Home-made Pie Crust: Tips & Troubleshooting

[AAQuesada]

Niacin works for me lol. 

[JeanneCake]

You could look at vegan pie crusts - they most likely use a vegan shortening/butter substitute or the one on the blog My Quiet Kitchen has one that is GF, DF and oil free.  I looked at it a while ago when we had someone ask for a DF/GF fruit tart 😉 but then they decided against it so we didn't end up making it.  (It uses almond flour if a nut allergy  is an issue)

[weinoo]

52 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:

You could look at vegan pie crusts - they most likely use a vegan shortening/butter substitute or the one on the blog My Quiet Kitchen has one that is GF, DF and oil free.  I looked at it a while ago when we had someone ask for a DF/GF fruit tart 😉 but then they decided against it so we didn't end up making it.  (It uses almond flour if a nut allergy  is an issue)

And this is why cooking for others is a pain in the ass. Even though it wasn't always so.

[weinoo]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Or eat the pie and tell your doctor you don't want to take a statin.

 

 

Yeah, this is my go-to. But he's so ready to write the prescription with his pen he no doubt got from the statin company.

[jimb0]

2 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

You could look at vegan pie crusts - they most likely use a vegan shortening/butter substitute or the one on the blog My Quiet Kitchen has one that is GF, DF and oil free.  I looked at it a while ago when we had someone ask for a DF/GF fruit tart 😉 but then they decided against it so we didn't end up making it.  (It uses almond flour if a nut allergy  is an issue)

 

but op's issue is fat, and there's really no way that they have anything approximating a traditional pie crust that is also low in fat. it might be a vegan fat (e.g., almond flour), but it's still fat. i bet it's delicious - almond flour is tasty - but i've never had anything from anyone made with almond flour that ate like a traditional pie crust. i expect it's more akin to  a chewy cookie or graham cracker crust in texture (which is not necessarily a complaint, all those are delicious, but they aren't really pie crusts in the sense of them here, i think).

Edited February 10, 2021 by jimb0 (log)

[kayb]

A couple of other ideas for reducing the amount of crust used:

 

• Instead of two crusts, use one, roll bigger than needed, trim the edges and use the trimmings as "dumplings" stirred in with the filing.
• Make a lattice top and use trimmings for dumplings, also leaving off the bottom crust

Vegetable shortening might make for lower cholesterol. There is a "butter flavored" one that's moderately tasty; I've used it in biscuits.

[AlaMoi]

lots of good points.  I think the most 'best' approach is simply the "use less" idea.

one crust done very thin....

 

I am going to try reducing the fat, though.  just wondered if anyone had already tried it.

 

btw, I've done an almond crust for a lemon tart - veddy tasty:

[Susanwusan]

I'd like to make this recipe tomorrow and don't have time to experiment https://www.food.com/recipe/gingerbread-cookies-large-batch-397494 .  Will it work if I use butter instead of vegetable shortening?  I have to make stars with a hole in the top to hang on a tree.

[JeanneCake]

I think it should be fine; you'll get a little more spread with butter so if you can chill the cut out cookies that will help.  The recipe has you rest the dough overnight to help hydrate the flour; we do this with our gingerbread cookie dough (which is from Rose's Christmas Cookies, we routinely scale this up to a 9x batch size and mix in our 30 qt Hobart)  and it's an all butter recipe.  If you find this recipe online, it's easy to make, and the taste is not too spicy so it's fine for kids and adults.

 

Edited to add: you will likely have to remake the hole when you take them out of the oven; do this before the cookies cool

Edited November 13, 2022 by JeanneCake (log)

[AAQuesada]

You really want to use a solid shortening if at all possible (lard, crisco, coconut oil-solid not liquid) butter being 18%ish water is a problem and with out the water butter is brittle. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

40 minutes ago, AAQuesada said:

You really want to use a solid shortening if at all possible (lard, crisco, coconut oil-solid not liquid) butter being 18%ish water is a problem and with out the water butter is brittle. 

 

What do you mean by brittle?

