Old baker told me to chill my hands before handling dough... still not sure I buy it

I was at a bakery workshop in Portland last spring, and this guy in his 70s kept insisting that cold hands make better croissant dough. He said body heat ruins the butter layers and you gotta run your wrists under cold water every few minutes. I tried it for a batch and my hands cramped up so bad I nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor. On the other hand, my first few croissants were flaky disasters before I switched, and these came out decent. But I also wonder if he was just old school and maybe modern fridges do the job well enough without the pain. Has anyone else heard this tip or tried it long term? Does it actually change the crumb structure or is it more about keeping the butter cold during the folding?

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the_spencer2d ago

Cold hands sound nice but I'd rather wear gloves than cramp up and drop dough on my feet. Maybe the old baker had ice water in his veins.