Here’s the deal: I’m pie crust challenged. My mother was able to make gorgeous pie crust by “feel,” and I obviously did not get those pie crust chromosomes.
I’m getting a BRAND NEW STOVE on Wednesday. (drool, drool)
Naturally, one of the first things I’d like to produce is a pumpkin pie.
Don’t worry about the filling, I can accomplish that beautifully.
My question is: Can I use those frozen phyllo sheets to make a crust for my pie?
~VOW
I just make a cookie crust for pumpkin pie most of the time, because I can’t be arsed to make a pastry crust. Besides, I actually prefer the cookie crust. All you do is crush bunch of plain cookies of some sort/gingersnaps/graham crackers/etc, add enough melted butter until it comes together and sticks, line your pan with them and you’re done.
I think that would make for a very odd pie crust. Fortunately for you (and me, who also fails at crust-making), there are very good pre-made pie crusts available. I don’t like the frozen ones already in a pie tin all that much–I use the refrigerated ones. Grocery stores usually seem to keep them in the cooler near ready-to-bake cookies and the like. You let them warm a bit, then just unroll them into your pie plate and trim off the excess.
Seconded. Refrigerated - NOT frozen - dough usually makes a pretty good result, especially if you’re in a hurry, can’t make a mess or have anti-dough chromosomes.
Phyllo would not make for a good pumpkin pie crust. If you’re not blessed with pie-crust-making abilities, just buy some refrigerated ones, like these. They make perfectly good pies.
I’ve gone the refrigerated route, and I know they are good. I’ve also bought many a graham cracker crust in my years of baking.
When I first got married (back in the covered wagon days), I even used the oil crust recipe. I don’t like it.
I stumbled across a hot water pie crust recipe that WORKS, even for pie crust idiots such as myself. It really does make a beautiful crust, as long as you don’t handle it too much (then it turns to leather). But it must cool in the refrigerator for a hour or two before it’s manageable.
I was just thinking that phyllo would give a lovely, flakey crust, especially if it is layered with melted butter and sprinkled with a bit of sugar.
~VOW
Oh, and the frozen crusts are like chewing on unflavored jerky…
~VOW
I don’t have a ton of experience with filo/phyllo, but it seems too delicate to pour a ton of wet filling over - the flakiness will disappear under the wet pressure. Most recipes wrap the filo around small fillings, or use it in upper/top layers.
But it’s worth a try.
My grandmother was the best cook I know, and she used to make excellent crusts. But then, she says that they changed the formulation of Crisco, and that they didn’t work any more, and so just went ahead and used the refrigerated crusts from the store. If that was good enough for her, it’s good enough for me.
I’d vote for the store-bought crust also, since you’re only going to need a bottom crust.
Chronos: I gotta give a :dubious: to your grandmother on that one. My sister makes the best pie crusts evah with no problems with the Crisco.
Yep, but it’s not quite as easy as a refrigerated pie crust. You do need to butter between a few layers. Here’s a good recipe: Spiced Pumpkin Phyllo Pie Recipe | Bon Appétit
I use nothing but Whole Foods’ gluten free frozen pie crusts now, even for non-gluten free pies. The very qualities that make wheat pie crusts not great frozen and gluten free fresh pie crusts not great make a gluten free frozen pie crust awesome!
I can’t count how many thousands of pie crusts I’ve made over the years, as a baker.
My favorite recipe for crust is as follows:
4 pounds flour(1815 grams)
3 pounds shortening*(1360 grams)
3 cups(710 ml) ice water
1 tablespoon(20 grams) salt
*The shortening I use is a very firm “baker’s shortening” we get in 50 pound blocks. When I use Crisco the results aren’t exactly the same, but not too far off. A very firm margarine might be good, but lard would be even better.
Of course, the above recipe is for a LOT of crust. Cutting it down for about the amount needed for two crusts would be about 3.75 ounces shortening, 1 cup flour, and 55 ml ice water, and .25 teaspoons salt.
Mixing is the usual, cut the fat into the flour quickly, to get a crumbly mixture, pour ice water over it and mix just enough to get an even texture. Try not to over mix.
I’ve made so many pie crusts with the big honking rolling pin at work that my hands have developed what may be called “muscle memory” when it comes to the pressure needed to roll out the dough. When I tried to use an ordinary rolling pin at home it’s like playing with a toy. So I bought a big pin for home use.
VOW, I have used phyllo to create mini pumpkin pies for party treats. I topped each one with a pecan.
While they turn out tasty, they have no storage power as the phyllo bottom gets soggy after a short time. I have not experimented with forming and then freezing them for baking later.
I generally make pie crusts with corn oil, not shortening, in the recipe. You need less oil than shortening and the crust turns out delicious and flaky.
Not disagreeing too strenuously with Baker up there, cause you know, baker, but I’d throw in a modification. Use vodka instead of water. You can make it colder, which keeps the lard solid, and the alcohol inhibits agglutination. It’s probably too pricey for commercial use, but considering the effort in a home made pie I think its worth it.
And don’t use margarine. I mean it.
Ditto Bill Doors vodka suggestion. I started using 50% ice water, 50% vodka in my crusts a few months ago and it makes them very flaky.
Like I said, Momma made her pie crust by feel. She’d put a certain amount of flour in her bowl, add an eyeballing of shortening, and use her hands to mix. Then however much water it took to make it all stick together.
She always made the perfect amount, two pies, one pie, two crust, lattice crust…and there was always enough dough left over to cut into pieces and bake on a cookie sheet, with just a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar. We called those “crusties.”
Me? My method is to measure out the flour, measure out the shortening, mix the two together (hands, two knives, pastry blender, I’ve tried them all) and then sprinkle in the one tablespoon of water. When nothing happens, I add another tablespoon of water. Blending crumbs that won’t stick together, I get a glass of water, and keep adding until it finally forms a ball.
When I try to roll out the ball of dough and then place it into the pie pan, it breaks. I keep trying, until finally I dump it all in the trash, I demand my husband go to the grocery store and buy a premade crust, and then I fling myself across the bed and cry my eyeballs out.
Unless you have the genetic predisposition to make pie crust by feel, I think that making pie crust by the standard recipes found everywhere is really a huge hoax, much like the stupid “Magic Eye” pictures.
~VOW
Chefguy, the claim isn’t that it’s impossible to make a good pie crust with modern Crisco, but simply that Gramma’s old recipe doesn’t work with modern Crisco. It’s quite possible that, if she had stuck with it, she could have come up with a new recipe. But she didn’t.
Don’t use the phyllo. Buy the Pillsbury refrigerated crusts. Feel no guilt over it…even one of the most celebrated cooking authorities recommends using them.
For years I used a homemade mix that I would mix up in bulk and then just add water to as needed. Now I either do the Cook’s Illustrated vodka recipe (when I have vodka) or Martha Stewart’s basic recipe in the food processor. Or I buy the pre-made dough. I should know the answer to why your dough rips, butI can’t remember if it means too much flour added while rolling out or handling it too much, and truly…you will be happier if you use the premade crust. Life is too short to have one pie a year ruin your life.
Just a tease. Moms and their pie crusts: it’s like a religion.
If we start making chili pie, we’ll have a holy war on our hands.