There are two basic methods of making a pie dough-with hand or in a machine. In my kitchen tests I compared the results made with hand, in a food processor and with a food mixer. The food processor did a respectable job but the food mixer did not. Even with the food processor, you need to finish mixing by hand or you are likely to end up with an unfortunate overworked dough.
To make the dough with the processor, follow your manual’s instructions only until the ingredients begin to coalesce. Then dump the partly-formed dough on a pastry board and complete the last steps by hand.
Whether by machine or hand, the idea is to cut the hard, solid fat into the flour so it remains in discernible pieces. By hand you can do this with two knives working them parallel but in the opposite direction, or a pastry blender that meant for this purpose. Or simply quickly rub the fat into the flour with cold fingers.
A food mixer doesn’t mix the dough very well, leaving fairly large chunks of unworked fat in the dough. Longer mixing eventually gives a more homogenous mass but at the cost of overworking and warming the dough that bakes into dense, tough crust.
While we are on mixing, let’s distinguish the two types of American pie crusts-the flaky type in which you mix solid fat into the flour until still fairly coarse, around pea size, and the mealy crust in which you mix the fat thoroughly into the flour until very fine. Southerners prefer mealy crust while the rest of the pie-lovers like the flaky type.
For mealy crusts you can use food processors to form the crust a little longer-it is still good to finish the last few second by hand. Some cooks like to use a pastry cloth for rolling out pie dough. There is even a tube-shaped pastry cloth that fits over the rolling pin. A pastry cloth minimizes sticking and the need for additional flour.
For experienced bakers it is just an additional gadget to store and clean. Quick
work and correct dough consistency at the right temperature assures problem-free rolling without any help.
Cookbooks tell you to shape the finished dough into a ball before chilling. However, shape yours into a flat disk. First, a disk is thinner, cools faster in the refrigerator. Second, it warm up faster when you are ready to roll it out. And third, a disk is easier to roll into a circle than a ball- with a disk you are already half-way there.
Cover the disk with plastic wrap or place it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill and relax. After the dough had a nice long rest, bring it to about 50°F (10°C) for easy rolling. The secret of a good rolling technique is to work the dough from the center out with deliberate but not vigorous movements. Coax the dough to roll out thin-don’t force it.
The dough may refuse to obey you if there is not enough flour on the board and it sticks instead of thins out. If that happens, gently lift the dough and sprinkle a fine dusting of flour under it as well as on the rolling pin. This should give you the upper hand. Never gather the dough again and roll it out twice-it toughens the crust.
Once you start, you are committed. For the same reason, don’t work too much of the trimmings from the first pie crust into a second crust or a top crust. Make “orts” out of them, instead, by sprinkling each leftover piece with cinnamon and sugar, or cocoa and sugar, and spread them on a baking sheet. Put them in the oven with the pie, but remove in 10 minutes or less, depending on their thickness. Orts are great sweet tidbits to nibble on.
To transfer the finished dough circle from the work surface to the pie plate, roll it up on the rolling pin, hold it over the plate and unroll it over the pie plate. Avoid stretching it any more because it causes more shrinkage on baking. If you need to move it to center the dough on the plate, lift and move, don’t stretch. The gluten remembers its original shape. If you stretch it, it will spring back in the oven like a rubber band. Another method of transferring the rolled-out dough is to fold it in half and then again into quarter. Lift it onto the pie plate and unfold.
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