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Bakery Day 31: Some days the dough flows

.... and some days it doesn’t!!!!



yesterday was a very long day. I was at the bakery at 4:30 so I could try to make the croissants again (they failed) and I did not get home until after 9:15 pm, almost 17 hours ... by the end of the evening I was so exhausted I just had to drop in bed and sleep.  Today I was at the bakery early (5:30) and I worked until 2:30 and then came home and slept for two hours then went back to the bakery from 5:30-8:45 to make foods for tomorrow ...

I managed to make puff pastry and turned them into apple turnovers ... they all didn’t puff perfectly but the were two that were beautiful. I then decided to move the tray without mitts and everything went flying and those two beautiful ones were lost from their perfection .. here is one of the flat ones but still nice - and they taste amazing!!



I love that i made a puff pastry the first time and they came out nice ... here is a tip for you.. use a tiny bit of vinegar in the mixture, it acts as a puff booster and will help your pastries rise above the rest ❤️

...

i want to talk abut dough for a moment ... making bread is easy. Four ingredients, a little work, and patience.. not much more is necessary. But, to make great breads there are many factors that come in to the equation. The temperature of the dough, the room,  everything. Are you using a natural fermentation? How are you proving the dough? How did you fold the dough? Did you build a nice strong layer for the top? These are just some of the questions to be asked and of course there are more.

I tell you this because even making breads professionally does not mean there are not to be bad days. If you are in a climate controlled environment and you can store your ingredients at the same temperature always, then, you can minimize problems, but many cannot, including me at the bakery.

The best advice I can offer is in two parts... one, write everything down. The temperature (water, flour, yeast, room)... the weather outside (rainy, sunny, high humidity, etc. Then write down your process and exact amounts of everything you use. Second, be aware of all of these things the second time you make bread and check for what is different.  Was the oven at the exact same temperature? Did you add the same amount of water to the oven just before baking? Was the yeast you used as fresh as the previous day? And everything else!!  This will make your breads better, more consistent, and make you want to bake more!! Wanna recipe? Just ask..

..

thank you for reading today’s entry, I appreciate it very much! 🌻❤️



#doeverythingwithlove
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