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Over-processing at this point won’t ruin your dough but it will take you toward a crumbly, sandier dough. Leaving irregular pieces of butter in the mix will help create flaky layers during baking. Almost every pie dough recipe calls for too little liquid to bring it together.
What happens if you overwork pie dough?
When pastry dough is overworked in this manner, the resulting mass can’t absorb enough water. And without enough water, little or no steam can form in the oven to expand the layers.
Can you fix overworked pie dough?
Just sprinkle some cold water over the dough with your fingers and work it in—gently! —until the dough comes together. If your dough gets too warm, send it back into the fridge to chill out. When you take it back out, it should roll more easily.
What happens if you over work pastry?
Overworked dough can happen when using a stand mixer. Dough will feel “tight” and tough, as the gluten molecules have become damaged, meaning that it won’t stretch, only break, when you try to pull or roll it. Underworked dough on the other hand, won’t form a ball shape easily.
What makes a pie crust tough?
Tough and flaky are two different things. Tough refers to the texture of the crust and flaky refers to the air pockets that form flaky layers in the crust. In both cases, the secret is to avoid overworking the dough. In pie crust, you don’t want gluten to form so you don’t want to mix too much and overwork the dough.
What should you avoid so the dough doesn’t shrink in the pie pan?
To avoid shrinking crusts, use a metal or unglazed ceramic pie plate (available from The Pampered Chef) and blind bake the dough at 350°F. If you only have glass pie plates, you can still blind bake the crust. Just be sure to trim the dough a tad beyond the rim of the pie pan, perhaps 1/8 inch.
Is it better to use butter or shortening for pie crust?
The Pie Crust Takeaways Butter made a tastier, flakier, sturdier crust by far. This isn’t to say that shortening and lard aren’t useful ingredients. Shortening is a great way to get incredibly tender desserts.
How long should pie dough rest?
Putting the dough back in the fridge to rest for any time longer than 15 minutes – but ideally at least 30 minutes – allows the gluten to relax and allows the pastry to chill. Cool and relaxed pastry is far more likely to hold its shape when cooking.
Why is my pie dough sticky?
Your Dough Is Too Wet It’s shorthand for ensuring that your dough isn’t too wet. If it’s sticky, it’s going to be really difficult to roll out. If you add a bit too much water, it’s easily fixed by a little more flour.
Why did my pie dough shrink?
There are lots of reasons this could happen – oven temperature is too low or too high, the dough has been overworked or is too warm – and there are plenty of tricks to supposedly prevent this (special pans, pie weights, beans, freezing the crust, and so on), but even so the crust often shrinks and becomes cracked and Nov 12, 2018.
Why is my pastry so hard?
If your pastry is hard and tough, this may because too much liquid was added or the pastry was over-handled, resulting in the development of gluten. If your pastry is too crumbly and hard to handle, this may be because too much fat was added, it was over-mixed or not enough liquid was added to bind the fat and flour.
How do you soften hard pastry?
Merrill recommends putting dough near a warm stove, and pounding it with a rolling pin once it starts to soften. Trena cuts the dough into smaller pieces using a pastry cutter, figuring that they will come to room temperature faster.
Should I pre cook apple pie filling?
Pre-cooking the apple pie filling before baking ensures that the filling is never undercooked or watery. It’s also a great way to avoid that dreaded gap between the baked top crust and the filling. 6 Thanksgivings ago, I made a beautiful apple pie. I let it cool for 3 hours.
Should you bake the bottom pie crust first?
But the one surefire way to make absolutely certain your pie’s crust will be golden brown, crisp, and delicious — just as appealing as its filling — is to prebake it. That’s right: bake the bottom crust first, before adding the filling.
How do I know when my pie crust is done?
Tip: What’s the best way to tell if your pie is done? For fruit pie, the top crust will be golden brown, and you’ll be able to see filling bubbling around the edges and/or through the vents. For best results, let the filling bubble for at least 5 minutes before removing the pie from the oven.
What is the best tool to use to roll out a pie crust?
A pastry brush with natural bristles works better than one with silicone bristles.
What can I use for pie weights?
Pie Weight Substitutes Dried beans (it doesn’t matter what kind, just use what you have on hand) Dried rice. Granulated sugar. Popcorn kernels.
What are the best pie weights?
Best Pie Weights Most Natural. Mrs. Anderson’s Baking Ceramic Pie Crust Weights. Best Edge. ProtectorWebake Mini Silicone Pie Shield 4-Pack. Mini Silicone Pie Shields. Multiple Pies. R&M International 2723 Ceramic Pie Weights. Ceramic Pie Weights. Most Heat Resistant. ROCKSHEAT Ceramic Pie Weights.
How do you stop ready made pastry from shrinking?
When blind baking, line the pastry with baking paper and fill to the brim with baking beans/uncooked rice, which will support the sides of the pastry and help prevent shrinkage. Start shortcrust off at 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5 to quickly set the pastry. If the oven temperature is too low, the pastry will shrink.
