Grandma's Perfect Pie Crust - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

Is pie crust better with butter or Crisco? ›

“My preferred fat for pie crusts will always be butter. To me, it is all about flavor, and no other fat gives flavor to a crust like butter does. Other fats, even though they have great pros, lack flavor,” De Sa Martins said. “The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added.

For Flaky Pie Crust, Keep Everything COLD, Especially Your Butter. If your kitchen is above 73°F, you can refrigerate all of your ingredients and equipment including your bowl, rolling pin, and pie plate until it's between 65-70°F (dip an instant-read thermometer into your flour to gauge the temperature).

The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say. This theory proposes that once the water and flour are combined, gluten starts forming, causing the dough to grow tough. Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness.

I like to use pastry flour because it contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and therefore creates a more tender crust, but all-purpose flour will work just fine if that's what you have on hand. The “2” is fat. Butter is the most common type of fat used, but other solid fats will work as well.

When there is too much fat in the pie crust, it crumbles. There isn't enough flour to form the flakes, so the extra fat just melts as it bakes and the pie crust falls apart as you cut into it.

Choose all-purpose flour or pastry flour. Don't skip or reduce the salt; it's critical for flavor. Various types of fat work well; choose your favorite. Add just enough liquid to hold the dough together.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

Unlike water, alcohol does not contribute to the formation of gluten, the network of proteins that can cause a crust to turn leathery. Because the alcohol burns off quickly in the oven, drying out the crust, we could add enough vodka to keep the dough wet and extremely supple.

The water in pie dough is necessary for workability, but too much is a bad thing. By replacing some of the liquid with vodka you are inhibiting gluten formation. Gluten forms when flour is in contact with water and is agitated. It does not form in alcohol, so it is a natural choice.

Why did my pie dough turn GREY? ›

“Well-wrapped, pie dough can be stored in the fridge for two to three days, or in the freezer for up to three months,” says David. “After day three in the fridge, you can expect your dough to oxidize, turning a grayish color.” This is completely normal, but can be postponed by adding a bit of vinegar to your recipe.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

It's 3 parts flour, 2 parts fat, and 1 part liquid - along with some salt and/or sugar for flavor. Those who have read my post on ratios know that these "parts" are by weight and not volume, so this is when owning a scale becomes useful. The recipe comes out flakey and delicious every time.

Until recently, it was also thought to be healthier because it contains less saturated fat than butter and lard. However, we now know that highly processed shortening offers no health advantages over butter or lard and may in fact be a less nutritious choice ( 5 , 6 ).

Neither Crisco nor butter are considered inherently healthier than the other. Both should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet with their differences in fat content in mind.

You could use the shortening, but it will not help the flavor at all, and doesn't have the approximately 18% water that butter and margarine do, although this usually doesn't matter in a graham cracker crust.

Oil and margarine are the two most common fats used to make pie crust.