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Pie Making Tips
Adding Ice Water
Fill
a pray bottle with ¼ cup of water and store it on its side in the
freezer. When you’re making pastry, grab the bottle from the freezer
and fill it with water, which quickly chills on contact with the ice in
the bottle. Spray ice water over pastry mixture as needed. This method
insures that the water is evenly distributed over the flour mixture,
making it unlikely that you will add too much.
Preventing Sticking
It
seems that no matter how much you flour the counter, pie dough often
sticks as you roll it. Adding more flour is not the solution and can
actually make the dough tough.
Slide a bench or pastry scraper under
the dough every 30 seconds or so. This way the dough does not have a
chance to stick, and it won’t tear when you need to move it. If you do
not own a bench scraper, use a metal spatula in the same fashion.
Measuring the Dough to Fit the Pie Plate
Invert the pie plate over the rolled dough. There should be an inch or two of extra dough on all sides of the pie plate.
Moving the Dough
Work
a bench scraper or thin metal spatula under the dough, then roll the
dough onto the rolling pin. Move the rolling pin over to the pie plate
and gently unroll the dough over the filling.
Fluting the Edges of the Dough
Kitchen
shears make the best tool for slicing away extra dough. Leave about ½
inch of dough hanging over the rim of the pie plate so you have
something to flute.
Fold the excess dough under itself, pressing it firmly to seal. This double-thick edge can be fluted or decorated as desired.
To flute
Hold
the inside of the dough with a thumb and forefinger of one hand and
press the outside of the dough with the forefinger of the other hand.
Pie Weights
If
you do not have pie weights, dried beans are a good substitute. Put
parchment paper over crust. Spread beans over parchment and bake
crust.
Lattice Top
To make a lattice top pie, use a thin, inch-wide metal ruler to line up the length and the width of the lattice.
Taken from the Best Kitchen Quick Tips by the editor’s of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
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