Croissant lamination fail... Help!

[SandyCat]

Hey CHers, I did a search on Google and a search on Chowhound but wasn't really able to find any info, so sorry if this is a duplicate question.

Is there any way to save laminated croissant dough if one of the layers is too thin and the butter bursts out? By this I do not mean that it seeps out of one of the seams, but rather that it actually just comes through the flat surface of the dough.

It made me very sad. I basically unfolded my dough, flipped it, and re-folded it with the butter side in... Yes, it seems silly, but I couldn't bear the thought of just tossing out the dough I had been working on for 1.5 days already. I'll bake it and let you guys know the results... I'm not super hopeful.

Anyway, any thoughts?

[Adagio]

Also remember: the butter must be cold, cold, cold but as pliable as the dough!

Before you incorporate your butter block, while it is still in the parchment, beat it with the rolling pin to render it pliable, THEN place it in your dough!

Ralph

[Joebob]

Ralph,
You say "...all ingredients need to be kept cold." Should I infer then that, were one to live in a place such as Hawaii, the wisest option would be to not bother attempting to make them at all?
Just Wondering,
JoeBob

[chowser]

It's all done in stages so you could do it in a hot climate. Just roll, fold and quickly refrigerate. If you feel the dough getting warmer, pop it back in and then continue working with it.

[dave_c]

You are fine. You'll have 998 layers instead of 1,000. lol
Just do another turn.

[SandyCat]

Soooooooooo we baked the croissants and they ended up looking pretty nice, lots of layers, etc. But not sure if we just didn't bring the dough up to room temp before baking or what, because the interior was kinda doughy. So partial success; I think that folding the reverse way did save it a bit, but it's hard to make any sort of conclusion with so many different variables.

Breaking news (aka instant message from my bf): we apparently were making the croissants too big, which is why they were doughy.

SO if you want to save your croissant dough and the butter has only broken through one part of the dough, fold that part in when you make the envelope/turn. Hooray! It's hack-y, but it works ok.

Time to practice more!

[magiesmom]

in the US we are used to seeing very big croissants, but I like them much better smaller for ratio of crust to inside.

[SandyCat]

We were cutting according to the Tartine bakery measurements (pastry cookbook). We had tried the general Tartine cookbook and they turned out a bit better at a similarly large size. There are subtle differences between the two recipes because each book was actually written by different folks. Now we know that for the pastry cookbook, we may have to just cut them smaller.

But I do agree that we're used to seeing giant everything here in the US, haha!

[chowser]

If I'm reading your problem correctly, I would have folded it one more time, with the thin leaking layer on the inside. Had you already rolled it into a croissant shape or is it still a rectangle? I think your solution, either way, is a good one--folding the thin layer in the middle.

[SandyCat]

Technically this dough is still in a rectangle after its 3rd turn - the final one for this recipe. We're proofing, cutting, and baking tonight. Hopefully it turns out well; I'll let you know if our hacky solution worked!

Thanks for the feedback!

[SandyCat]

Bump!

Anyone?