From Scratch

I still remember reading something in an old cookbook when I got serious about pie crusts. It advised people making pie crust by hand to work quickly. Good advice, since overworking the dough’s not wise. Then I was startled by the explanation that if you’re nervous and your palms are warm, the dough will get too warm.

Novice that I was, I still thought, WTH? If you (meaning whoever the book was addressing) are so nervous about making a crust that you’ve got sweaty palms, maybe you should just skip it and make a cake instead.

Some people talk back to the TV, I talk back to books.

So chill. And I also mean that literally. I chill every pie crust three times: after I mix it, after I’ve rolled it and lined the plate (that’s when I make the filling) and while the filled pie is waiting for the oven to preheat. Food science shows why it’s a good practice and a major factor in producing a flaky crust.

Using this recipe, I’ve taught people via email to make a good crust after years of believing they didn’t have what it takes. I stress the need for chilling and this is what I say: Don’t let the bits of shortening (fat) get too small when you blend it with the flour or you won’t get a flaky crust. Stop while it’s still shaggy. Don’t over-handle the dough once it’s wet or gluten will start to develop and do chill the dough a little after every step. Chilling’s essential. It helps the dough relax and to absorb water and it helps the fat to solidify. Then, when the chilled fat goes into the oven and starts to melt, it gives off some steam which puffs up the dough and creates the flakiness.

Perfectly Round Crusts
The only thing pre-fab crusts have over homemade is that they are perfectly round and make a neater, evenly-thick edge. One Christmas, after making cutout cookies, I moved on to pies and thought how great it would be to have a giant cutter for crusts. I was using a big, flat pan lid as a cutting guide and it dawned on me there are lipped lids. They’ll cut! Next time I was in Kmart I picked up a 12″ lipped lid for about five dollars. Even when the dough is so thin the board shows through, as it does here, it works. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this but I’m glad I did. One quick push and I eliminate the trimming of the crust in the pan and the potential to stretch it while I trim. Stretching and pulling, whether it’s pie or yeast dough, is not good. Stretch it in the kitchen, it’ll shrink in the oven. 

Moving the Dough Into the Plate
This used to be the most stressful part of pie making for me. My mother, G-d rest her, had a gift for this — fold, unfold. I do not. Some recipes said to fold it in half, some in quarters; invariably, I tore the dough or punctured it with my nails or had to move it around so many times to get it centered I would stretch it. Finally, after seeing people simply roll it onto the pin and unroll it into the plate, I tried that and, as you see from the sepia photo, that’s the method I use. Like anything, practice helps but the learning curve is almost nothing.

Tags: food science