Pie crusts.....

Can anyone make a really good piecrust from scratch? Mine always falls apart when I try to roll it out. It's almost fall, and Jerry is itching for his homemade apple pies..........

Me!!! you need more lard and butter in from the sound of things Susie?!

I wish I could!, I use the premade frozen ones.

I cheat and buy the premade ones (but not the frozen premade ones!!)
The best I know are made with lard-and it really should be "leaf lard". (as stating in cook's illustrated.
There is an Amish or Menonite bulk food store by our farm property and they will sell a limited of cherry or pecan pies (serious drooling) Their crust is excellent!!

Originally Posted by rosiemac

Me!!!

you need more lard and butter in from the sound of things Susie?!

Click to expand...

Lard is one thing I've got plenty of Chick!!

Just buy the frozen Pillsbury kind.

Then let them thaw & smoosh them around until it *looks* homemade.

I fib about my pie crusts big time. The stuff *inside* the pie is from scratch and "homemade", and well people THINK the pie crust is homemade; and well I do not correct them.

I consider it homemade cuz I paid for it and brought it HOME and MADE it look like a homemade pie crust.

So there.

Originally Posted by darkeyedgirl

Just buy the frozen Pillsbury kind.

Then let them thaw & smoosh them around until it *looks* homemade.

I fib about my pie crusts big time. The stuff *inside* the pie is from scratch and "homemade", and well people THINK the pie crust is homemade; and well I do not correct them.

I consider it homemade cuz I paid for it and brought it HOME and MADE it look like a homemade pie crust.

So there.

Click to expand...

After rolling out the pie crust, gently roll it around your rolling pin and carry the rolling pin to your pan and unroll the pastry over the pan. It's much easier to handle that way.

I make my own crust from a family recipe and it literally melts in your mouth but is very short and difficult to handle unless I do the above.

Try this.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

After rolling out the pie crust, gently roll it around your rolling pin and carry the rolling pin to your pan and unroll the pastry over the pan. It's much easier to handle that way.

I make my own crust from a family recipe and it literally melts in your mouth but is very short and difficult to handle unless I do the above.

Click to expand...

Another similar idea is to fold your crust in half, then half again, place the "point" at the center of the pie pan, and unfold.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I can't make pie crusts, but I can sure eat them! Jerry is lucky!

Psssst..... Susie! Get the Pillsbury refrigerated kind. No one will know the difference and they are good!

Lard and butter are the secret.
Pies are one of the few deserts I do very well.
Unfortunately, my family and friends know this as well, I make so many pies between Halloween and New Year's that I simply just don't bother making my own crusts anymore.
I rarely will eat pie anymore either.

I use The Joy of Cooking Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough recipe...

This dough is richer in fat than ordinary flaky pastry and is thus softer and more difficult to handle, but it ields a marvelously tender, flaky crust with a superb butter flavor. While it is possible to make this dough with butter only, a small amount of shortening makes it flakier without interfering with the buttery taste. Since this dough tends to puff out of shape during baking, you should not use it to make a crust with a tightly fluted or braided edge.

Before baking, please read About Flaky Pastry (and I would type that stuff in for you, but it's like a page long. It basically says to make sure that you don't cut the butter too uniformly fine, because the larger chunks make it flaky, and small bits help reduce the gluetin that forms. Gluetin holds the crust together, but it makes the dough tough... And their advice is that you practice). If you need only a single pie or tart crust, decrease all ingredients by half or freeze half the dough for another pie.

Using a rubber spatula, thoroughly mix in a large bowl:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar or 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (I actually use a bit more, but using too much can cause your crust to carmelize and burn)
1 teaspoon salt

Working quickly to prevent softening, cut into 1/4 inch pieces:

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

Add butter to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two knives, chop the butter into pea-sized pieces. Add:

1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening

With a few quick swipes of the pastry blender, cut the shortening into large chunks and distribute throughout the bowl. continue to shop with the pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces. Do not let the mixture soften and begin to clump; it must remain dry and powdery. Drizzle over the flour and fat mixture:

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water (I find that this can be too much water, so I add it a bit at a time until I've added enough)

Cut with the blade side of the rubber spatula until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form slamm balls. Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula. If the balls stick together, you have added enough water; if they do not, drizzle small amounts of water in (1-2 tablespoons), until they do.

Cut in the water, then press with your hands until the dough coheres. The dough should look rough, not smoothe. Divide the dough in half, press each half into a round flat disk, and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months; thaw completely before rolling.

I always do home made pie crusts and they always come out better than the store bought kind!

I use the Better Crocker recipe with shortening, but add a little extra water to hold it together when forming the ball. When I roll it, I form a firm ball, punch it down in a criss-cross pattern in the center to flatten it, put a lot of flour on top and extra flour rubbed on the rolling pin, and roll it out carefully from the center.

My husband bought me an Oxo rolling pin a few years back. It's black, non-stick and machine washable. It is a lot heavier than a normal rolling pin and better balanced. Here's a pic I've posted before (cover for a Humane Society cookbook). You can see the amount of flour I throw across the counter and the top of the dough, the rolling pin, and the extra flour on the rolling pin. All of that prevents the top from falling apart when you roll it back on the pin to roll on top of the pie.



This one turned into a peach pie (the peaches were off my tree) and Sam did lick the dough before I got it on the pie. Good thing I'm not squeamish! LOL

Oh... Rolling the dough isn't so bad if it's still cold, and as Momofmany said, use lots of flour on the rolling pin and counter.

And the people who have said to roll the dough up on your pin to transfer it to the baking pan are totally right. Folding can work, but if you're making a really flaky crust, like the one I typed in above, there's no way it would work.

And I can totally tell the difference between the Pillsbury crusts and homemade. The Pillsbury are so uniform and think. I like a nice thick crust on my pies.

I make my pie crusts from scratch. My grandmother was raised Amish, and she taught me how to make them.

Here's my favorite recipe for a one-crust pie...double it for a two-crust pie:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 Tbs. very cold water

Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in flour until mixture resembles course crumbs (I like to use a food processor to do this…just use the pulse button and be really careful not to over-mix it). Add the cold water and mix with fork or hands until dough sticks together. Roll out dough into two 12-inch circles. Line a 9-inch pie plate with one crust, and set the other aside.

I like them made with butter better than with lard or Crisco. But, then, I really like butter.

It sounds like either your recipe doesn't have enough fat, or you're overmixing the dough. That can cause it to get crumbly when you roll it out. You want it to still be crumbly when you're done cutting the fat in.

Wow everyone.......thanks for all the ideas and recipes!!

Lol, Susie, just for fun, I'm going to add another one....Charlie uses one that he got from pastrychef.com........

Mmmm, pie.

I don't really like pie crusts, there are a few good homemade ones that I do come across.

Cute Dog by the way!