What's your favorite pie crust recipe?

[spinbaby]

I’ve always made a classic American crust—flour, salt, butter, shortening, ice water—but have lately been experimenting with other crusts. I’ve tried the vodka thing but didn’t really notice a difference. My latest pie experiment is in the oven now and has a crust that includes sugar and eggs—hardly a pie crust at all in my book.

[rzemanfl]

1. The one in the dairy case. n/t

[Saviolo]

2. Pie crust is one of those K.I.S.S. things, I think

Always gotta remind myself to Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Ours is very basic, and works very well. No bells and whistles, really lets the filling take centre stage:

&t=2s

[spinbaby]

3. That's a lot like what I usually make

Except I don’t do baking soda and vinegar. I wonder what the purpose of that is.

[safeinOhio]

4. Replace the butter with

lard. Try it, you’ll like it.

[Kali]

5. yep

no shortening or butter, just lard.

[OregonBlue]

7. The lard is delicous but I use all shortening because my mom did and I feel so guilty

using lard!

[safeinOhio]

9. Lard is better for you.

Not hydronated.

[OregonBlue]

10. But its pure animal fat?

[Kali]

14. we are talking pie crust

it isn't ever going to be health food no matter what kind of fat you use.

[spinbaby]

8. I do like it

A lard crust has been the flakiest of all the recipes I’ve tried. But I have vegetarians in my life.

[OregonBlue]

11. I agree. Love the taste but have pescatarians in the family.

[dem in texas]

6. Here's my never fail - two types

1. The kind in the dairy case, I keep on hand, used mostly for cobblers. I made a lot of fruit cobblers, they are so quick and easy.
2. Ina Garten's Recipe - Makes a generous double crust. sugar helps the crust brown, This recipe has never let me down. Plus I have large pie dishes and the dairy case kind are too skimpy for a big pie.


Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust.
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

[spinbaby]

12. After a day of pie baking

I’ve done nothing but bake pie all day. Tasters arrive for dinner tomorrow, but I’ve baked bits of dough separately to taste. The classic pate sucree with sugar and eggs holds its shape well, but is more like a cookie than what I would consider to be pie crust. The all-butter crust was very tasty and had a nice mouth feel, but became rather misshapen in the oven—the pie crimps melted. I also made a batch of dough with coconut oil, but decided not to make a pie with it after baking and tasting a small sample—nasty mealy texture.

[northoftheborder]

13. I've always done the traditional: flour, shortening or butter, salt, cold water.

However, I recently tried putting a tablespoon of vinegar in with the water. Wow - it was the flakiest I've ever made. Don't know what that does chemically, but it really made a difference. going with that for now on!!!

[spinbaby]

16. You're the second that's brought up vinegar

I’m going to try it next time.

[Grasswire2]

15. My aunt's recipe earned me two marriage proposals years ago.

Neither of which I accepted.

It also earned me state fair blue ribbon.

And a job as pie baker in a popular coffee house for a couple of years.

I love making pie.

It's a different old method, not widely known, but not totally unknown either. The dough can be a little tricky to handle but after countless pies it's all in the method.

And p.s. much simpler than cutting fat into flour and messing around with ice water.

[Lugnut]

17. No Fail Pie Crust

2 1/2 C Flour
1 C Shortening
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Egg
1/4 C Cold Water
1 Tbs Distilled White Vinegar

My mother always used this recipe.