How to make a pie crust that people won’t leave on their plates

The late Sally Gray, my mother-in-law, used lard for her pies. After I had the pie Sally made for me and her daughter, my wife, at our home on one of her visits, I exclaimed, “This is the best pie I ever had! I want the recipe!” For obvious reasons, this column is dedicated to Sally Gray.

Not surprising to some, a short while back, I had a big debate in the baked-goods aisle at our local supermarket for longer than I wished with a woman who, while I was looking for several baking products, bemoaned not being able to make good crusts. She was looking at Flako.

I told her I could make her a star; she listened but then like a doubting Thomas retorted, “An egg? Are you sure? And a lemon? I don’t want an acidic pie crust! I’d rather have the box.”

I tried to explain; in a few moments I walked away shaking my head and she hers in the other direction; me muttering to myself: “Lady, good luck with your ‘delivery system’ pie crusts.”

By the by, if you are forced to use store-bought crust, Bon Appétit says that tests in their kitchen had the best luck with Pillsbury-brand refrigerated pie crust.

I have looked into more than a few 20th-Century cookbooks to see how chefs/bakers worked with their dough and what ingredients they used. I saw chefs recommend adding vinegar to the water to be added to the flour mixture.

This I have tried myself with good success, using white or appley cider vinegar. Epicurus, as some other recipe sources say, also recommends using a small amount of baking powder to work with the vinegar and give the crust a  more airy texture.

Rose Levy Beranbaum, in her “The Pie and Pastry Bible” (Scribner, 1998) also calls for cider vinegar — and also baking powder. To me this is risky because the powder sometimes works faster than I would like.

Some bakers recommend the use of several tablespoons of vodka instead of the same amount of water (or vinegar or lemon in our case). In the case of crusts, as said, the aim is to cut down on the gluten that forms because that is what makes the crust “tough.”

Since alcohol and lemon and vinegar inhibit the formation of gluten, you can make wetter crusts that are easier to work with. Of course, the taste-effects of the alcohol, lemon, or vinegar are burned off and no residue of same remains. The beaten egg gives the crust a more golden look and a more pastry-like taste.

When I make pumpkin pies and need two crusts, or a fruit pie that requires a lattice top, I often make dough for three crusts. It is not a waste; the dough rolls out better; there is more to work with and thus easier; there is a thickness to the crust that lies on the glass plate that gives the pie crust more body but beware that it is not too thick.

This is not a crust that people leave on their plate as you often see when folks eat out the fruit (or whatever the filling) of a pie leaving the crust behind.

Denny Sullivan’s

Unbeatable Pie-Crust Recipe

Passed Down From Sally Gray

How to Make

Pastry-like Pie Dough

And get yummy responses from

your family, friends, guests, and even pets.

THE YIELD

This recipe makes dough for two nine-inch pie crusts. You can halve it to make one nine-inch crust. This is essentially the recipe one might find in a basic cookbook such as “The Joy of Cooking.”

THE PROCESS

Sift together:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

MEASURE (then add to the flour mixture):

2/3 cup chilled shortening like Crisco or lard

2 tablespoons of chilled butter cut into small pieces

WORK

Work the shortenings into the flour with the tips of your fingers until the pieces are the size of nickels or dimes; the pieces of chilled butter will take a bit of effort. The CIA recommends this method, cf. infra.

COMBINE (in a measuring cup)

5 tablespoons of water

juice from one lemon

one egg beaten

MIX

Mix the water-lemon-egg liquid into the flour mixture in a bowl using a fork until all or nearly all the pieces of dough form somewhat of a ball. Gather the pieces together and form a large ball.

PLACE

The dough onto a lightly-floured baking board and cut the ball in half; flatten both pieces to the shape of a hockey puck. Do not over flour.

WRAP

Each piece of dough in a piece of wax paper or plastic bag and put into the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Dough chilled out this way rolls out much easier but, maybe more importantly, chilling the dough allows time for the gluten strands in the flour to relax

TAKE OUT

The first piece of chilled dough and roll it out into a circle larger than the pie plate. Trim the edges so that the dough is circular. Gently fold the dough in half and place it in the waiting pie plate. You can watch Youtube sites to see how this is done. There are several ways to do this, some bakers swearing by one method versus others. NOTE: Roll away from the center,  do not roll back and forth; the dough will eventually stick to the pin.

ADD

In the pie, that is, place the fruit or other ingredients for your intended pie (e.g. apples, cranberries, and walnuts).

ROLL OUT

The second piece of dough like you did with the first and place that across the top OR cut the dough into thin (or wide) strips for a lattice pie top.

RECOMMENDED

You might consider putting the ready-to-bake pie in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to help keep the gluten in check.

ANOTHER NOTE

Chilling the dough before it is rolled out (and the ready-to-bake pie afterward) has to do with gluten and moisture. Again, the chilling allows the gluten to relax which allows for a flakier crust. It also allows available moisture to find its way back into the dough.