We Tried 6 Ways of Making Flaky Pie Crust and Found an Absolute Winner

2 weeks ago

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An overhead position of 6 unsighted baked pastry crusts utilizing different methods.

If there’s ever a clip to make your ain pastry crust, it’s nan holidays. The other effort put into homemade treats is an look of emotion for your family. After all, you typically person a small much clip to walk connected cooking projects this clip of year. You tin show disconnected your beautiful ceramic pastry plates connected nan buffet and put to usage each those crimping techniques you studied successful how-to videos for your pumpkin, pecan, and pome pies.

So, What Is nan Best Way to Make Flaky Pie Crust?

For pastry mixed that’s easy to activity pinch and that bakes up incredibly flaky, sturdy yet tender, and rich | successful flavor, it’s champion to spell pinch a half-and-half blend of food and shortening. Read connected to study much astir really each of nan methods fared.

Pie crust tin beryllium a small intimidating, though — moreover for knowledgeable bakers. The purpose is tender, flaky layers, pinch small shards of crust pinch each bite. Achieving that perfect texture takes attraction successful nan mentation and successful nan prime of ingredients. If you take poorly, you could extremity up pinch a reliable crust, 1 that’s much chewy than flaky, and/or 1 that’s bland. In an effort to find nan champion approach, I tested six ingredient-based methods for pastry crust to spot which 1 would reign supreme.

How I Found nan Best Way to Make Flaky Pie Crust

The ingredients: Pie crust doesn’t require galore ingredients, truthful I made judge to take ones that I cognize execute good —namely King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour. For nan butter, I went pinch nan unsalted assortment (which is standard) from nan marque Land O’Lakes, and erstwhile it came to shortening, I utilized Crisco sticks.

The guidelines recipe: For each test, I utilized Erin McDowell’s All Buttah Pie Dough, a highly rated look for a single-crust pastry — and I simply tweaked nan look for nan method I was testing (e.g., replacing nan food pinch shortening).

The tests: Making pastry crust is simply a spot of a process. I watched nan accompanying how-to video for nan pastry crust look linked above, which offers tons of awesome tips for mixing and rolling nan dough. I utilized nan aforesaid steps for each pastry crust I tested.

After mixing together nan dough, I formed it into a disc and chilled it for 1 hr earlier rolling it out.
I utilized heavy-duty disposable pastry plates for each my tests.
After fitting nan pastry mixed into nan pastry plate, I chilled it for 10 minutes to let for immoderate shrinking. At that point, I trimmed nan excess dough, folded nan edges under, and fluted them.
I docked (or pierced) nan mixed each over, including nan sides; lined nan mixed pinch parchment paper; and filled it completely, up to nan edges, pinch dried beans.
Because I was baking pumpkin pies (with a bedewed filling), I parbaked each crust astatine 425°F for 15 minutes, past removed nan parchment and dried beans, and baked for 3 minutes to barren retired nan bottommost of nan crust.
I besides baked immoderate of nan scraps arsenic “chips” truthful that I could area successful intimately connected nan texture.
After cooling nan crust, I baked a pumpkin pastry utilizing the look connected nan Libby’s pumpkin can.
I baked each of nan pies connected nan aforesaid day. After allowing them to cool completely, I tasted them each broadside by side. I besides refrigerated nan pies and tried them again nan adjacent day.

Ratings: I judged each method connected a standard of 1 to 10, pinch 10 reserved for absolute perfection. The main criterion was texture, pinch nan extremity of a super-flaky and tender crust. A secondary information was flavor.