7
That time in Austin a baker yelled at me for using cold butter in croissants
I was at this little shop called Flour Child in Austin last spring, working on a batch of croissants. This older baker, named Marie, saw me pulling butter straight from the fridge and just lost it. She told me I was ruining the lamination and handed me a stick of room temp butter, made me start over. Now I always let my butter sit out for at least 2 hours before I even think about folding it in. Has anyone else had a baker yell at them for some basic mistake?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
lane.eric2mo ago
Three of my friends are actual pastry chefs and they all keep their butter in the fridge until the second they use it. They say the whole room temp thing gets overblown by people who watched one Youtube video. Cold butter gives you those clean, separate layers if you work fast enough. Your baker was probably just having a bad day and took it out on you.
8
the_joel2mo ago
Read somewhere that French bakers will actually test butter temperature with their lips before folding. Not kidding. So your baker yelling at you was practically polite by comparison. Cold butter shatters through dough instead of spreading into those thin layers. Room temp is the way to go unless you want croissant rocks.
5
owens.cameron1mo ago
Wait wait wait, hold up. Testing butter temperature with their lips? That is absolutely insane. I mean, I've heard of pastry chefs being intense about their craft but that's a whole other level of dedication right there. It makes me wonder if Marie would've done that if I'd stuck around to argue with her about the cold butter. Honestly, it also makes me feel a little better about getting yelled at because at least nobody's lips touched my butter. But seriously, can you imagine the health code violations if that became standard practice in the US? Some of the people I see in bakeries probably haven't washed their hands after touching their phone, let alone their lips. I'm all for tradition and craft but that one crosses a line for me no matter how good the croissant is.
-1