Picture of my husband, Don,
eagerly awaiting his piece of pie!
How
To Make The Perfect Pie Crust
Check
out my favorite recipes for the
Perfect Pie Crust.
There are three basic ingredients in a pie crust - fat,
flour, and liquid. You can come up with numerous variations just by changing
your basic ingredients and their ratios. Check out the many different
recipes for making the perfect pie crust.
Cold ingredients
and limited handling are the key to preparing a wonderful pie crust.
The colder the
better. All ingredients (even the flour) should be ice cold before mixing. It is
especially important for the fat you are using to be very cold. If you are
making the dough in a food processor you can even freeze the fat before using
it.
Fats: The
type of fat you use will affect flavor and flakiness, while the amount
affects tenderness. Flaky crusts result when bits of unmelted fat are
layered between layers of flour and melt away with baking. They can be made
from a variety of solid fats. Check out
Pie Crust
Recipes using various types of fat.
Fat and vegetable shortening must be chilled prior to use. If it is too warm, the
flour will absorb too much of the fat and produce a tough crust. If using butter or
margarine, cut into small pieces prior to adding to the flour.
Liquids:
For a tender crust, you want just enough liquid to moisten the flour
without drenching it. Liquids should be well
chilled (actually liquids should be ice cold). The mixing after water is added is critical
in making a pie dough - water should be added gradually to the dry ingredients and not all
at once. Mix by hand with your fingers or a pastry blender Use a minimum amount of liquid
and handle the dough as little as possible. Overworking the dough will make it tough.
NOTE: If too much water is added, the dough will have to be mixed with more flour
thus becoming overworked and tough. If too little water is added, it will cause a dry
crumbly dough with poor handling qualities.
Flour: To
promote tenderness in your pie crust, choose a low protein wheat flour such
as cake flour or pastry flour. All-purpose flour is readily available and
works well for pie crusts. Unbleached flour is more tender.
- Pastry-Type Flour:
To make a pastry-type flour from all-purpose flour, place 1 tablespoon
of cornstarch or other non-gluten flour in the bottom of the measuring
cup for every cup of flour you measure.
If you want to use a whole grain flour to make pie crust,
allow extra time. You will have a much more tender crust if you refrigerate
the pie dough overnight before baking to allow the bran to rehydrate
thoroughly.
Hints and Tips :
If you roll out the dough on wax paper or parchment paper, it makes
cleanup easier. To keep wax paper from slipping, sprinkle a few drops of
water on the countertop before arranging the paper. -
Use a glass pie plate or a dull metal pie plate for making pies. The shiny metal pans
keep the crust from browning properly. If using a glass pie plate, reduce the oven
temperature by 25 degrees. Do not oil or grease pie plates.
Always make deep slits in the top crust of fruit pie. If you do not do this, the filling
will be soft and soggy. To prevent the crust from getting too dark,
you can cover it with a strip of aluminum foil or a pie shield. You also have the option
of reducing the oven temperature if you notice things getting too dark.
-
Hints to prevent bottom crust from getting
soggy:
If pie has only a bottom
crust, you can blind-bake the crust and then moisture-proof it. You can
brush it with a bit of egg white two or three minutes after it comes out
of the oven.
A good way to keep pie crust from
becoming soggy is to sprinkle it with a mixture of equal parts sugar and
flour before adding filling.
Another way is to brush the unbaked
bottom crust of a pie with a well-beaten egg white before filling. This
keeps the berries and other fruits from making the pie bottoms mushy.
Baking a frozen pie is also a help, as
the crust begins to bake before the heat thaws the filling, and the
entire pie bakes for longer than it would normally.
- To prevent sliding, first
line the dough with aluminum foil. Take a piece of foil long enough so that when folded in
half, it covers the pie plate. Fold it in half, then shape it on the counter by pressing
your hand down in the middle and pulling up on the sides (making sort of a bowl shape.)
Now put the foil in your pie shell and gently press it so that it evenly covers the bottom
and sides of the pie dough. Now put your pie weights in - you can use beans, rice, rock
salt -- virtually any small, heat-proof items to weigh the crust down so that it neither
puffs up nor slides down. Bake it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Take out the
foil and pie weights, and continue baking until lightly browned. Alternately, if you are
using metal pie plates, you can line one pan with dough, lightly dust the dough with
flour, then place a second pie plate on top of the dough. Invert the pans and bake
upside-down for about 10 minutes. Carefully flip the pans over, and remove the top pie
plate, then continue baking until lightly browned.
- Cool baked pies on a wire rack set on the counter. The rack allows air to circulate
under the pie, preventing it from becoming soggy from the steam remaining it in.
High-Altitude
Baking: When making
pies at high altitudes, pie crusts are not greatly affected. A slight
increase in liquid may help keep them from becoming dry. Use as little flour
as possible when rolling out the dough.
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