The Quest for the Perfect Pie Crust
June 7, 2011
Something happened last week that made me realize it was high time I learned to make a proper pie crust from scratch. What happened to prompt that awareness I will share tomorrow, but the truth of the matter is, I realized how could I truly live this long in my life and not have mastered the art of making the perfect flaky pie crust from scratch?
In years past, when I’ve made pie (like my Praline Pumpkin Pie) I cut that ‘homemade crust’ corner and either bought a premade deep dish or rolled out the frozen crust variety. So it was time I consulted an expert to teach me how to truly make a proper pie crust from scratch.
Of course when one wants to master the art of anything, one turns to Google for instant gratification. Wouldn’t you know it, when I searched for ‘Perfect Pie Crust, up popped Paula’s recipe with rave reviews.
Five stars? Click. I’ll try that one.
First the ingredients.
To make this crust, gather up some flour, butter, salt, sugar, shortening and a strong vodka tonic.
I’m kidding. You’ll need ice water. Unless you’re making pie crust from scratch for the first time, then a vodka tonic will probably help.
Here what you’ll really need:
I followed Paula’s instructions closely. “In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour.”
Resist the urge to create make believe dough devouring monsters. That’s not in the recipe anywhere.
“Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter.”
Do not make fun little butter towers in your hand, they will only tumble like the walls of Jericho because of the warmth of your hand. Do what Paula says, y’all and keep that butter cold.
“Work it quickly, so the butter doesn’t get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal.”
Yes ma’am.
“Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball.”
You got it Paula.
If only I’d been armed with this dough ball that summer in 1981. I could have used it against my pesky big brother when he stole my . . . never mind.
“Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape.” Well, how about quarters since I doubled the recipe. That math seems right to me, but what do I know. Mrs. Silver gave me a ‘C’ in Algebra my freshman semester of high school and it haunts me to this day.
“Wrap each disk in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.”
Check.
“On a floured surface roll each disk out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make a 9-inch pie.” Got it.
Did it work?
Did I successfully recreate the perfect pie crust?
I think so.
I’ll share the pie recipe next.
Meanwhile, do you know what I want to see? I really want to see a Pie Throwdown between my three favorite television bakers, Paula, Martha, and Ree.
Paula swears by both butter and shortening in her recipe. Ree uses shortening, egg and vinegar, but no butter in her pie crust. Martha doesn’t use shortening or egg at all in her recipe. I’m curious to try all three and compare.
Who do you think would win in a Pie Throwdown between those three? Or would it be your Granny? I think my Memah could definitely hold her own in that kitchen cook off, what about you?
Got a secret ingredient or special technique you use in your pie crust? Do tell.
.
Tags: how to make perfect pie crust, paula deen, perfect pie crust
your are way to cute, and the monster hand cracked me up.
If you get that Pie Throwdown together, sign me up to judge….not that I’m an expert at making crust…just at eating what I’d imagine would be some FAB-U-LOUS tasting pies!!! :)
I love the Pie Throwdown idea!! I use Ree’s crust and even got a compliment from my mother-in-law on it!
I would love to try the different pie crusts side by side and see which I prefer. Maybe you should do that for us ;)
In my teen years I would make pie crust using shortening. Then I stumbled across the “Martha” recipe and haven’t gone back since. I like that it’s pure and simple. Makes a great crust!
I use Martha’s “Pate Brisse” recipe which is perfect and super easy (food processor does the work) and uses butter instead of nasty, plastic shortening :)
Last time I used Ree’s recipe. It was good but not flaky and tender enough for me. I think I’ll try Paula’s recipe next. Butter makes everything tastes better!
Maybe she will see the post and send an invite :)
I have actually never made a pie before. But when I do, I will be referring back to this post for the awesome pie crust! :)
Kate – I have an awesome idea. So – I have a business called Four and 20 Blackbirds where I teach people how to bake pie (especially the crust, that seems to be what most people are afraid of) in Seattle. I would love to give you all my tips and tricks (ingredients, tools, temperature) but since you’re in Cali – it’s sort of a long drive. How about this – want to do a private class via Google chat or iChat or some such digital magic? I think it would be a hoot.
If you’re interested, let me know!
Best,
Wendy at Four and 20 Blackbirds, Seattle
You were in a funny mood when you wrote this post, weren’t you? You cracked me up! And you also made me very hungry, which I resent! :)
Looks like your mission was accomplished! I would love a slice of pie right now! How are you so talented to look up a recipe, take great photos, have the perfect temp on your butta and make a delicious pie and I just burned my chicken! Oh yeah, I love your blog!
Debbie
Hi. Here’s a little secret from my grandma. Don’t use flour (it makes the crust though). When ready to roll, place a large piece of wax paper on your counter and dust with flour (just a bid). Place the dough on top and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Proceed to roll and turn as you would normally. When you are ready to transfer the dough to the pie plate, lift the plastic wrap carefully and transfer your rolled dough to the plate. Peal the plastic off, trim and crimp sides. Works fine every time.
P.S. She also likes to use crisco (more flavor).
I have had excellent luck with recipes that call for half butter and crisco and that use cold water and vinegar….. now if i could just remember the source for you!
Now I am craving me some pie!
xoxo!
I have to admit…I make a mean pie crust. It’s the ONE thing I’m REALLY good at. I’ve even won blue ribbons at the county fair. You can check out my recipe here http://flipfloppingmamma.blogspot.com/2008/10/apple-pie-with-homemade-crust.html
Enjoy!!
