• Reply by KAF_Frank on October 19, 2011 at 9:31 pm
• 

Hi Jackie,
I am sorry to hear of your difficulty. It sounds like you have tried most of the possible solutions.

Let's start with the flour. French flours are going to be much softer than their Canadian cousins. Blending only for a protein number will not necessarily mimic the characteristics of a French flour. For croissant production, look for an All-Purpose flour, something around 11%. If you must blend a strong Canadian All-Purpose with Pastry aim a little lower, say 10.3% to 10.5%. Also keep in mind that Canadian and US flours are going to take up more water, due to their higher protein levels, even with a blend. You may need to increase the hydration of your class receipt to achieve a similarly consistent dough.

In my experience, an unstable croissant is quite often related to dough handling, usually the turns are being done too quickly without enough resting time between folds. (All of this assumes a properly hydrated and developed dough.) This tends to shred the inner dough layers of the lamination in the succeeding folds, but you'll never see this on the outside. Make sure that the detremp is completely relaxed before you begin folding in the butter block. Likewise the dough and butter block must be of the relatively same consistency. That is to say, both must be supple and plastic.

I think you might make better progress if you focused solely on technique. I suggest you put aside all of your recent correction attempts and return to the original tested recipe and method from class, paying especial attention to the consistency of the dough during initial mixing and fermentation. If you have access, I suggest taking a look at Special and Decorative Breads, vol 2, chp 4, by Couet and Kayser.

Hope this helps get you back on track with your project. Frank @ KAF.

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• Reply by jackiellis on October 20, 2011 at 6:24 pm
• 

Thanks so much Frank!

I'm, on attempt #9 and I'll see how this works. I think you're right, I should go back to the original recipe and try to get the moisture of the dough just right and be much more careful with the turns. I'm used to having a dough sheeter and it gets to be tough work in the end with rolling out the dough.

On the positive side, now I know a whole bunch of things NOT to do with croissants:)

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• Reply by stephsugar on November 19, 2011 at 1:57 pm
• 

I have had this problem a lot and I agree with frank that the best way to overcome it is to reduce your variables and stick with the same recipe until you've mastered it.

Here are some tricks that seem to help me.
1. I make the dough and prepare the butter block the day prior and let both rest in the refrigerator. I make my dough pretty underdeveloped. It is pretty shaggy.
2. The following morning I make my turns, I pull the butter block out of the fridge and wait for it to be soft and pliable. It's important that the butter block and the dough are at the same temp.
3. When everything is ready, fold the butter block in and do one single turn.
4. Let rest for approx 30 minutes, then do the second turn. The second turn is the most important turn so proceed with caution to ensure the butter does not break.
5. Let rest for approx 30 minutes, then do the third turn.
6. Let rest for 2 hours, then form.
7. I proof formed croissants overnight in the refrigerator. I let them warm up before putting them in the oven. I spray them with water while they are warming up so they don't form a skin.

I still get a little tearing from time to time. But slowly, through repetition, I think I'm making a lot of progress. I think it will take me a full year to master croissant production, so as long as I'm making progress, I'm happy.

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