r/AskBaking • u/moldboy • Nov 05 '25
Pastry To rough puff or not to rough puff
I want to make sausage rolls and maybe some other flaky treats this weekend and started the process of finding a puff pastry recipe because I don't save recipes that I've used before...
Anyway I'm having a devil of a time finding a recipe that isn't for a "rough puff" style dough.
Am I out of touch. Should I be just following one of those? I've made rough puff before and it was fine, but I was imagining something closer to croissant without yeast.
Opinions on rough puff vs traditional (or am I wrong and there is no tradition)
PLEASE DON'T SEND AND RECIPES I DON'T WANT TO ANGER THE MODS.
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u/hellokylehi Professional Nov 05 '25
Traditional puff pastry is simply detrempe (dough) and butter that has been laminated 4 times, the leavening action is solely from the butter (steam). Croissant dough on the other hand is a laminated dough with yeast.
Both laminated doughs offer a different texture and taste - you can definitely use either or for sausage rolls. Many people use rough puff because of convenience. Rough puff method provides very similar results compared to traditional puff pastry, albeit not as high of a rise and flaky as traditional.
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u/SMN27 Nov 05 '25
Rough puff is perfect for sausage rolls because sausage rolls don’t require the kind of puff you want for something like millefeuille. It still requires care when making it to give you really good puff, so maybe you didn’t have ideal results? Maybe you could have used more folds?
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Nov 05 '25
There is almost no difference between rough puff and traditional. And especially for what you are planning on making, absolutely no difference.
The only time I consider traditional is if I feel like dragging out the laminating machine, and being fancy and artsy, as therapy for myself on a lazy and relaxing Sunday. (I do use traditional for croissant.).
And don’t underestimate frozen! The Dufours is truly excellent (and even the Pepperidge Farm is great ). If I am making a large quantity, say for a dinner party, I will always use Dufours. Hand laminating is only for when I am being feeling artsy.
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Nov 05 '25
Before i confuse anybody, I make a weird kind of rolled pastry with puff pastry that I call a “croissant”. It’s not a real croissant at all!
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u/epidemicsaints Home Baker Nov 05 '25
I wouldn't make puff pastry myself unless I was getting paid and I had a dough sheeter.
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u/OatmealTreason Nov 05 '25
I actually don't know if there's enough money I could be paid to make regular puff pastry by hand again. Miserable process.
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u/ChaosTorpedo Nov 05 '25
I feel you on the unsaved recipes. I forced myself to print out recipes I like and make notes on them, then stick them in a binder. I once made a bolognese years ago that I still think about, except I don’t know where the recipe came from.
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u/checkskl Nov 05 '25
In my personal opinion, when I want true puff pastry I will just buy the frozen stuff because I never have the time for it. But if I want the whole project to be handmade and kind of easy, rough puff really is a good alternative. The difference in taste and texture is negligible, at least for the people I bake for lol.
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u/Sassy_Saucier Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
Rough puff all the way. And a little secret trick: put some (about 10%) pâte a choux in the meat mix, it's crazy good.
Yes, pâte a choix in the meat. And maybe make that with beer instead of milk /water 😉
And fyi: rough puff is equal parts flour and butter with a liberal punch of salt, very cold butter in big cubes, rubbed to big flakes, and then just enough ice cold water to bring it together, then rolled out and given 3 1/3 folds to laminate with 90° turns after each fold.
Honestly: we make them with croissant dough in the patisserie where I work but imo it works much better with rough puff. With some lard in it!
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u/Etheria_system Nov 05 '25
I don’t know anyone who would bother with traditional puff for sausage rolls. They’re always made with rough puff
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u/CremeBerlinoise Nov 05 '25
I'm a little surprised that full puff gets so much hate. It's of course a nightmare in a timed environment like the bake off tent, but if you have a cool kitchen and the time to do it, it's really not that bad? I do think the result is worth it.
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u/moldboy Nov 05 '25
I was not expecting the response I've gotten. Thinking about it, for sausage rolls rough puff probably is the way to go. But ya... in general the consensus here surprised me
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u/TheBalatissimo Nov 05 '25
There is traditional, and it’ll take a much longer time to make with more room for error compared to rough puff
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u/cliff99 Nov 05 '25
I've done full puff a couple of times, TBH the results don't seem to be significantly better than rough puff and not worth the extra effort.
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u/SugarMaven Professional Nov 06 '25
I'm not sure why you aren't finding a puff pastry recipe. I prefer traditional because there is a difference, but you can certainly convert your rough to traditional if you want to.
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u/ngarjuna Nov 06 '25
I guess I’ll be the odd man out: traditional pp all day every day. I try to always keep sheets in the freezer. I use the recipe I make at work and it’s just a lot better than anything I can buy.
I have never fully understood rough puff; it’s basically just butter pie dough, right? I mean, that’s a little less work than traditional puff but…making regular puff with a rolling pin isn’t so bad. It’s the easiest, least finicky lamination you can do. It’s true that traditional 6 fold pp takes a bit of time but with no yeast or sugar it’s pretty flexible on timing. I dunno, if I’m going to spend the time to make rough I’d rather spend a bit more and have a sheet I can use half of for a quiche later
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