# I'm so mad...



## sarah (Nov 15, 2004)

i love making pies,but i always have problem rolling out the dough,it starts breaking up at the corners,or it becomes so hard i cant roll it out enough,and always end up having it short for the pie pan,i've even tried ready made pie mixes,but no luck so far....can anyone help me make a perfect pie crust?


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## jkath (Nov 15, 2004)

I hate to admit it, but I use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust - 
it is really flaky and easy to use....really!

Now I have a feeling that Audeo will come up with something perfectly wonderful, followed by Norskog with an organic one,
and then Konditor will give us the recipe that even Emeril wishes he had, as well as the origin...and we will all be truly amazed.

Let's hope they are all sleeping so they don't see my shortcut!


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## crewsk (Nov 15, 2004)

http://www.discusscooking.com/viewtopic.php?t=5176

Sarah, I found a thread on here about making pie crusts. I hope this helps you some! I'm like jkath & use the refrigerated ones.


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## sarah (Nov 15, 2004)

thanks crewsk,i think i'm gonna try those methods,lets hope they work...


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## sarah (Nov 15, 2004)

jkath said:
			
		

> I hate to admit it, but I use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust -
> it is really flaky and easy to use....really!
> 
> Now I have a feeling that Audeo will come up with something perfectly wonderful, followed by Norskog with an organic one,
> ...


 hey i've never used that crust,is it good? maybe i should try that one too...hushhhh,dont tell anyone...


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## -DEADLY SUSHI- (Nov 15, 2004)

Hey..... YOUR pissed!? I just found out that the Chicago O'Hare Airport expansion plan will be over the building Im living in!  :x  They are trying to annex the CITY I live in! HOW CAN THEY DO THAT!!!!!!!????????


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## Ardge (Nov 16, 2004)

My flaky pie crust is usually made with pastry flour, but I can NEVER find it in small amounts anymore.  I used to have a formula to make pastry flour from blending bread and cake flours, but I found that to be excessive.  If I don't have pastry flour, I use AP flour.  Pastry flour is the best for pie dough, but AP works just dandy as well.    

_By the way, this dough has to be rested at least 6 to 8 hours in the fridge before rolling it out.  I always make mine the day before I intend to use it.  _


*FLAKY PIE DOUGH*


20 oz Flour, Sifted

14 oz of REALLY COLD UNSALTED Butter, cubed up pretty large.  (3 and a 1/2 sticks.)

1 oz of Sugar

1 teaspoon of Kosher Salt

7 oz of REALLY COLD water.



Dissolve the sugar and salt in the water.  Keep the water mixture in the fridge.  Cube up the butter and keep it in the fridge.  Sift the flour into your mixing bowl.  With a paddle going, drop the butter in the flour in about 3 additions.  Paddle till the butter has broken down into smaller chunks.  (Chunks of butter is what we are looking for.)  When there, add the water mixture and paddle till dough comes together when pinched.  Do not overwork, and DO NOT CREAM THE BUTTER.  If no chunks of butter are in the dough, the crust will not flake.

Wrap, chill, roll, boom.

It should roll out pretty darn nice.  One more piece of advice I can lend you is to roll the dough BACK onto the rolling pin after it has been rolled out.  This way you can unroll it nicely on top of your baking dish without tearing it.  Neato, huh?

RJ


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## jkath (Nov 16, 2004)

-DEADLY SUSHI- said:
			
		

> Hey..... YOUR pissed!? I just found out that the Chicago O'Hare Airport expansion plan will be over the building Im living in!  :x  They are trying to annex the CITY I live in! HOW CAN THEY DO THAT!!!!!!!????????



Does that mean that they have to pay you a lot of money to leave?


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## lyndalou (Nov 16, 2004)

As frustrated as I get, I keep trying to make my own, and sometimes I do a good job.  And sometimes I do a lousy job.  

In the event of a bad job, I use Marie Callenders frozen crusts, and no one would know I didn't make it myself.  They are great. I've also used Pillsbury but prefer the MC.


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## Audeo (Nov 16, 2004)

Jkath, I'm highly complimented by the inclusion there!  Let's just say your kindness and generosity is exceeded only by your extreme good looks!  (An old family quip...and true in your case!)

Thanks, crewsk for excavating the earlier thread that I hope will answer Sarah's questions, or at least offer some thoughts as she tries her next crust.   I don't remember if it was stated there or not, but one is fighting the formation of gluten in pie crusts, hence the resting/chilling period after mixing.  And mixing, itself, is done as little as possible.  As Ardge offered in his recipe, it is critically important that all ingredients are as cold as possible, especially when making a butter-based crust.  And I will put all ingredients and everything, including the bowl and pastry blender, into the fridge to chill.  

