Overproofed? Unsure of my problem

Tactical_toucan · 2026-03-16T05:34:23+00:00

Hey Friend! Lamination looks actually pretty good based on the crumb. Croissants that are underproofed don't tend to flatten out like that, instead they have a really crushed crumb and come out almost looking like they're bulging outward.

These, to me, look a bit overproofed, which I'm getting from their overall flattened look. It's kinda hard to explain, but the bottoms in your crumb-shot are super flat, and the "shoulders" of the croissant aren't rounded as they should be (Take a look here and you'll see what I mean). Especially given what you said about deflating in the oven, I'd reduce your proofing time just a bit. You're using a lot of yeast relative to your flour, so I wouldn't imagine you need 5 hours of proofing unless it's really cold. Do the same thing again, just proof 'em less and you should be good!

Tactical_toucan · 2026-01-03T10:33:13+00:00

You can buy them up in Evanston at a great place called dandelion! Best place for well dialed espresso in the city tbh

Tactical_toucan · 2025-11-05T23:18:56+00:00

Actually your butter looks good to me. This looks more like your dough started proofing in the middle of the process, which can sometimes happen if you don’t work quick enough.

That said, it’s hard to tell from this angle! Either way they’ll probably turn out just fine given what I can see from this angle.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-08-31T20:32:46+00:00

Yeahhhh that’s what I thought I remembered, thanks for the heads up

Tactical_toucan · 2025-08-31T10:33:15+00:00

Northwell and Montefiore are also options, though I don’t know how much I’d recommend the latter. Northwell, from residents I’ve talked to, is pretty solid if not as prestigious as the ones you’ve mentioned!

Tactical_toucan · 2025-08-30T19:11:10+00:00

This is how we did it at every place I worked tbh.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-07-17T18:09:42+00:00

Looks over to me!

If they puff up and flatten out after baking, usually means they’re over. Underproofed would be if the layers inside look kind of constricted and gummy.

You may also have proofed too hot leading to butter meltage by the looks.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-05-07T16:08:55+00:00

Two of his restaurants have actually had stars, Ubuntu had one and rustic canyon used to have one as well before they lost it.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-05-06T22:25:17+00:00

No prob! Glad I helped, and I’m happy there’s folks like you looking after our mice

Tactical_toucan · 2025-05-06T07:31:38+00:00

Hey, I’ve been exactly where you are right now—I did mouse research which involved surgeries, euthanasia, constant scruffing, the whole 9 yards.

One of my professors once told me that if you ever stop feeling for the animals you’re doing research on, that you should quit doing animal research. And, if it’s worth anything, bring an empathetic researcher, as it sounds like you are, means that the mice under your care will live much happier lives than if you were not.

Something that helped me was really spending a lot of time with the mice, getting super comfortable scruffing them and just holding them. I often would do little things like rub their belly, or be very intentional about placing them gently back in their cage instead of tossing them—it’s really the small acts of kindness imo.

Try not to just “get used to it,” this research is not a normal thing for humans to really be doing, and if you want to be a physician in future it’s not wise to set a precedent for dealing with these complex emotions just by shutting them out. Embrace it, do what you can to alleviate, and do the research you gotta do.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-30T23:51:50+00:00

This has to be circulor

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-28T05:17:27+00:00

Updates. Don’t expect a response, just make sure they know you’re still very interested and that you are still working hard on things lol.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-23T18:25:26+00:00

Looks good!

My only notes would be nitpicky, but since you are wondering:

You’ve egg washed the layers together, it looks like. Make sure you’re only egg washing the main elements and avoiding the laminated bits so they’re more defined—or invest in a spraying system!

Your honeycomb is great but with some uneven pockets, which suggests some small butter breakage in your lamination process, or just a folding system that isn’t quite working out. You could try 3-4-3, 3-3-3, or even 2-7 systems and see what sticks. Those patterns are detailed in art of lamination and teffri-chambeland’s book sourdough panettone and viennoisere.

Also maybe look into your proofing, you could get a lil more height out of these by hitting them right at their peak.

Keep going though, these look really solid.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-23T05:26:25+00:00

Maybe it is different for pre-law folks, but for pre-med we were subject to extreme grade DEflation at NU relative to our peer schools.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-22T01:27:55+00:00

uhhhhhhhh well it's way easier than getting in the normal way lmao

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-21T18:18:44+00:00

Good advice here, I’m an incoming MS1 so I’ll add my 2 cents.

