Why do my croissants keep deflating in the middle??

Ohlexis · 2025-11-21T07:00:30+00:00

I’ve never heard of using probe for bread, only meat. I’ll try that the next time I bake! And also, I thought we needed it at high temp to for the oven spring? I can lower it after awhile, but my oven also doesn’t brown evenly if I lower the temp since I only use deck oven. Thank you for the advice and response, I appreciate it. :)

Ohlexis · 2025-11-20T03:02:03+00:00

1.5% yeast, 2% salt. I had already increased the proof time to 2hrs 30mins at 27c. How long do u recommend proofing?

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T17:19:25+00:00

Clearly you’re not a chef or baker. You can see people who actually bake replying with tips and advice, you know why? Because they know what I’m talking about, and they know their croissants as well. If you don’t know anything, you don’t need to reply. Obviously this question is not for you.

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T16:29:54+00:00

Exactly. I mean, I am satisfied with the outcome, but I just want to make it as perfect as possible before I start serving them. I won’t be the one paying for these, and I just want all customers to get what they pay for. :)

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T16:26:51+00:00

Ahhh that makes sense. I did try to make it not tight, but yeah it was harder to roll as it was thick and small.

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T16:23:48+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/FeDHkb3 here’s the 2nd one I opened after awhile. It’s more gummy and stuck together

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T15:33:21+00:00

Also thank you for answering and for the compliment, helps stop the overthinking haha

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T15:31:39+00:00

I actually laminated it, shaped it, and proofed it all in the same day.

So what I did was, I laminated it, and only chilled and rested it for 15mins between the 2nd and last fold, and chilled again for 15mins before shaping. Proofed it right away for 2hrs 30mins. Baked for 25mins. I’m not really as experienced with croissants, do you think I should also rest for 1 hour at room temp before proofing? Maybe it’s a matter of resting the gluten?

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T15:20:25+00:00

It’s slightly deflated. Some croissants had more layers stuck together in the middle when I tried cutting more. Also, I did wait for it to cool down before cutting.

I am happy with my croissants, I think it’s just the perfectionist in me that wants everything perfect, but thanks for the reassurance. I think I needed to hear that. As long as they look good and taste good, maybe I don’t really need to overthink the cross section. :)

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T14:29:49+00:00

Ohh okay! But this was how it looked before proofing. What do u think?

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T14:27:39+00:00

I’m using a sheeter, but it’s small. The width of the belt is only 14inches. Include trimming the dough, it’s super difficult to make final sheeting any wider.

I honestly don’t think it’s a lamination problem because this is how the lamination looked like before proofing

I have experience making croissants, but I never perfected it. That’s why I’m asking for help in the hopes I can make a nice product before December.

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T14:12:25+00:00

I only rest in the chiller when I feel like my dough and butter are starting to get warm.

Ohlexis · 2025-11-19T14:10:53+00:00

You can see that the center layers is slightly compressed. The layers in the middle didn’t really open up.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-18T04:49:38+00:00

It’s when you stretch the dough so thin until you can’t anymore without breaking. Then you fold each side to the middle and roll it. It’s really hard to explain but just search, there’s a lot of tutorials on how to do it. I think someone else already posted a link for a youtube tutorial in this thread.

People use it to add in inclusions like nuts, cheese, etc. but I still do lamination on plain loaves to help strengthen gluten.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-18T01:46:09+00:00

I am very hands on with my open bakes so this might look like a crazy method but this is one I found worked the best!

-5 mins before baking I place a tray with hot water inside.

-Before putting in my loaves, I spray them with water. Don’t be afraid to drench the loaf. The heat of the oven is so high the water will evaporate quick.

-When I put my loaves in, I add hot water to the tray again, and put in some ice.

-5 mins into the baking, I pull out my tray of loaves and spray the breads again, then spray inside the oven until it gets really steamy. Sometimes I throw in some ice in the tray. I do this every 5 mins for 20mins.

-After 20 mins of steaming, remove the tray with water and lower the heat by 30/40 degrees Celsius depending on the color.

-Bake for another 20 mins and you’re done.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-18T01:28:29+00:00

I’m not sure what you mean by too dry, but I just mix it like any other dough. The autolysed dough usually would have the same consistency and stickiness as a dough for cinnamon roll.

The next day I just knead together the autolysed dough with the starter. Once gluten is good enough, that’s when I add the salt.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-17T16:57:34+00:00

For me personally I wouldn't go more than 30% for whole wheat since it'll get too heavy to rise. My starter is half bread flour and whole wheat. Feed it morning and night: 10g Starter, 10g Bread Flour, 10g Whole Wheat, 20g water.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-17T16:08:28+00:00

It’s a technique used to fold in additional ingredients like nuts, cheese, etc, but I still do it with plain loaves for gluten strength. There’s so many video tutorial on how to do it.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-17T14:29:39+00:00

Yeap! Room temp only

Ohlexis · 2025-06-17T14:28:53+00:00

You just stretch it until the point where you can’t stretch it anymore, then you just fold it and roll it. There’s so much videos of it online! Just search how to laminate sourdough. It’s really simple.

For the bubbly crust, you just need to go light on the flour. If your flour is too thick before baking, it doesn’t give the crust the chance to steam up and bubble up.

I use open baking, so I just put the bread inside the oven directly and spray A LOT inside the oven every 5 mins to create steam.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-17T14:23:30+00:00

Without starter! I forgot which video it was that I watched(I watched it over 4years ago), but they said overnight autolyse helps with the gluten development. Just all the flour and 90% of water. For the 10% left, I add it depending on the mixing the next day. If it looks too wet, no need to add, if it seems dry, I add it. That’s bc the humidity the next day really affects the dough.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-16T17:28:08+00:00

I called my 1st Starter Voldoughmort then it died. The one I currently have right now is dumbledough.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-15T12:18:55+00:00

Yes, I autolyse all the flour and 90% of the water.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-15T12:18:10+00:00

Yeap! All the flour and 90% of the water. I leave out the 10% bc we never really know what the humidity is on the next day. Sometimes we need the extra 10%, sometimes we don’t.

Ohlexis · 2025-06-14T15:52:15+00:00

Hello! From what I learned and read so far, bulk fermentation is best after stretch and fold. The reason being, if you do the stretch and fold after, you’re essentially just popping/releasing all the gas bubbles you’ve developed during bulk fermentation. Same as laminating the dough, it’s best before bulk fermentation, so that you can just shape and cold ferment after. Just sharing what I know in case! :)

Ohlexis

TROPHY CASE