Pie Crust

113 g cake flour

113 g AP flour
1 T or 15 g sugar
1 t or 4 g salt

1 C cold butter
3-4 oz ice cold water

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.

With a bench scraper, roughly chop butter.
With a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour until pea sized.
Straining out ice, drizzle just enough ice water into flour.

Stir in smeary strokes with a spatula.

Dough should be shaggy and crumbly when finished.

It is not necessary that the dough adheres to one ball.
Dough should be between 65 and 70 F; if not, refrigerate.
Using a well floured surface, roll/press dough into a rectangle.
Make a book fold (4 layers).

With a dough scraper, cut in half and stack (8 layers).
Cut dough in half with a bench scraper.
Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap, forming circular discs.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

See below for baking.
Yields 2 pie crusts.

For 2 larger pie crusts,

170 g cake flour

170 g AP flour
4 1/2 t or 22 g sugar
1 1/2 t or 6 g salt

1 1/2 C cold butter
4-6 oz ice cold water

I roll pie crusts between 1/8" and 1/16".

The larger recipe allows the crusts to be rolled towards 1/8".

Additionally, it provides more crust to flute.

Blind Bake

Sprinkle flour into glass pie dish.
Roll dough out larger than pie dish.
Place in pie dish, amply lining the curve.
Trim, tuck, and shape rim.

Use scraps to create a thin disc to reinforce the bottom.

Alternatively, use scraps for potential patchwork after the bake.

Freeze crust 30 mins.
Place pizza stone on lowest rack and preheat oven to 375.
Cover dough with foil and fill completely with baking beans.
Place dish on aluminum baking sheet.

Make sure foil is bent all the way over pie crust edges.
Bake 50 mins or until golden brown underneath.

If baking a double crusted pie, can reduce this timing.

If desired, cover edges and bake with no weights a couple more minutes.

(Definitely do this if you're patching up the crust with extra dough).
Can egg wash with beaten white to create a thin barrier.

Let cool about 10 mins.

Gently release and transfer into a clean baking dish.

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Pie - My Thoughts

The point of the first bake is to get a crispy bottom.

Shape a large piece of foil so it hugs and protects every bit of pie crust.

Fill foil entirely with baking beans so nothing can shrink.

Baking low and slow is good for evenness.

Baking on higher heat gets a bit more layer activation.

375 or 350 fan is a pretty good compromise.

Putting that pizza stone under the pie dish helps.

Butter will leech over the top, so using a baking tray is a good idea.

Never skip the step of transferring the crust to a perfectly clean pie dish.

If baking again (not an ice box pie), sprinkle the clean dish with flour.

This ensures that the crust slices, releases, and serves well.

I also recommend creating lattices and freezing them before needing them.

You just need to know the right diameter first.

This way, no egg wash gets in the filling.

I'm against adding pats of butter to a pie filling.

Always pour the filling into the middle to keep the edges clean.

If the filling can be shaped, create a dome with a high middle.

The point of the second bake is to bake the upper crust.

We want a fairly high heat for this - 400 or 375 fan is pretty good.

Cover the crimp well; it can burn very easily.

You can use the same piece of foil from blind baking.

Just puncture the center and mold the foil around the crimp.

I use a silicone shield, which is easier and does a pretty good job.

Bake until the top crust is very close to how you want it.

It won't change much during the third bake.

The point of the third bake is to set the filling.

You can do this as low and slow as you like.

Typical is 325 (no fan), which is low enough to barely alter the crust.

Internal temps guarantee a well set filling once everything has cooled.

Gently warm fillings beforehand to lessen the timing of the third bake.

    chicken or turkey - 165

    custards - 170

    fruit, pumpkin, & sweet potato - 175

    pecan - 190

    beef - 190

If filling doesn't get hot enough, it will be too runny.

If fillings get too hot, they can bubble and burn.

Custards will become grainy and crack while cooling.

If topping with streusel, sprinkle topping on for last 15 mins of baking.

At these low temps, you don't have to be too precise.

Cool pies overnight before serving if possible.

Cut with a sharp knife, all the way down through the crust.

Remove the first two pieces at the same time.

LTK, based on
seriouseats

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