Pumpkin Pie Question!

[Jamicat]

One Bottom Crust…

1 cup flour ( 8oz)
One Stick Butter (4oz)
1/4 Cup Cold Water (2oz)
Pinch of salt
Enough Crisco to wipe down baking pan.

Cut butter into the flour, add water till incorporated. Dough should be loosely pliable with small butter globules holding it together. Don’t over mix.
Refrigerate till ready to use.

Add flour as you roll it…or just press into greased pan…fill and bake.

Easy as 3-2-1.

[stargazer]

If you are loath to try the mass-produced pre-made crusts, you might see if there’s a local bakery that sells theirs. Here in Seattle (and in their Portland branches, too, I assume), Grand Central Bakery sells their crusts frozen for you to thaw & roll out. They don’t last as long in the fridge/freezer as the mass-produced ones do, but they also don’t have the scary ingredients that make those last so long.

[hogarth]

@WhyNot

If we start making chili pie, we’ll have a holy war on our hands.

Mmmm…barbecue chili pie…

[Inner_Stickler]

@VOW

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 could have written this. This mirrors my experiences so well. First, how are you trying to transfer the pie crust? Perhaps this is a duh for you but no one ever told me about rolling it halfway up the rolling pin and then unrolling the crust along the pie plate. Once I started doing that, my crusts broke so much less than when I tried to scrape them off the counter with a spatula and place them over the pie plate with my hands.

The other problem I had was that I had too much flour for my fat and made the dough too perfect before I rolled it out so the extra flour I used in rolling it out got added to the dough and made it less elastic. Once I started letting the dough stay a little stickier before I floured the counter and rolling pin, they rolled out a lot smoother and didn’t break in my pie plate. And you know what? If they do break, I take an extra piece of dough and press it in the rip. I have made entire patchwork crusts before and you know what? They taste the same and anyone who complains about less than pretty crusts gets told, “I made you pie, shut the fuck up and eat it.”

[Kimballkid]

@VOW

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

I think the step you may be missing is this:

@Jamicat

Refrigerate till ready to use.

You should refrigerate it a little while before rolling.

[VOW]

@Kimballkid

I think the step you may be missing is this:

You should refrigerate it a little while before rolling.

Hmm. I suppose that I COULD try that…but the recipes I was using never mentioned refrigeration (except for the boiling water piecrust recipe I have that works for me) and Momma never refrigerated hers.

It might be worth a try.
~VOW

[Rhiannon8404]

I recently started refrigerating mine after mixing and before rolling out. Maybe 10-15 mins. It really helped with the rolling out.

[qualityleashdog]

No one ever taught me pie crust. I just made it by the directions in ‘The Fannie Farmer Baking Book.’ I recommend learning, rather than trying the shortcuts, especially if you’ve mastered the filling and other skills. You’ll be glad you did. Then you can use the cheats, always knowing you’ve got a plan B. Real lard is one thing I suggest. Store bought lard beats Crisco, but if you’ve rendered it yourself (especially rendered from kidney fat), you’re sure to beat Aunt Bee in the cook-off.