The Brutally Honest Opinion Michael Symon Has On Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is a culinary delight. It's flaky, crispy, rich, light, and luxurious. You can use it for sweet or savory dishes, and the end result will seem like it came out of a professional kitchen, but not everyone — including even some of the pros — is on board with making the stuff from scratch.

Mashed spoke with celebrity chef Michael Symon at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, where he shared his pretty brutal opinion about it. "Making your own puff pastry is a bunch of bulls***. And you can put 'bulls***' in there, please," Symon said. That's about as straightforward as it gets.

Now, Symon doesn't shy away from making his own dough, like the simple dough he prepares for his savory herb and parmesan rolls recipe. However, puff pastry is on another level and requires quite a bit of patience if you want it to turn out right. With premade versions like frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry or the classic butter Dufour Pastry Kitchen sheets, there's really no reason to go through all the trouble to make your own — unless you simply want to take on the challenge.

The truth about Michael Symon is that he likes to keep things simple — and that includes cooking. However, making puff pastry is not something anyone would describe as simple or easy. If you're a pastry chef who went to culinary school to learn how to properly wield a French rolling pin like nobody's business, then hats off to you. But most of us will likely find the process tedious and even frustrating.

Puff pastry is challenging for at-home chefs (and even the pros) because of the time and skill it requires. First off, the butter has to stay somewhat soft without melting. Then, there's "laminating," which is folding it over and over again until there are hundreds of layers of dough and butter that give it its flaky quality. Lastly, it takes a while. You'll need to refrigerate the dough several times during the process to keep the butter cold.

The real reason you don't need to make puff pastry from scratch, though, is that the premade versions sold in stores are actually of decent quality. Still, if you want to try your hand at making homemade puff pastry, don't let Symon's opinion hold you back! We'll be standing by on the sidelines to cheer you on, ready to quality-check the results once you're done.