Pie Crust 101 Recipes

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Cut each stick of butter into 8 pieces, and refrigerate until needed. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and mix to combine.
• Add the chilled butter. Using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture; the mixture should resemble coarse meal with small pieces of butter, the size of small peas, remaining visible.
• Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water over the flour-butter mixture, and blend. Repeat with an additional 2 tablespoons water. At this point, you may have to add more water: When a handful of dough squeezed together just holds its shape, you've added enough; if the dough crumbles, continue incorporating water, 1 tablespoon at a time, checking the consistency after each additional tablespoon.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide into two equal pieces, and place on two separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form two disks. Wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Place the chilled dough in the center of the work surface, and dust the dough as well as the rolling pin with flour. Position the rolling pin on the center of the disk, and begin rolling the dough away from you. Give the disk a quarter turn, and roll again. Continue turning and rolling until you have an even 1/8-inch thickness. Turning the dough as you roll will prevent it from sticking to the work surface. A dry pastry brush is handy to remove any excess flour during and after the rolling process.
• Lightly butter the pie plate. To minimize stretching when moving the dough, roll it around the pin, lift up, and unroll over the buttered pie plate. Using your fingers, gently pat the dough into place. Trim any excess dough with a paring knife or kitchen shears, leaving a 1-inch overhang; then fold dough under to reinforce the edge.

PIE CRUST 101

Steps:

• DOUGH: In a large bowl (you can use a food processor, but by hand with a pastry blender works best for flakiness) mix flours, sugar, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Remove from fridge and add very cold butter and shortening. Mix the lemon juice, egg, and water in a small bowl and slowly add to dry ingredients, mixing by hand, until the dough begins to form a ball. Divide ball in half, flatten to make 2 disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. You can freeze up to 2 months by placing the wrapped discs in a freezer bag. Just be sure and thaw in the refrigerator before using.
• PREP 1 (ROLLING PIN): Take one disk and roll it out larger than your pan onto a lightly floured work surface. Transfer the dough to a pie pan by carefully rolling the pastry around a rolling pin, then gently unrolling it over the pan. If it breaks apart, don't worry. Simply patch any cracks or tears with some dough and press down to seal. It will not show for the bottom crust.
• PREP 2 (PARCHMENT): Lightly flour a disk and place between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the dough from the center to the edges, to make a circular shape larger than your pan. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and place the pie pan in the center of the dough. Slide your hand under the parchment holding the dough centering your hand to the middle of the pan and flip over. Press the dough into the pan and carefully peel away the parchment.
• BOTTOM ONLY PIE: If pre-baking a bottom crust, brush it with the eggwash and using the tines of a fork, prick the bottom and sides in a few places so that the crust will not bubble up. If not pre-baking, Do Not prick the crust! Just brush the edges with the eggwash and fill with the filling of your choice.
• TOP CRUST PIE: If making a top crust, brush the edges of the bottom crust with the eggwash. If you have a pie bird, place in the center and then add the filling. Use the same method for rolling out the top crust using either prep 1 or prep 2 method (for prep 2 method, slowly flip the dough with parchment over the filling, then gently pull away the parchment paper). Using the backside tines of a fork, gently press the edges together to seal (or you can pinch the edges for a scalloped look).
• Trim excess dough from around the edge and gather up the scraps. Roll it out and cut fruit, leaf, or other designs for the top of the pie. You can use cookie cutters or try out your freehand talent. NOTE: if you have a pie bird, then once you roll out your top dough, place a small 'x' in the center so it will fall over the bird. If your 'x' is too large, simply use the scraps of dough to make a 'skirt' over the bird (see photo).
• If you do not have a pie bird, use a sharp knife tip or kitchen sheers, carefully cut or snip a 1/2" hole in the center of the crust to allow steam to escape. Using the tines of a fork, poke holes around the center hole to resemble a sun and sun ray pattern (you can do it so it will show where to cut the slices). Arrange the dough cut-outs on top (but not over the vent holes). Gently brush the pie crust and decorations with the eggwash.

BASIC PIE CRUST 101

Steps:

• Mix flour and salt in mixing bowl. Cut shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter, until mixture resembles the texture of tiny split peas. Do not use your hands to try and mix it; the heat from your hands will melt the shortening, causing the pastry to be "heavy," not light and fluffy.
• Once the mixture is the right texture,, add the ice water and combine with a fork. It may appear to need more water, it does not. Quickly gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a 4-inch-wide disk. Wrap it with plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Remove dough disk from refrigerator. If stiff and very cold, let stand until dough is cool but soft enough to work with.
• Using a floured rolling pin,roll dough disk on a lightly floured surface from the center out in each direction, forming a 12-inch circle. To transfer dough, carefully roll it around the rolling pin, lift and unroll dough, centering it in an ungreased 9-inch regular or deep-dish pie plate. (or you can fold dough in quarters, then place dough point in center of pie pan and unfold dough, whichever is easiest for you.