Boulangerist

A few things to have in mind when evaluating Croissant's quality: Colour, shape, rise can be judged from the outside appearance. For a better idea, sometimes the croissant has to be cut, this will show things like: Alveole size and distribution: Short mix will create bigger and irregular alveoles. An intensive mix will show smaller but regular alveoles. Honeycomb: There should be nice, large alveoles, and dough layers should be thin and separated NOTE: Always wait until the bread has cool down completely (no more moisture inside) before cutting it

Cinamon Loaf Cut the scraps into 2 cm pieces (better when cold) Toss in a bowl with cinammon sugar Place 100g of them into a small loaf mold

Dough should be relaxed and trimmed to 12" wide with 3 straight edges Mark and cut the dough to get 4x4" squares If less than 4" wide, save the last cut for 12" strips Shapes: Pocket: Fold the corners in leaving about 2cm gap in the centre Pinwheel: Cut diagonally from each corner, about 1/3 of the total diagonal distance. Fold the alternate corners to the centre and pinch to seal in place Vol-au-vent: Fold in half diagonally, cut 1cm strips parallel to the short sides up to about 2cm from the tip. Open and fold the strip corners to the corners of the inside square. Danish twist /snails/spiral: Twist and roll the 12" strips tightly and then roll loosely. Place the outside tip under the spiral. Should be proofed and baked in a separate tray

Relax the dough before cutting Pain au Chocolat Cut dough to 12" wide Trim one of the short ends so you end up with 3 straight sides Mark 3" marks lengthwise Cut across so you get 12x3" pieces Fold the pieces lengthwise and tap at the crease to find the centre, or measure 6". Cut to get 6x3" pieces Place 2 chocolate sticks a bit off-centre and fold one side of the dough over them Place the other 2 sticks on the extended part of the dough and fold that side over, taking care in not extending the dough over the side. Keep it close to the center (03:15) Turn the PAC upside down so the flap stays down Croissants Dough should be already trimmed to 12" wide, with 3 straight edges Place the roller so one of the triangles point is aligned with the dough corner Mark the dough with the roller (try not to cut it) Complete the lines to the unmarked side of the dough Cut the triangles Cumplete incomplete triangles if possible Cut an 1" mark in the middle of every ...

After the first fold, paton will be a bit raised because of the yeast. That is expected. Final width should be 13", widen the paton until it reaches 13", then turn and roll until is no more than 5mm thick, ideally 3mm to allow for vertical relaxing If the paton gets stretched over 13", relax it by eliminating tension between working surface and dough As the paton gets thinner, it may be caught in the rollers. To prevent this, hold the end of the paton as it goes through the rollers Let the paton relax before cutting, so the tension is relieved and the dough won't retract after cutting

Info: Easy to make pastry dough, similar to pie dough (flakey) but even flakier Ingredients: Ice Cold water Bread flour Pastry Flour Salt Cold butter (in chunks) Method: Dissolve the salt in the water Combine the two flours in the bowl Add cold butter (in 1" chunks) Combine butter with flour using hands until all butter is covered, making sure big chunks are reduced (20-30") Add salty water Mix with hands until there are no dry bits (should look "shaggy") Transfer to parchment Compress and spread the dough in a rectangular shape in the middle of the parchment, just large enough so the parchment can cover it when folded. If the dough is too large, use plastic wrap so there is no exposed dough Rest in the freezer for at least 30' so the dough gets more hydrated Once rested, transfer to table on parchment, cover with plastic wrap and roll until is the same length as the parchment Using the parchment as aid, give the first book fold Wrap in parchment and rest until ...

Make sure all exposed butter is covered with dough (may not be that necessary) For the first roll (widening), feed the dough in the same direction of the fold Once the paton is wide enough (squareish), turn it 90º and continue rolling until it is 4:1 (if book folded) Perform a book fold, stretching when needed to avoid gaps Let it rest 45' wrapped in the fridge before performing the next (and last) letter fold

Info: Method to combine beurrage and détrempe of rectangular shape, creating 5 layers (3D 2B) Ingredients: Method: Roll the détrempe evenly to the same width of the beurrage and about 1 third longer Keep the corners as square as possible Fold the naked détrempe flap over half of the beurrage, then fold the oposite side (détrempe + beurrage) over the previuosly folded flap, making sure all the layers are even and very close in size Notes: Beurrage needs to be firm but bendy Can be used for other pastries

Info:  Puff Pastry dough with tenderizer ingredients (egg, sugar, milk) Ingredients: Method: Straight Dough Mix water and milk, add crumbled yeast and eggs, whisk Add the dry ingredients Mix to Improved development (Danish has less folds so it allows for more initial Gluten development) Pre-shape as Boule, wrap and rest in Freezer for 1 hour Fold 1 Book - 1 Letter Notes: Because is a yeasted dough, the resting time between folds have to be kept to a minimum (45')

French Fold (single) English Fold (Letter, Tri-fold) The paton would be "divided" lenghtwise in 3 equal parts. One side will be fold over the central section, and the other side will be folded over the first fold. Book fold (four-fold, double) Both ends will be folded towards the middle of the paton until they meet, then the paton will be folded in half. Fold Calculator:  https://observablehq.com/@mourner/laminated-dough-calculator If the paton is getting too warm, place it in the freeze for a few minutes Lamination in Sheeter Classic Puff Pastry Initially, the paton should have a square shape, so it's not important in which direction is feeded into the sheeter. Don't use flour unless neede Stretch the paton to about 30 cm then turn 90º Stretch to about 45-50 cm and do a letter fold (brush off flour) Another stretch-fold can be done immediately (no more than two back to back). If so, turn the paton 90º before rolling (the paton may need to be rolled in the same direct...

The action of setting the beurrage inside the Détrempe (or the other way around) is called locking-in. When the Détrempe is a boule and the Beurrage is a square, the french method is used. Cut a cross on top of the détrempe boule, cut just half way through the boule height Push every quarter out trying to get a rounded square cross shape The square in the middle of the cross will be rolled until the beurrage can fit in Roll the détrempe but keep the rolling action in the square part Move, rotate and flip the détrempe frequently. Don't roll diagonally Keep checking the centre square size. It should grow a bit over the beurrage size Stretch out the flaps so they get square corners Roll the flaps until they are about half the size of the beurrage Place the beurrage on the centre of the détrempe, keep the parchment Fold the opposite flaps so they meet in the middle. Pinch and seal the joint Turn the Paton 90º and join the two remaining flaps. Pinch and seal. Make sure no butter gets ex...

Info: Détrempe: Initial Dough Beurrage: Butter (or butter-flour mix) flattened in square or rectangular fashion Classic PP: Détrempe into Boule, Beurrage 300g 7x7"  Détrempe envolves beurrage Preparing the Beurrage Fold the parchment paper to the correct size Open the parchment and place the butter in square chunks. Leave about 1cm from the folded edges Fold the parchment Using the rolling pin, roll the butter so it reaches the parchment folded edges and fill all gaps and holes Refrigerate until it reaches the correct consistency (hard but a bit bendable) Invert Mix flour and butter at low speed with paddle attachment Alternatively, beat the butter with the hook attachment (spd 3-4) until soft, then add the flour Notes: Water should be cold Mix should be Short After mixing, wrap and refrigerate: Freezer for one hour or fridge overnight Ideal working temperature should be <16ºC