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Can we talk about how much butter temperature actually matters for laminated dough?
Honestly I always thought people were just being dramatic about butter being at exactly 60 degrees for croissants. I watched a YouTube video from King Arthur Baking last week where they tested doughs with butter at different temps side by side. The one with butter too cold had tears everywhere and the one too warm just melted into the dough. I tried it myself the next morning with a batch of 12 croissants and it was night and day. The layers actually puffed up right and I got that honeycomb inside for the first time. Funny how one degree changes everything. Has anyone else found a trick that made their pastry game jump forward?
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leep3316d ago
Yeah I totally get what you mean. I had a really bad morning last weekend where I was trying to make croissants for a family brunch and my butter was straight out of the fridge. I thought it would be fine if I just worked fast but the dough started tearing after the first fold and I ended up with this greasy mess. It was so frustrating because I had been talking it up to my sister all week. Then the next time I actually let the butter sit out for about 20 minutes until it bent slightly without cracking and I even chilled my marble rolling pin. That batch came out perfect with those beautiful layers and I finally understood what everyone was going on about. It is crazy how something that small can make or break the whole thing.
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flores.emma16d ago
Did you chill your work surface too or just rely on the butter temp staying steady while you rolled?
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