Puff pastry troubleshooting

[Cahoot]

A couple quick questions.

I noticed splotches these appeared after one of my turns, which I haven't seen before when making puff pastry. Is it butter that's shattered from being too cold? I think this appeared after an over 2 hour chill in the fridge between turns (in the two pictures below my second question, which were taken before this one, there aren't any splotches, and I was doing just ~1 hour chill for those).

2. I also notice that the ends become uneveness after rolling, as the top layer (the one that your rolling pin is touching) lengthens more than the bottom layers. I was able to sort of prevent this in future turns by flipping the dough occasionally while rolling so I alternated which side of the dough was on top and which was on bottom, but is there a better way to prevent this issue? The pictures below are taken from the bottom side to show how the layers on both ends become staggered.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Regarding question about the spots in your dough: yes, your butter shattered. The spots are the fat that have absorbed into the dough.

Regarding question about the uneven sides: lamination is purely about rolling. It is nothing more. We talk about butter temperature, flour protein, turns, yada, yada, yada. But lamination comes down to one thing: the art of the rolling pin. If you can roll, you can laminate.

Perfect pressure. Practice. You have to practice.

Square up your sides with a straight edge. I use my metal bench scraper and my metal ruler. After every couple of rolls, square up. That is how the keep your sides and edges straight.

 

[retired baker]

A couple quick questions.

I noticed splotches these appeared after one of my turns, which I haven't seen before when making puff pastry. Is it butter that's shattered from being too cold? I think this appeared after an over 2 hour chill in the fridge between turns (in the two pictures below my second question, which were taken before this one, there aren't any splotches, and I was doing just ~1 hour chill for those).

View attachment 3284

2. I also notice that the ends become uneveness after rolling, as the top layer (the one that your rolling pin is touching) lengthens more than the bottom layers. I was able to sort of prevent this in future turns by flipping the dough occasionally while rolling so I alternated which side of the dough was on top and which was on bottom, but is there a better way to prevent this issue? The pictures below are taken from the bottom side to show how the layers on both ends become staggered.

View attachment 3285
View attachment 3286

you left it too long between folds, the butter hardened and broke up.
I never chill during the whole process unless its very hot (above 75F) in the kitchen.