Croissant Feedback Please
Just started my croissant journey! Tried hand laminating first and recently had the opportunity to work with a dough sheeter. This was a hybrid recipe (yeast + sourdough). I used bread flour (~12% protein) and 84% french butter. I did 3 letter folds for the lamination and the whole process took 3 days:
Day 1: mix dough and rest
Day 2: laminate, shape, and freeze
Day 3: proof and bake
Baked them at 180C in a conventional oven which took almost 30 mins. Would probably increase the temp and reduce baking time for my next attempt.
Happy with the taste but would like the crumb to be a bit more open and the crust thinner. No shine on my crust because I didn't use egg wash.
Sharing photos of my last bake. Any feedback and tips would be very much appreciated! Open to making changes in my ingredients and process.
Yummy!
πππ
The lamination is great and you should be quite proud of these. As for getting them a bit more puffy, you could try proofing a bit longer. Also, if you skip the egg wash, you might cover them for the first 10 min of the bake to keep the skin from hardening early in the bake (i do this when Iβm too lazy to egg wash). I bake at about the same temp, perhaps closer to 190, but not hot as one does for lean bread.
You're right, my crust probably formed too early which didn't allow for maximum spring. Won't skip the egg wash next time and will also try to push the proof further.
Just curious, do you apply steam during the bake and is it necessary at all for croissants?
Thank you for the feedback!
I donβt use steam per se. But i do cover them with foil to keep the skin moist when I donβt egg wash. They puff nicely and the skin is thin and crispy- but not as glossy as with egg wash. Here is an example of no-eggwash. Slightly burned and lamination not as good as yours, but nicely airy . And notch-yes
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If the crumb shot is in the exact middle, a question: was the edge notched before rolling up the dough? This gives more air space in the middle to expand and if stretched gives a longer croissant. Just a thought. I'll still take a dozen. :)
No the edges were not notched. Thanks for the tip! I will definitely try this next time!
all about cutting cute little croissants. For big ones just make evrything bigger... :)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dIaLAp9BRnM