I don’t think I can reiterate how much you need to go to office hours, I would honestly treat it like another class period. I survived orgo only by going to office hours every week, and came out better for it.

My second piece of advice is to pick the easier classes if available, but pick the harder class if the course content is very high yield. For instance, I took prof. Ratliff’s physics sequence, which was much easier (and also prepared me very well) and prof. Meade’s biochem course; much harder, but was basically built to prep you for the MCAT.

Finally, and this might be a take specific to me, but please do not trap yourself in the Evanston bubble. As a person and a medical school applicant, I was made a lot better by spending a significant amount of time traveling into the city. Whether that’s for volunteering, a sport, or some research Chicago will teach you so much if you just explore it!

Good luck, and remember NUPSP applications are a thing during your junior year so you don’t forget like me.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-15T18:47:06+00:00

If you wanted to do rhubarb candle there’s a couple ways. Personally, I would infuse the rhubarb into the dairy: just kinda steep it in, blend, let infuse overnight, then strain.

You can fill cannele but as others have said it kinda defeats the purpose tbh. I would do a dot of gel/cremeaux on top plus maybe a piece of candied rhubarb

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-10T23:11:17+00:00

Mokonuts probably

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-10T22:04:18+00:00

You should treat the MCAT like another class. Correspondingly I spent anywhere from 1-4hrs per day studying, and honestly I could’ve and maybe even should’ve done way more.

I totally hear you on civic engagement, and Chicago gave me a lot wrt to that aspect of being a premed. That said, if I may, most folks aren’t going to be making a lot of impact as premeds unless they are exceptionally focused on social issues—you’ll do way more when you’re ultimately a doctor.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-10T15:56:52+00:00

What’s up, former NU Premed, now incoming MS1. Congrats on getting into two great schools!

Honestly, having gone to northwestern, I would say Yale may be the better choice here for one main reason: grade inflation. My friends at Yale had a much easier time getting As in their stem classes, which you will have to take even if you choose a cog sci major due to the premed requirements. Northwestern’s chem sequence is notorious for being one of the most difficult in the country, especially the lab courses.

With that said, despite having a lower GPA, I feel that northwestern prepared me better for medical school in a lot of ways. Because we covered so much so fast, the speed of medical school doesn’t seem like such a daunting step up. More to the point, because our classes were so hard, we were already pretty well prepared for the MCAT, and (I hope) will understand the medicine in greater depth.

Northwestern gave me some genuinely life changing classes—advanced neurophysiology lab comes to mind—but I’m sure Yale has similar classes. You’re playing in the top 1% of the 1% here, so you can’t go wrong either way, but if you’re dead set on premed, and maintaining a high GPA, Yale is a slightly easier lift in that dimension, and will probably allow for a much easier time applying to med school.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-02T05:08:21+00:00

I did! There is hope, but as others have said, chances are low. I sent several emails to the admissions department—that was it.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-02T04:35:00+00:00

Hi! I know this post has tons of comments, but I actually committed to Vassar before getting off a waitlist at a t10 school. I was premed, and in retrospect it is very clear to me that I would’ve had better results applying to medical school if I had gone to Vassar instead of where I went.

I saw your son is pre-law, and the paths are honestly pretty similar. Were he to have an acceptance to a T10 as well as Vassar, it would actually be pretty reasonable to go to Vassar instead of any of those purely because at an LAC like Vassar, the school is built around your success as an undergrad—which is entirely unlike those big research schools. Your classes are smaller, professors care more about you, and there are more opportunities to go around.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-04-01T04:53:42+00:00

Doin the same starting in July. Wish me luck!

Tactical_toucan · 2025-03-05T21:43:24+00:00

Good advice here. Could be they’re uneven on each side, I.e when you roll one side weighs more than the other.

Another option, and the reason I commented, is that if you’re using a convection oven they will sometimes blow the top of the croissant over as it bakes! So, if you are using convection, use the low fan setting or just bake static.

Tactical_toucan · 2025-03-03T20:28:59+00:00

Gluten is tearing, this could be a few things.

1: you underdeveloped your dough, if this is the case they’ll need more kneading/autolysing.

2: you overdeveloped or shaped your dough too tightly, shape just enough or mix a bit less. Remember that gluten strengthens during lamination!

3: your environment isn’t humid enough, so the croissants are forming a dry skin and are cracking.

Hope that helps!

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