Making pie dough in walk-in freezer/outside in winter?

[Junkbot]

How cold does everything have to be? Do people put their flour in the freezer as well as their butter? I don't have a food processor, and my dough always comes out tough cause the pastry cutter takes so long.

[janeer]

I live in HOT Tucson, and also do a lot of pie baking in the hot, humid summers of New England. No reason to have tough pastry, in any weather. I don't refrigerate my flour--I use it too fast--but you could. Your fat should be cold (but not frozen) and you should use ice water. And chill your pastry (freezer or fridge) before rolling. But other than that, it sounds like you are over-working. I use my fingers, working rapidly. Try that, or a fork.

[Lisa Shock]

Don't overwork, make sure the fat stays in fairly large, pea-sized chunks, don't over-moisten. You can sub out half the ice water for cold vodka to lessen gluten development.

[Mjx]

I've generally found that the shortening becoming warm tends to make the dough greasy; I agree with Jane, if your dough is tough, it's probably being overworked.

Even in mid-winter, in the unheated kitchen in our last flat (effectively a walk-in refrigerator, according to the thermometer), my hands seemed to warm up enough to soften the shortening (and I hate using metal tools, because the sound/vibration of them moving against the bowl makes me cringe), so I'd cut the butter into slices, then thin strips, then tiny cubes (tossing the butter in a little rice flour between each set of cuts, to keep the bits from sticking together), then chill (not freeze, since that's like trying to work together flour and pebbles) the butter while I was getting the rest of the ingredients gathered and set to go. The tiny cubes of butter work in very quickly, so the dought is light rather than grasy and heavy.

In terms of avoiding tough dough, what worked for me was switching to a recipe that replaced part of the water with vodka (gluten doesn't develop well in the presence of alcohol). Swapping in a bit of rice flour for the wheat or spelt I usually use also gives good results.

[Junkbot]

Thanks for the suggestions. One more question: what can I do with overworked pie dough? I'll try the new techniques, but there are a few mounds in the fridge that I know are overworked.

[Mjx]

Thanks for the suggestions. One more question: what can I do with overworked pie dough? I'll try the new techniques, but there are a few mounds in the fridge that I know are overworked.

Roll out, maybe season it, and make crackers?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Also, try a lower-protien pastry flour. I can make a decent crust with all-purpose flour, but King Arthur pastry flour is better.

[DianaM]

Thanks for the suggestions. One more question: what can I do with overworked pie dough? I'll try the new techniques, but there are a few mounds in the fridge that I know are overworked.

Roll out, maybe season it, and make crackers?

I second Mjx's idea. Grate lots of cheese on top, that will help with the taste, because plain pie dough tastes very bland.