 

[AAQuesada]

As in not flexible. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if you take out all of the water and clarified butter that it is still not going to act the same as a solid shortening in pastry

[Susanwusan]

28 minutes ago, AAQuesada said:

As in not flexible. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if you take out all of the water and clarified butter that it is still not going to act the same as a solid shortening in pastry

I did wonder about clarifying the butter.

[Susanwusan]

By the way, thanks everyone for your quick replies! 🙂

[Katie Meadow]

We don't do a lot of pie baking in our house. I could put this in the Stupid Questions thread but I don't know if it's stupid enough! Okay. If the filling does not get baked in the shell, and you need a fully baked shell first, do most recipes lend themselves to this type of treatment?

 

We baked the RLB open face blueberry pie. The filling is spectacular. We did not use her crust recipe, instead used one we had never tried before. We did follow her general instructions for pre-baking:  after the dough has been refrigerated in then pan she makes a sort of parchment paper shell that fits over the pie shell, puts in beans or pie beads, and bakes that at 425F for 20 minutes. Then she has you  remove the parchment and beans, prick the bottom and sides with a fork and bake it for another 5-10 minutes until pale golden.

 

Here's my question: can you fully pre-bake most pie crust recipes this way? We used a pie dough recipe we had never used before and it wasn't very good: it looked picture perfect but was tough. It's unclear if the recipe was simply lousy or the recipe didn't take to this treatment. My husband, adept at breads and biscuits, wants to know can he use the Julia Child pie crust he's had success with before and do the same technique, adjusting for her temp specs? Are certain pie crust recipes that are better than others if you want to fully bake first? Thanks in advance! Sometimes it's staggering how little I know about baking pie, but that's because I rarely practice.

[JeanneCake]

yes, you can adapt that method to your recipe.  and  yes, that blueberry filling is wonderful!  I like RLB's cream cheese crust  myself.

 

If you use disposable pie tins, you can also bake the shell upside down.  Make a sort of crust "sandwich" - line one tin with the dough, chill and when you want to bake it, then put a second tin on top of the dough.   Bake the shell upside for the first part of the baking, then (carefully) flip it over and remove the tin on top of the dough to finish baking.  You might want to spray the (outside of the) top tin so the dough doesn't stick.  We do this with the 3" pie shells we make.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks, @JeanneCakeUnbeknowst to me my husband ended up making RLB's crust for the blueberry pie, but it's good to know her method for a fully pre-baked crust is adaptable. I like her reasons for using parchment paper instead of foil. Interesting concept using two disposable tins, but I don't have those and from where I sit it sounds like an opportunity for drama that I don't need on Thanksgiving!

[AKS613]

Most likely too late, but just thought I’d add my two cents: I do the blind baking a little differently: 350F for one hour (beans and parchment-filled). Works great every time. 

[haresfur]

Today I learned that some people line the pie shell when pre-baking rather than just pouring the beans in and out

[TdeV]

13 hours ago, haresfur said:

Today I learned that some people line the pie shell when pre-baking rather than just pouring the beans in and out

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand this. Could you please re-state? Line the pie shell with what?

[ElsieD]

18 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand this. Could you please re-state? Line the pie shell with what?

Dried beans, usually.  That's what I do.

[pastrygirl]

33 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Line the pie shell with what?

 

Foil or parchment paper so the beans don't bake into the pastry.

[AlaMoi]

beans baking into / sticking to the pastry crust is a real issue.

 

instead of 'lining' - I blind bake 1o-15 minutes, allowing the crust to dry a bit, then add the beans for 'weight' - carry on.

 

the problem I experienced with using parchment/et.al. on the crust to 'prevent' sticking is the same problem with using another pie pan - moisture in the crust cannot escape and all the parts of the crust . . . except the bottom . . . do dry/blind bake - but the bottom remains wet/sticky/gooey/whatever . . .

[Deephaven]

Perhaps I make thinner pie crusts than most, but I've found for any fruit pie that pre-baking isn't necessary and actually has a negative effect.  For custards and such of course it is a different story.  For that I use some old dried beans I save just for that purpose.  I use exactly the same pie crust for both.