When mixing, I definately do not want the butter perfectly incorporated into the flour, preferring instead little clumps here and there that will streak out when rolling.  And when adding water, I add just enough (ice water, by the way) to allow the dough to hold together when I squeeze a bit in my hand.  It still looks dry and never forms a "ball" on its own volition.  When it just begins to hold together, I dump the mass onto a board, scoop it gently into a round, flat wafer-shaped glob about 6 inches in diameter, wrap it in lots of plastic and toss it into the fridge to chill thoroughly and to relax.

When I roll out the dough, I prefer to do so on a floured (lightly so) board, instead of between waxed paper, etc., so that I can lift the dough and take quarter turns to keep it round and, moreover, to keep the dough from sticking and stretching and (later therefore) shrinking in the pan.

Having said all that...(is anyone looking here?  Good!)

I've used the pillsbury ready crusts before when in a pinch and they served me well!  They produced a nice, flaky crust, but I tend to make deep-dish pies more often that not, and they just don't give me enough dough to work with, unless I roll them paper-thin and that defeats my purpose entirely.  I also make a lot of turnovers and occasional meat pies, so making my own dough gives me the ability to adjust the crust for sweet and savory uses.  The ready-made crusts are, indeed, quite tasty and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, if that gets people making pies!

After years of miserable failures and occasional victories, I finally settled long ago on the recipe I use every time now and know what to expect from it to achieve consistent results.  I'm sure, sarah, that you'll do the same until you find a recipe and method that works best for you!  Just keep practicing!


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## PA Baker (Nov 16, 2004)

Sarah, I always make my pie dough well in advance and freeze it.  When I know I'm going to use it, I put it in the fridge 24 hours ahead.  I then let it sit out at room temp for about 15 minutes before rolling it out.  That should keep it chilled but not too hard to roll.  Don't worry it the edges break, you should have enough dough from your recipe to trim the edges and clean it up.  You can also dampen your finger with water and run it over the cracks to seal them once you get the pastry in the pan.

Another trick I swear by for light flaky crust is to add 2 tsp red wine vinegar to the ice water before adding it to the dough.  I don't know the science behind it but it makes a difference.

Hope you're having better luck now!  If you want my recipe let me know--I'm happy to share, I just don't have it with me right now.


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## kansasgirl (Nov 16, 2004)

You will no doubt get many opinions about this.  I have made all kinds of crusts, but I think that this kind is the most consistent and easy.  It is really flaky, but easy to work with.  There is no worry about making sure that the butter is cold or chilling the dough, just make a great crust.  This is the only kind of crust that my grandma ever made and we all would fight for the crust and leave some of the fillings behind!

Oil Pie Crust
2 c flour
1 ts salt
1/2 c oil
4 tb cold water

1.Mix together the flour and salt.  Drizzle the oil over the flour mixture and blend with a fork.  Drizzle in water, 1 tb at a time, working with a fork to get a smooth dough.  Roll out between sheets of wax paper.


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## sarah (Nov 18, 2004)

kansasgirl said:
			
		

> You will no doubt get many opinions about this.  I have made all kinds of crusts, but I think that this kind is the most consistent and easy.  It is really flaky, but easy to work with.  There is no worry about making sure that the butter is cold or chilling the dough, just make a great crust.  This is the only kind of crust that my grandma ever made and we all would fight for the crust and leave some of the fillings behind!
> 
> Oil Pie Crust
> 2 c flour
> ...



  heyyyy this sounds so much easier than the buttery crusts and like u say tastes just as great,hmmm,i guess i'm gonna try this one ,after audeo's recipe,cuz i really wanna see will it be any better if i use the food processor...


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## Audeo (Nov 18, 2004)

Sarah, you can take anything kansasgirl prints to the bank!  I've little doubt that if placed in a cookoff with some of our more famous made-for-TV chefs, she'd spank 'em soundly and leave them writhing in embarrassment!

We looking forward to the results of your experimentations!  It's so much fun, this adventure of cooking!


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## kansasgirl (Nov 19, 2004)

OMG - you are too much! I think that sometimes things are just made entirely too complicated.  In my opinion, sometimes the simple ways of doing things are the best!


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## Audeo (Nov 19, 2004)

I stand by my statement, kansasgirl, and you darned well know it!  I've been one of your fans for a long time now, well before here...!

I admire your ability to achieve the simplistic...that it truly a forced method for me it seems!  By the way, it you ever need a truly complicated method of doing anything, please do call me...


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