pls tell me what i did incorrectly! they look like croissant loaves. 😠how do i avoid butter shattering?
by franchtoast666
17 Comments
win_awards
Doesn’t look bad for a first try really.
First two things that leap out at me is that you probably have too much flour during shaping and the lamination isn’t there.
You mention the butter “shattering.” I’m not certain what you mean, but it sounds like your butter may have been too cold. I know, infuriating, right? Everyone tells you the butter needs to stay cold, what do you mean too cold? Well, the goal is that the butter will be about the same consistency as the dough. If it’s too hot, it will melt into the dough. If it’s too cold, it will crack and break and punch holes in the dough when you try to roll it out. This is something I’m still learning myself, but according to one source I read 60 degrees F is the ideal temp for the butter and that’s worked pretty well for me so far.
I make sure the butter is at 60 degrees before wrapping it in the dough (which needs to be colder than that) and roll it out and fold it once before putting it in the freezer for twenty minutes and repeating.
You do need flour during the rolling, but you want to use _just_ enough to keep the dough from sticking to the counter and then when you go to do your book folds or the final rolling use a pastry brush to dust off as much flour as you can.
I’ve also been spritzing the triangles with water before rolling the croissants up to help ensure the layers of the spiral stick to each other.
chomponcio
Where they tasty anyways?
Good-Ad-5320
Butter shattering (in French we say that the butter « marbled ») is due to a too cold butter. Happened to me recently with an inverted puff pastry. Butter needs to be around 14-15ºC, and it should be the same consistency as the dough. Using lamination butter is very useful for leavened puff pastry, but it can be hard to find depending on where you live. Regular butter will melt during proofing (if not proofing at room temp), ruining the layers. Lamination butter melt at 32-34ºC, allowing you to proof the croissants at 26-28ºC
FarPomegranate7437
The dough looks kind of rough. Are you sure it was kneaded enough before you started the lamination process? I haven’t made croissants, but I have made lots of bread and a dough like that looks like the gluten wasn’t formed enough.
Inevitable_Cat_7878
That dough doesn’t look right. Either there’s too much flour or it wasn’t kneaded enough. I strongly suggest weighing flour next time you try this. That made a huge difference in my baking.
Spiderpaws_67
Ooooo they look so yummy. 😋
Carnusty
Most important question – how’d they taste?
As a baker scared of croissants, proud of you by proxy for trying it out! only going to be better from here i wager.
Perfect-Assistant545
Y’all my first attempt at croissants went amazingly as a novice baker, and despite all the work I was really proud of them, and now I’m honestly scared of trying again. I didn’t know just how many ways there were to mess them up.
MattieShoes
Perfect first attempt — plenty of room for improvement, but looks very eatable 😀
pottedPlant_64
Try kerry gold or a higher fat butter. It’s more pliable.
Ready-Letterhead1880
A handy tip to know if your butter slab is ready is if it’s bendy without breaking. You can watch Claire Saffitz’s tutorial. I watched this one from Food52 yesterday. She’s making puff pastry here, but the lamination tips are the same. For me, getting the visual is really helpful for my understanding.
17 Comments
Doesn’t look bad for a first try really.
First two things that leap out at me is that you probably have too much flour during shaping and the lamination isn’t there.
You mention the butter “shattering.” I’m not certain what you mean, but it sounds like your butter may have been too cold. I know, infuriating, right? Everyone tells you the butter needs to stay cold, what do you mean too cold? Well, the goal is that the butter will be about the same consistency as the dough. If it’s too hot, it will melt into the dough. If it’s too cold, it will crack and break and punch holes in the dough when you try to roll it out. This is something I’m still learning myself, but according to one source I read 60 degrees F is the ideal temp for the butter and that’s worked pretty well for me so far.
I make sure the butter is at 60 degrees before wrapping it in the dough (which needs to be colder than that) and roll it out and fold it once before putting it in the freezer for twenty minutes and repeating.
You do need flour during the rolling, but you want to use _just_ enough to keep the dough from sticking to the counter and then when you go to do your book folds or the final rolling use a pastry brush to dust off as much flour as you can.
I’ve also been spritzing the triangles with water before rolling the croissants up to help ensure the layers of the spiral stick to each other.
Where they tasty anyways?
Butter shattering (in French we say that the butter « marbled ») is due to a too cold butter. Happened to me recently with an inverted puff pastry. Butter needs to be around 14-15ºC, and it should be the same consistency as the dough. Using lamination butter is very useful for leavened puff pastry, but it can be hard to find depending on where you live. Regular butter will melt during proofing (if not proofing at room temp), ruining the layers. Lamination butter melt at 32-34ºC, allowing you to proof the croissants at 26-28ºC
The dough looks kind of rough. Are you sure it was kneaded enough before you started the lamination process? I haven’t made croissants, but I have made lots of bread and a dough like that looks like the gluten wasn’t formed enough.
That dough doesn’t look right. Either there’s too much flour or it wasn’t kneaded enough. I strongly suggest weighing flour next time you try this. That made a huge difference in my baking.
Ooooo they look so yummy. 😋
Most important question – how’d they taste?
As a baker scared of croissants, proud of you by proxy for trying it out! only going to be better from here i wager.
Y’all my first attempt at croissants went amazingly as a novice baker, and despite all the work I was really proud of them, and now I’m honestly scared of trying again. I didn’t know just how many ways there were to mess them up.
Perfect first attempt — plenty of room for improvement, but looks very eatable 😀
Try kerry gold or a higher fat butter. It’s more pliable.
A handy tip to know if your butter slab is ready is if it’s bendy without breaking. You can watch Claire Saffitz’s tutorial. I watched this one from Food52 yesterday. She’s making puff pastry here, but the lamination tips are the same. For me, getting the visual is really helpful for my understanding.
[https://youtu.be/zvEQyPj968A?si=HPtQx6MCRm38xGTo](https://youtu.be/zvEQyPj968A?si=HPtQx6MCRm38xGTo)
Oooooh looks so good though. I love a really good crescent roll.
Maybe not the best looking, but I’d still smash any day of the week! Lightly toasted with some jam and I’m sure it’s amazing
Take your time. Seriously. Go for it!!
Important first effort! It’s technique and craft time and temperature.
they look so delicious!!
Maybe you should make them smaller for now and work up to really big croissants
Temperature control is the most important thing