Level: Scoolinary Team

Hi, @christofer-politis This is a bit of a long answer, but I think this information will be helpful to you.
Why isn’t my croissant dough rising properly?
The croissant rises because the butter in its folds boils during baking, its moisture joins with that of the dough and both condense forming steam, which rises pushing the sheets.
The reasons why this does not happen are the following:
-Inconstant temperature in process: during the preparation of the croissant, maintain two constant temperatures, a very cold one during kneading and before baking; and another very hot during baking. Both will allow the correct development of the dough in its different stages and, therefore, will favor obtaining a high and even laminate.
-Incorrect temperature during baking: if you exceed 220 °C, the croissant will rise too quickly, for this reason it will not rise straight and will tend to fall. Now, if the temperature is below 220 °C, the development will be slow, causing incomplete growth, cracking and even lack of lamination or caking of the dough.
-Improper kneading: stretching the dough too much at the edges, leaving it too thin in general, folding it incorrectly or applying too much pressure on it are wrong practices during kneading that only compress the dough and also prevent its growth.

Croissant dough: errors and solutions.

-Use the appropriate flour. Strong flour is not suitable, since it is more difficult to stretch, roll and, therefore, requires more rest time. The ideal flour is 000: it allows for better rolling, is handled very well with the rolling pin and requires almost no repose.

-The butter and the dough must have the same temperature. When you put the butter into the dough, if it gets too soft, the layers won’t form properly.
Add the butter evenly and use equal thickness. This way you will get the dough to rise equally on all sides.
-Stretch the dough from the center to the edges. Avoid stretching it beyond that limit or the layers will be compressed. That is, the levels will not separate properly and consequently, the croissant will not rise.

-Avoid pressing the dough too much with the rolling pin while rolling it out. Otherwise the layers will also be compressed.

-Use a very sharp knife to cut the croissant. If you use a cookie cutter, use one with a thin, sharp edge.

-Cut the croissant dough cleanly and without pressing the edges. Make a dry cut, letting the knife blade fall in a straight line.

-Leave the croissant dough with an approximate thickness of between 0.6 and 0.8 cm. If you exceed this measurement, the dough will not be crispy; On the other hand, if it has less, it will not grow adequately.

-Before baking, put the dough in the refrigerator or freezer. This way the butter solidifies and each level of the puff pastry forms better.

-Pre-heat the oven. It is very important to keep the temperature constant from the moment the dough is introduced.

-Adjust the recipe time according to the capacity of your oven. Home ovens differ from each other in heat intensity. Therefore, it is very important that you learn how to bake by controlling the temperature and calculating the real time according to yours.

-Do not open the oven. If you open it too soon, the croissant will lose moisture and, consequently, lose volume.

Greetings.