What do I bake my croissants on?

April 3, 2009 10:46 PM

What's the best baking sheet to use in making croissants?

I'm unsure of the differences between half-sheet and jelly roll pans or what might be the best material pan for even heat distribution. Does the pan need any particular amount space on each side to heat effectively? We have a smallish oven and almost any pan will fill the rack almost to the walls. And for this recipe and others using a pan, do I just place the pan on my oven stone or remove the stone and put the pan on the oven rack before baking?

posted by mizrachi to food & drink (10 comments total)

You should be able to use your baking stone (if it's well seasoned) or your baking stone with parchment paper (if it's not). Otherwise, heavier gauge metal is generally better - with cast iron being the heaviest.
posted by torquemaniac at 12:09 AM on April 4

I would think that croissants have too much butter to bake on a stone, but the parchment paper is an interesting way to keep the excess butter off of the stone and also to transfer the croissants into the oven. The risen rolls are delicate and I wouldn't want to be picking them up and putting them into the oven individually. With the parchment you could just slide them in as a group. All that aside, I have never heard of baking something delicate like croissants directly on the stone. Have you tried it that way? How did they work?

I think the more traditional method is on a half-sheet or jelly roll pan, a nice thick one. Keep the stone, but put it on a rack underneath the rack that has the pan. The stone adds thermal mass to the oven but does not directly transfer heat to the rolls.
posted by caddis at 6:38 AM on April 4

On further reflection, baking these on a stone seems like a bad idea. The stone makes a nice crust on a loaf of bread, crisps pizza etc. This is not what you want with croissants. You want them delicate on the bottom, not crisp and crusty. The extent of crispness you want is flaky. So, go with the traditional method with the stone on a lower rack just for thermal mass (it keeps the oven temperature from dropping when you put the rolls into bake). It is OK if the pan nearly fills the rack as long as there is an inch or two all around to allow circulation, with two being better.
posted by caddis at 9:00 AM on April 4

Think about a silpat if you do a lot of baking. I'm with caddis in thinking that cooking on a stone might not be the best choice. Every oven is different, so try cooking on the top rack to prevent burning, get a real oven thermometer since the temperature setting is never right on an oven, and experiment.

Good luck!
posted by Dmenet at 10:05 AM on April 4

You absolutely don't want to use a stone.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:24 AM on April 4

Julia Child and Martha Stewart both say a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet/pan placed regularly on one of the oven racks.

Half-sheet vs jelly-roll: Half-sheet (half the size of a sheet pan) is a standard-size professional baking sheet: 18x13". Jelly-roll is not standard, but it's for home cooks so it's smaller, usually 15x10".

Your oven needs to be able to close completely; that's the most important consideration. Otherwise, yes, you do want circulation. Let's say the heating element in your oven is on the top (electric): if your pan touching all sides of the oven, then the heat will not be able to pass through to the bottom half of the oven and hit the croissants from underneath. You'd be better off finding a different size. If the jelly-roll pan is too big, take it to the store with you and find something smaller.

Different brands claim that different materials or combinations of materials make the best pans, but you want the thickest, sturdiest-seeming pan you can find. Since, for making croissants, you'll be baking at high temperatures, a flimsier pan might warp. A high-quality baking sheet will get a lot of work in your kitchen, and it'll be worth paying more to not get burnt bottoms and pools of grease in one corner of a warped pan. And it should be rimmed.

Almost everything should be placed on the oven racks, except for bread (not pastries, which is what croissants are). If a recipe doesn't say to put in on a stone, put it on the racks.
posted by thebazilist at 10:30 AM on April 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

thebazllist has the correct answer: half-sheet pan lined with parchment.
posted by briank at 12:04 PM on April 4

Julia Child and Martha Stewart both say a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet/pan placed regularly on one of the oven racks.


My copy of Julia (Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume two 1999) has them placed on what appears to be a half sheet, greased, no parchment. Just saying. These things have so much butter, you could probably skip the buttering of the sheet as well. As for half sheet, sheet, jelly roll pan, cookie sheet, etc. it really matters not. Thicker gauge sheets help prevent burning of the bottom though but the difference between thick and thin sheets in this regard seems pretty minimal in my experience. The thick ones warp less, last longer and all kinds of other good things though.

Anyway, did you make any yet? How did they turn out? It has been quite a few years since I went through all this effort but your question has sort of motivated me to revisit this very rewarding bread. Unless you live in a large city with the right restaurant you will never be able to experience this bread properly unless you make it yourself, and it is one of the most decadent bread experiences known to man. You are going to be working, so you might as well get the best butter you can find and perhaps even a nice jam to go with them. Make them on a Saturday afternoon and refrigerate for Sunday morning baking. Invite over some friends and perhaps have a Mimosa or two, or skip the friends and enjoy this treasure with someone intimate. Croissants are best fresh from the oven. Mmmmm.

My whole grain rye, cracked grain, high protein loaf is just about ready to take out of the oven, but this is so utilitarian and boringly healthy compared to the decadence of croissants.
posted by caddis at 6:51 PM on April 5

My girlfriend (a pastry chef) uses a basic half-sheet pan with parchment paper. Easy as that.
posted by karizma at 7:59 PM on April 5

The Birth of the Croissant and the Bagel
;)
posted by caddis at 6:38 AM on April 6