No fail pie crust

This week’s Technical Tuesday video and post is late ironically because of a technical issue. I normally edit my videos late Monday evenings, and sat down to do so last evening, only to discover that I had forgot to change the time lapse setting I had been using on one of my cameras. I had to reshoot it all today, but I digress….

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and like many of you, I will be having pumpkin pie for dessert. So I thought this was the perfect chance to show you how to make a no-fail pie crust. Pie crusts are one of those things that so many people hate making, but it is much easier than you realize, and with a little practice you can master it as well.

First thing, first is the proportions. Like so many things in the kitchen, it comes down to ratios. If you have seen any of my videos, or read any of my posts, you will know that I love my kitchen scale, and believe that weighing your items is much simpler and certainly far more accurate. With this pie crust recipe, nay, formula, it could not be easier to remember. 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, and 1 part water. In the video below, I use 300g of AP flour, 200g of salted butter, and 100g of ice cold water.

Now, if you don’t have a kitchen scale, you really should, but for now, you can use 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of butter, and 3.5 fl.oz. of water to get pretty darn close.

Begin by cutting the butter into the flour. The goal is to get small pieces of butter that are coated in flour. If this is for a top crust, you want a flaky pie crust, and you are looking for pieces of butter about the size of corn nibs. For bottom crusts, and honestly, it works well for top crusts as well, you are looking for rice size pieces of butter. But never forget, the goal is not to completely blend the flour and butter together; its about cutting the butter and coating it with the flour.

Once your butter has been cut through, add your water and just mix enough to pull together a dough. The less you mix this, the more tender your crust will be. Mixing will develop gluten, and this will give you a tough and chewy crust.

Roll it out and place it in the pan. Watch the video to see how you can use the rolling pin to lift your crust without ripping it. Don’t forget to poke some holes into it to allow some of the steam to escape.

Now, if you are intending to use this for a cream pie or a lemon meringue pie, or something that requires a baked crust, you will want to blind bake. This means that you will want to weigh it down; I use dried white beans. I also add a piece of parchment paper to make it easier to remove the beans after its cooked. Pop it in at 350F and wait until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.