How to Make a Pie- Part 3- Pie Crust & Assembly

The ingredients needed to make a delicious, flaky pie crust are very simple: flour, shortening, salt and water.  That’s it.

Flour- When I first started making pie crusts I used Gold Medal, or sometimes Pillsbury.  There were never any complaints.  About 15 years ago I attended a King Arthur Flour presentation, and by the time I left I was convinced that King Arthur was the best flour ever.  When I got home I threw out all my old flour, bought a bag of KA, and have been using it ever since.  Baked goods all turn out great with King Arthur flour.  Occasionally my grocery store runs out of it, in which case I buy Robin Hood, which is also pretty good.  Sometimes I also buy Bob’s Red Mill white flour since I like all their other products.  This flour is nice for most baking, but I don’t like it for pie crust because it makes a dough that is too soft and tricky to handle.  

Shortening-  I was raised in upstate New York where we had Fluffo shortening, so that is what I used.  It has not been produced for at least 10 years, so now I make pie crusts with Butter Flavor Crisco, which is great.  It’s not exactly a health food so don’t read the ingredients.  Just serve a quinoa arugula salad before the pie and you’ll be OK.  

Salt - You can use either sea salt or earth salt; it doesn’t matter.  But if you try to leave out the salt entirely the crust won’t taste right.

Water - Some recipes say to use ice water, but I never do.  Cold tap water is fine.

How to Make the Crust-

Pre-heat the oven to 425.  You may need to use an oven thermometer to make sure you  have the right temperature.  My oven is a little hot, so I set it to 400.  

Before you start on the crust it’s a good idea to put on an apron and take off your rings, if you have not done so before making the filling.  Then get out your equipment, as described in a previous post- a large bowl (I use the second largest one in the Pyrex Cinderella set), pastry blender, rolling pin, rolling cloth and rolling pin cover, measuring cups and spoons, table knife and fork. 

Measure about 2 1/4 cups of flour into the bowl.  Add 1/2 tsp. salt and mix them together with a fork.  Then add 1 cup of shortening, which is available either in convenient pre-measured sticks or in a can.  If you are using canned shortening, as I am here, rinse both the cup measure and the table knife with cold water.  This makes it much easier to scoop the shortening out of the cup measure.  

Now cut the shortening into the flour with the pastry blender, using the table knife to keep the shortening from getting clumped onto the pastry blender.  Do this until the shortening pieces are about the size of small peas. 

Finally, sprinkle about 1/3 cup cold water into the dough and mix it with a fork.  Use a light touch and do not mash the dough.  

At this point the dough should stick together and there should be no dry flour left in the bowl.  Add a tablespoon or two of water if necessary, to make sure the dough will hold together.  If you are in doubt, it is better to err on the side of too much water rather than too little.  If the dough is a little too sticky because of too much water, this can be easily dealt with by using more flour for the roll out.  On the other hand too little water will yield a pie dough that will not hold together, at which point you will have a real problem on your hands when you go to assemble the pie.  So make sure you have added enough water.  Gather the dough into a ball, then divide this into two balls.  Make one slightly larger than the other.  

Roll Out Crust & Assemble the Pie     

I like to roll out pie crust on the kitchen table rather than a counter top.  Lay the rolling cloth out on the table and put the cover on the rolling pin.  Sprinkle flour on the cloth and rolling pin, and spread it around so both surfaces are coated with flour.  Place the larger ball of dough on the rolling cloth; press 

it down lightly.  

Begin rolling out the crust with light strokes, working from the center of the dough towards the edges.  After about 5 or 6 strokes, stop and neaten up the dough by gathering the edges toward the center a little.  Then continue with the roll out until the crust is at least an inch larger than the pie plate all the way around.  

Check by turning the plate over onto the rolled out crust.  

When you are satisfied that the crust is big enough carefully fold it in half, place it gently in the pie plate, and unfold it. 

Adjust the dough to settle it into the plate.

          Pour the filling into the crust.  You may need to taste the filling again to make sure it is still good.  

Then roll out the top crust.  Check the size by holding the filled pie plate over it.  Do not invert the pie plate this time as the filling will all fall out.  As you did with the bottom crust, fold the crust in half, place it over the filling, and unfold it.  

          And now here is one of my most important tips for making a flaky pie crust- Do not press the edges together!  Do not crimp or flute them.  This may be quite decorative, but it will make the crust tough.  Instead, use your fingers to roll the edges of the top crust gently over the edges of the bottom crust, working around the pie and trimming excess dough as necessary.  Here is another important tip-  Do not give the scraps of excess dough to your dog for a treat.  If you do he will pester you for dough scraps every time you make a pie.  It is already too late for this spoiled dachshund.  

          Once the pie is all assembled, cut a cross on the top with a sharp knife.  And before you put the pie in the oven, take it over to the sink and dab the edges with cold water to prevent them from burning.  

Bake the pie for about 35 minutes, more or less, depending on how well done you like it.  Here is a picture of my blueberry pie just after it came out of the oven, 

and again about 20 minutes later when my husband realized it was ready.  

Pies are rather fragile when they are fresh out of the oven, so unless your husband is more dextrous than mine do not allow him to cut into it, especially if he likes to cut it with a fork.  That can be a mess.  

          Fruit pies can be kept at room temperature for a few days, but I like to keep mine in the refrigerator if there is room.