It is time to take a look at my progress towards finding answers to my authentic questions. I believe I have made good progress in my quest for the perfect pie crust. I have noted the questions I feel I've answered in green, those that I'm not content with the
Authentic Guiding Questions on my
Quest for the Perfect Pie Crust
1. What makes a great crust?
Based upon informal conversations with co-workers, friends, and family I've concluded that while people's general opinion on "the perfect crust differs slightly" a common trend is that the crust is slightly crunchy, flakey, and the flavor compliments the type of pie. For example, a slightly salty crust is ideal on sweet berry, fruit, and cream pies.
2. What sets a homemade crust apart from a store bought/ready-made crust?
Store bought pie crust, which I have been using for years because of my previous epic fails at homemade pie crust making, are not vey flakey, bland, and can be tough.
3. How do different ingredients impact the finished/baked crust?
This questions needs more investigating. I am very interested in comparing using Crisco verse butter as the fat ingredient.
4. Is there one standard recipe with different preparation variations?
I've discovered that the basics are similar, however, the one big difference is the fat of choice. The recipes I have found either use butter, Crisco, or good old fashioned lard! All recipes I found use ice water though as the liquid.
5. Or, are there many recipe variations with a standard preparation?
It seems that the standard preparation is to cut -in the fat ingredient into the dry ingredients then ad the water. Some recipes say to use the food processor to so this and others say to use a pastry cutter/blender. Another difference I've noticed in the videos if how the pie is transferred into the pie dish. Several bakers roll it up onto the rolling pin. My MIL rolls the dough out on wax paper then just flips it into the pie tin.
6. Should different types of crusts be used for different types of pies?
The informal answer is, probably, yes. My formal answer is, I'm still looking into this. I want to visit Betty's Pie Whole Saloon and see if they use different crusts for their wide variety of pies or if they use the same crust for sweet or savory pies.
7. If yes, how do you determine which type of crust to use?
8. How do you keep the crust from becoming rock hard?
The advice I've read says to be sure not to over work the dough. This causes the fat ingredient to melt and then the dough can become tough.
9. How do you keep the crust from becoming overly soggy?
10. How do you keep the crust from splitting/cracking apart when putting it into the pie dish?
Practice? I'm still working on this skill.
11. How do you make the pie crust more decorative and how do you make the top of a cherry pie look like a lattice?
Another skill I've yet to tackle.
information I've gained so far are noted in orange, and questions I still have are in red.
Authentic Guiding Questions on my
Quest for the Perfect Pie Crust
1. What makes a great crust?
Based upon informal conversations with co-workers, friends, and family I've concluded that while people's general opinion on "the perfect crust differs slightly" a common trend is that the crust is slightly crunchy, flakey, and the flavor compliments the type of pie. For example, a slightly salty crust is ideal on sweet berry, fruit, and cream pies.
2. What sets a homemade crust apart from a store bought/ready-made crust?
Store bought pie crust, which I have been using for years because of my previous epic fails at homemade pie crust making, are not vey flakey, bland, and can be tough.
3. How do different ingredients impact the finished/baked crust?
This questions needs more investigating. I am very interested in comparing using Crisco verse butter as the fat ingredient.
4. Is there one standard recipe with different preparation variations?
I've discovered that the basics are similar, however, the one big difference is the fat of choice. The recipes I have found either use butter, Crisco, or good old fashioned lard! All recipes I found use ice water though as the liquid.
5. Or, are there many recipe variations with a standard preparation?
It seems that the standard preparation is to cut -in the fat ingredient into the dry ingredients then ad the water. Some recipes say to use the food processor to so this and others say to use a pastry cutter/blender. Another difference I've noticed in the videos if how the pie is transferred into the pie dish. Several bakers roll it up onto the rolling pin. My MIL rolls the dough out on wax paper then just flips it into the pie tin.
6. Should different types of crusts be used for different types of pies?
The informal answer is, probably, yes. My formal answer is, I'm still looking into this. I want to visit Betty's Pie Whole Saloon and see if they use different crusts for their wide variety of pies or if they use the same crust for sweet or savory pies.
7. If yes, how do you determine which type of crust to use?
8. How do you keep the crust from becoming rock hard?
The advice I've read says to be sure not to over work the dough. This causes the fat ingredient to melt and then the dough can become tough.
9. How do you keep the crust from becoming overly soggy?
10. How do you keep the crust from splitting/cracking apart when putting it into the pie dish?
Practice? I'm still working on this skill.
11. How do you make the pie crust more decorative and how do you make the top of a cherry pie look like a lattice?
Another skill I've yet to tackle.