I love this post, it made me laugh. you rock lady!
question- who was the Home Depot winner of the $100 gift card? I’ve been anxiously checking to see who won, crossing my fingers its me! ;)
When I saw your vodka comment, I laughed…because the secret ingredient in the Cook’s Illustrated best piecrust IS vodka, which is supposed to keep the flour from toughening up the dough no matter how much you work it. I love the Cook’s Illustrated piecrust recipe, especially for their blueberry pie – yum! Ooh, and your pie looks delicious – looking forward to the recipe.
I trust anything America’s Test Kitchen says since the research the heck out of everything. After they tested every combination possible with fat/flour types and ratios, they recommend 3 parts butter to 2 parts shortening because shortening makes the pie crust flakier but lacks taste, and butter has the taste but lacks as much flakiness. So I say, go Paula!
Your pie looks GREAT!!! Thankfully great pie crust is super achievable!
Someone beat me to it.. you can totally use vodka (or, I’ve heard, any other hard, high proof liquor). Paula didn’t have you use a pastry blender? Crazy woman. = )
My Mom (and I’ve come to believe it too) always told me that the secret to having a perfectly soft, flaky, and moist pie crust was to only break the fatty substance (be it crisco, or butter.. I grew up with crisco, it works great) into small pea sized bits.. DON’T over mix! The blobs of fat (really attractive) actually create the flaky consistency, and when you add in the COLD water (or booze), it prevents the fatty substance from breaking up into smaller bits, and decreasing that perfect flake.
FlipFloppingMomma’s recipe looks a lot like the crust recipe I know and love, though I usually add 1tsp salt.
Pie is a wonderful thing!!! (totally try making chicken pot pie! it sounds intimidating, but it’s pretty easy if you use cream of chicken soup. and it’s SO GOOD it makes me want to crawl inside and eat my way through)
This is the recipe I use! It’s the BEST. Very good work. Courious to see what pie you’ve made – I’ve only made lemon mirengue.
I’ve always used the good ‘ol Joy of Cooking recipes, and my father-in-law thinks I am a pie goddess. This from a man whose mother owned a restaurant that specialized in homemade pies. Talk about pressure! The secret is to use either shortening that has animal fat, or just go whole hog (har!) and use lard. It, along with the butter, will make the crusts our grandmothers had in the days before we knew what arterial plaque was! My DH ket me take off for a week to HI with my best friend just for presenting him with one of these. Sugar works!
Paula makes me laugh! My husband makes the best pastry ever from a recipe passed down from my Dad.
Gotta love a man that can bake.!!
Thanks for the pie crust idea. It reminded me of my sweet grandmother who taught me how to make pie crust many years ago. However, we never just made a few. Her recipe made over 20 crust. I still have her hand written recipe and love it!
I have been making my own crust for as long as I can remember. My family favorite (we are such pie snobs here that my family has done taste tests- I know- we’re nuts) is as follows…
* 2 cups flour
* 3/4 cup cold Crisco (I like butter flavor sticks but either is good)
* 1 tablespoon sugar (for a sweet pie- this is my secret…so shhhhh)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* ice water (anywhere from 3 tbls to 10 tbls depending on humidity that day)
I love all the sharing of pie crust recipes, you are making me very hungry.
I know there are cake people and there are pie people. I am happy to be one of those pie people/.
Also, Martha, my gramma’s recipe wasn’t for 20, but she told me that she had never made just 1 pie in her life. She would start with the crusts and keep making pies until they were gone.
rick
No secret ingredients, but my grandma uses 11 tablespoons of ice water which I for some reason think is really funny, I guess because it sounds like such a random amount. But you know what, it works every time!
My pie crust recipe is old, shared with me by a friend. It’s her late mother’s fabulous recipe, and contains (among the rest of the ingredients) an egg and one of the tablespoons of liquid is cider vinegar. It says it yields four pie crusts, but I cut it into thirds. Flaky and perfect every time.
Lard! That is the secret ingredient for a flakey crust. Yours/Paula’s looks delightful too :)
Paula would win. Being a former pastry chef, I think I can actually provide an expert opinion here :)
The combination of butter and shortening is good (someone else mentioned lard, which is even better than shortening or margarine.) butter provides the loft for the crust… As it melts it leaves little “pockets” behind, which makes the “flaky.” Butter also adds a lot of flavor. The downside of butter is that it’ll burn faster than shortening, which is why it’s good to cut your butter with shortening – better resistance to possible burning without sacrificing flavor. Eggs add richness.
Someone else said their grandmother said “flour makes it tough,” but I have to disagree. Working the dough too much, and not allowing to rest is what makes it tough. when you knead the dough, it works the gluten in the flour, making it form “strands” that get tougher as you work them. The strands are what helps the dough have structure, hover, work it too much, and it”ll cause your toughness. This is why you wrap it up and pop it in the fridge – to let the gluten relax, but keep it chilled so the butter doesn’t get soft too soon.
You can always tell when you’ve overworked the doghouse when you start rolling it out and it snaps back to the small disk, and refuses to “grow.” Some snapping back is to be expected, but when you see the strands, and it shrinks down like crazy, you need to stop and let it rest again.
I use the (super simple) recipe from the booklet that came in the Cuisinart box, and it’s a huge hit every time I make pie. (Plus, it uses the Cuisinart to make the dough, so…super simple.)
Love this post … totally helpful. And I love the hand monster!
xox Lexi
Glitter & Pearls
I have a bunch of blueberries and was just gonna skip putting them on a pie crust, but now…I’m gonna use this recipe! Put some crumblies on top…ohhh cant wait! Thank you! Just in time!