Ever wonder how puff pastry dough rises without yeast or a chemical leaving product? This question is sometimes raised when someone is first learning the ins and outs of baking and the different types of doughs.
Puff pastry dough is considered a laminated dough. A laminated dough is a dough that has layers of alternating fat and dough. Other doughs that are laminated are danish and croissant. Puff pastry dough is made with your everyday simple basic kitchen ingredients-usually butter, flour, water, and salt. There are different types of puff pastry dough and this usually relates to the proportions of flour and fat that the recipe calls for. The layers of fat between the dough is a key component in the dough rising. When making the dough the way you fold it and the number of times you fold it which creates the amount of layers the dough will have is what will help the flakiness and the amount of rise you get out of the finished product. Another very important component in making sure the dough rises is the temperature of the oven. The reason for this is the fat layers and the temperature/heat of the oven is what creates steam and forces the dough layers to rise up. If the temperature of your oven is not hot enough (usually it should be between 375'F-400'F depending on what you are making) the dough will not rise and the fat product that you made your dough with will "run" out all over the pan. Another reason for the fat "running" out and the dough not rising is if the pastry layers and the fat layers are not evenly distributed during the folding and rolling process. This also may cause the pastry to rise unevenly.
So although puff pastry dough may be made out of the most basic kitchen ingredients it is very labor intensive and temperamental. If any one of the steps in the recipe is not followed correctly or if the oven temperature is off just slightly your product may not turn out to be picture perfect but instead may be a piece of dough surrounded by a pool of fat.
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