Africa BTW :)
best, Kristoffer
cake flour is the ZA equivalent of US AP flour; perhaps slightly weaker. So, it's nowhere nearly so weak as a US cake flour but is still not strong enough for the croissants. Best to switch to bread flour, as others have noted. If the croissants come out too tough, then experiment with a blend of cake flour and bread flour until you hit on the right proportions.
i don't recall whether Victoria Meulens has a white bread flour. If they do, I'd choose that over Sasko or Snowflake brands.
Paul
I've been making croissants with Kamut (khorasan) flour. This is a lower gluten flour and one that isn't ordinarily used for croissants. What I'm finding is that it's important to not over proof or proof too long the croissants during their final rise. Where a lot of recipes say you let the dough rise until it jiggles, the lower gluten of Kamut doesn't allow for that. Instead I let rise to about half of what I would think I'd want before going into the oven. The oven spring is still fantastic, but the dough doesn't crack/tear in the baking process.
Of course if you have access to a higher protein/gluten flour that will, like other's said, make a great deal of difference.
Once again....thank you all for the good advice. I will now test at revert when I have any news.
Cheers,
Kristoffer
I found the recipe and detailed instructions on the Weekend Bakery website to work very well. They have both classic and 1-day croissant recipes. The photo is what their recipe produced the very first time I made laminated dough, very first time I made croissants. Their recipe and instructions are very good.
https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/classic-french-croissant-recipe/
Hello Kristoffer, have you manage this problem? Some time I've the same and I really can't find any connections between tearing and recipe or method.