Pie Crust
I thought I had this down, but if you’ve read about my last several pies, you know I did not. Since we have it again, I read the “how to make pie crust” section of The Joy of Cooking. One of the things that makes that such an excellent resource is that it has sections explaining the details that the recipes themselves take for granted.
I found two problems, both of which were created by my being “too good”.
- The butter should not be finely and evenly distributed. I didn’t start doing this by-design. It’s a side effect of switching to grated butter and still using the pastry knife/cutter/thing. Mixing the flour and grated butter together with my hands, which is mentioned as an option in the instructions, creates the desired some big/some small distribution.
- I’m fast, now. When I started making pie crust, it needed trips through the refrigerator and ice cold ingredients so the butter wouldn’t melt. I know how this goes now and with the grated butter it is really fast. There is no need for repeated cooling, which while keeping the butter solid makes the dough much harder to work with – especially without excess water. Start to finish in one fell swoop.
I’m not over baking during par/blind baking. In fact, the weights should be left in longer: 375 for 30 minutes. The weights do, indeed, prevent shrinking, which tightens the dough. For the last bit, “golden brown” does not mean the same thing with pie crust that it means with bread crust or deep frying. “Lightly golden” is a better description. The goal is to dry out the bottom without over toasting the sides. As soon as that bottom is dry – regardless of color – it’s done. About nine minutes.
How do I know this? Because I made pie crusts, today, and carefully followed the instructions. I made The Joy of Cooking recipe. It needed about three minutes more in the par bake to be nice and dry. As it was, it came out so much better than my recipe has been. This was surprising because it’s nearly identical. I made my crust recipe – with only the usually exceeded 60g of water – using the same steps. I par baked it at 400, instead of 375. The tops of the sides are bit over toasted, so 375 is the right choice. Turned out great, although it did crack a bit.
Now I need to actually make a pie. Today was just crust – no point in bothering with the filling until I get the crust decent. We’ll see how the lessons learned hold up.
BTW: Neither was egg-washed. For something like the French Silk filling that is not baked again, I think that’s fine because the custard sets and that’s that. For something runny that needs a baking pass, I’m not sure. I’ll follow instructions, but I do think the egg wash was also contributing to the hard-not-flakey texture.
Update: Better, but still not quite right. Attempting use 21st century technology to solve a 15th century problem, I asked the Intertubes. Some AI (no idea which one) spit this out:
A tough pie crust is typically caused by overworking the dough or adding too much water, both of which promote excessive gluten development. When dough is mixed or rolled too much, the gluten in the flour forms strong, elastic strands that result in a dense, chewy texture instead of a tender, flaky one.
Key causes and solutions:
- Overmixing: Mix ingredients only until the dough just comes together. Stop as soon as the flour is hydrated—do not knead or over-process.
- Too much liquid: Add water gradually, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when pinched. Excess water leads to more gluten formation and a tougher crust.
- Warm ingredients: Use cold butter and chilled water to keep fats solid. Warm butter melts into the flour, reducing flakiness and increasing toughness.
- Insufficient chilling: Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. This relaxes gluten and firms up fats, preventing a tough crust.
Pro tips:
- Use a food processor or hands to create pea-sized butter chunks—these create steam pockets during baking for flakiness.
- Consider adding a splash of vodka (instead of water) to reduce gluten formation while maintaining moisture.
- Avoid re-rolling scraps or over-handling the dough during shaping.
Following these steps ensures a tender, flaky crust every time.
Definitely did not overmix. Definitely not too much liquid. Maybe the last two. I hurried through it to get it done before anything warmed up – but that means I did not chill/relax the dough between mixing and rolling.
The vodka idea is interesting, but if I have vodka in the house, I’ll drink it, not let it sit in a cupboard until I need pie crust. It’s not just alcohol; I don’t have ice cream in the house and there’s a reason I don’t bake cookies often.
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