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Guidelines for Making Puff Pastry
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It is important to keep the following points in mind when making puff pastry:
Keep the work environment cool.
The kitchen should be cool, and there should be a cool surface to work on, preferably marble. Otherwise, puff pastry can be very difficult to manage. It must be rechilled as soon as it starts to soften and before the butter begins to melt or it will be impossible to manipulate.
Do not overdevelop the gluten.
When making the détrempe, mix the ingredients as little as possible, just enough to form a rough mass that holds together. Too much mixing will cause excessive development of gluten, which, in turn, will make the dough difficult to turn. The long rest periods between the turns also aids in containing the gluten development by letting the dough relax.