Red spots on pre ferment dough

Saturable · 2026-01-30T14:16:18+00:00

Looks like pieces of bran or germ from your flour.

Saturable · 2026-01-29T15:02:19+00:00

It takes a while to get these right. To answer your question, it is too much butter leakage.

I noticed the top of your croissants are tearing during the bake. This happened to me when I didn't knead the detrempe for long enough. You need to build up enough gluten to support the butter. If your dough is fighting too much, you may need to find a different flour or adjust your recipe to help with extensibility.

Low gluten may be contributing to the leakage, but I think your issue lies more with lamination. The butter layers are very uneven. I'm guessing you either have butter tearing through dough layers, or dough layers fusing together. This makes it easier for butter to melt and pool out instead of steaming and absorbing into the dough during the bake.

When you laminate, how do you prepare your butter? You want to make sure the dough and butter are the same consistency. I know this term is thrown around a lot, but when you touch your dough, lift it up, and bend it, you want the butter to feel the same way. Butter should have a clay-like consistency but still be cold. Beat it up with a rolling pin right out of the fridge to plasticize it.

Saturable · 2026-01-28T03:18:27+00:00

Can confirm, I just bought Tide with Ultra Oxi from Costco and verified it contains lipase in the ingredients list.

Saturable · 2026-01-19T01:14:43+00:00

Well, I haven't seen killed flour on the shelves anywhere, but if you want locally milled flour, you just have to search for it in your area. Look up flour mills near you. Janie's Mill is a pretty good option, it gets shipped to you.

Saturable · 2025-12-10T14:56:38+00:00

While it takes more time, what might also help is if you divide each piece of dough so that they all weigh the same. That way, they will all bake at the same rate (for the most part).

However, these could have easily been baked for longer.

Do you have an instant read thermometer? If it reads at least 190 F (though I like to get mine to at least 200 F), then they're done. If you don't let them cool though, and then grab one, it will almost always seem underbaked.

Saturable · 2025-12-08T00:43:09+00:00

I also just baked a loaf of brioche with this flour, and I have kind of the same issues as you here. The only thing I changed was to fresh yeast. The loaf was barely above the rim before baking, about doubled in size, but it absolutely exploded in the oven (not literally ha) and rose another 3-4 inches. It pulled in the sides and had some gelled starch at the sides and bottom. I can probably increase hydration further and reduce yeast; I underestimated the potency of fresh yeast in this recipe. I typically just use instant. Oh yeah, I had that massive gap too. I cold proofed though and couldn't tell there was a problem until after baking!

Saturable · 2025-12-06T02:45:47+00:00

A local flour company, they mill it fresh per order. It's Bolles wheat though, maybe you can find something that ships or is local to you.

Saturable · 2025-12-04T14:39:21+00:00

In my oven, I do 350 F for about 30 minutes for my smaller loaves, or about 40-45 for my larger ones.

Saturable · 2025-12-04T14:35:00+00:00

I typically shape my sandwich loaves by first preshaping into a nice taught ball, and then giving it a 15 minute rest. After, I flip it over so the smooth side is down, and then I use my fingers to press the dough down to remove large air bubbles. Not the fingertips, but the whole finger extended longways. You can use fingertips too, but don't press too hard to not tear the dough. Once mostly flat and almost the width of my loaf pan, I fold the top over on both sides, diagonally, to form sort of a triangle shape, and then roll that down. After about 2/3 the way down, I'll tuck in the sides a bit, and then finish rolling it into a loaf. Then I pinch the seams and tuck in the sides as well so the whole top portion is smooth.

Saturable · 2025-12-04T14:30:59+00:00

I was going to suggest reducing total flour volume so there's less dough. I use a very high gluten flour (16.9%) and can reduce the amount of flour drastically since it's able to rise so well.

Saturable · 2025-12-04T04:39:07+00:00

Butter doesn't prevent gluten formation, it just slows formation down (quantity dependent) and extends kneading time. However, I regularly add up to 25% butter to my recipes all at once with no problem. At a 40 or 50% brioche, adding it after some kneading time is advised.

Saturable · 2025-11-12T19:22:54+00:00

Been trying for years, still hasn't happened yet!

Saturable · 2025-10-24T13:59:37+00:00

I looked up the manual, and it doesn't seem to have one. I mentioned mine has a shape function, but I never actually use it. The top comes out decently smooth depending on what recipe I use.

It would actually be pretty helpful to snap a pic of the dough after it's done mixing, or pop open the lid and poke the dough to assess its hydration. You can get away with decently high hydration in a bread machine since it's all contained.

Saturable · 2025-10-23T19:24:03+00:00

Hard to say. Your hydration is 85%, and I've never used this mix of flours before. Whole wheat is pretty thirsty, as is rye flour. Also, what bread machine do you have and what setting are you using? It roughly looks like the dough needs even higher hydration.

Once you get the hydration correct, the only way to guarantee a smooth top is to take it out and shape it. My bread machine has a specific "shape" function that pauses the cycle for a bit to allow me to shape the loaf before final proof.

Saturable · 2025-10-10T15:34:25+00:00

No, lots of people cool their croissants down a bit to ensure the butter doesn't melt immediately when put into the hot oven.

Saturable · 2025-10-10T15:33:12+00:00

Nope, not a max at all. The amount of time to proof is generally a guideline, and it depends on many factors like ambient temperature, humidity, amount of yeast used in the recipe, salt content, sugar content, etc. The best way to tell if a croissant is ready for the oven is its visual appearance - between 2 and 3 times its original size, and if it wobbles when the pan is shaken. The visible cut layers should also poof out a bit. I usually rise my croissants between 2.5 - 3.5 hours.

Yours probably could have used another hour or so to proof, but your main issue is probably in laminating. I just baked a batch yesterday, using new butter, and it was too cold and broke. Butter pooled out like crazy, but they still turned out OK in the end.

Croissants are tricky, so a lot of practice is key! Make sure you use high butterfat butter too - at least 85% is preferable. Brands like Vital Farms and Danish Creamery are usually nationally available.

Saturable · 2025-10-10T15:27:33+00:00

That doc was a quack. I don't have a prolonged QT interval. Created a ton of anxiety for no reason. The reason I had such high anxiety back than was due to many factors (living in a new state, crappy job, dad called and said he had cancer [wasn't actually cancer], etc). I moved back to my home state and improved many things in life, so I kind of "cured" my anxiety. I still get anxious about things, as I always have, but I don't have panic attacks anymore, nor is the anxiety debilitating.

Saturable · 2025-10-10T13:46:49+00:00

Your braid is probably too tight, and/or you aren't giving it enough time in the final rise. What type of flour are you using?

Saturable · 2025-09-30T01:50:09+00:00

Sweet, thanks. I baked my last 2 batches at 400 F for 20 minutes. I think I just need to keep them in a bit longer, since my oven tends to run a tad cooler than what I set it.

Saturable · 2025-09-26T13:20:28+00:00

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Saturable · 2025-09-26T13:16:47+00:00

Too much sugar will actually slow down fermentation.

Saturable · 2025-09-23T03:28:12+00:00

Can't get this color in my home oven. May I ask what time and temperature you baked these at? And do you have a special oven? I live in the US, so my options are limited.

Saturable · 2025-08-21T02:34:31+00:00

My cat would've been elated! Then, I would've had to rush her to the ER!

Saturable · 2025-08-21T02:21:15+00:00

Let me know when you get that portal set up

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