A baker in my building told me my pie crust was tough and it took me 6 tries to fix it

I live above a pastry chef and she tried my apple pie last Thanksgiving. She said it was tough because I was overworking the dough and the butter was too warm. I switched to freezing my butter blocks and grating them into the flour with a box grater. After 6 pies in three weeks I finally got the flaky layers she was talking about. Now I keep a bowl of ice water on the counter to dip my fingers in before I handle the dough. Has anyone else had to completely relearn pie crust after years of making it wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar26d ago

Oh man that grated frozen butter trick is a game changer. My buddy Greg used to make these hockey puck pie crusts for years, his wife finally told him she hated them. He watched a YouTube video about a French chef who said to use a pastry blender and to NOT touch the dough with warm hands. Greg started chilling his bowl and the flour too, kept everything cold. Now his crusts are SO flaky you can hear them crack when you cut into them. He sends me pictures of his pies now like it's a new hobby.

emery87926d ago

The grated butter thing changed my whole approach too but I discovered it by accident when I was trying to make biscuits and my kitchen was freezing cold. Six pies in three weeks sounds like a lot of butter and flour but honestly those failed crusts teach you more than any recipe. Now I can feel the dough and know exactly when to stop mixing just by the way it looks and that took me years of making sad crusts to figure out.