Pie: 101

This recipe makes enough dough for one 9 inch covered pie. If your pie only requires a bottom crust, use half this recipe. Note: for best results, make the full recipe. If only a single crust is required, make the full recipe and freeze half for later.

In contrast to bread, pie crust and other pastries should be made in a way that minimizes the development of glutin. Once the water has been added, the dough should be worked as little as possible, to minimize toughness in the finished crust.

 Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (310 grams) flour
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) sugar(optional)
• 1 cup cold (225 grams) butter
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon (80 mL plus 15 mL) cold water

 Procedure

1. Whisk 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar together in a deep bowl.
2. Cut 1 cup cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture.
3. Using a pastry blenderor two butter knives, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is in small pea-sized pieces.
4. Add 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon cold water; cut the water into the flour-butter mixture with the edge of a rubber spatual until it is evenly moistened and will hold together when pressed.
5. Form the dough into a ball with your hands, kneading in any loose flour. This should be done as quickly as possible to avoid melting the butter in the dough.
6. Chill the dough for 10-20 minutes.
7. Cut the dough evenly in half.
8. On a lightly floured board, roll each half out until it will cover a 9 inch pie dish, with about 3/4" inch overhang.

dry ingredients	added butter	blended butter	with added water
dough rolled into a ball	dough on a lightly floured board	dough flattened	dough rolled out
rolled dough compared to pie dish	crust in pie dish

 To Form a Covered Pie

1. Lay the bottom crust in the pie dish, ensuring that there are no gaps between the crust and the bottom of the dish.
2. Fill the crust with the pie filling.
3. Place the top crust on top, leaving equal overhang on all sides.
4. Cut the overhang to about 3/4 of an inch all around the pie.
5. Working around the pie, hold the bottom and top crust overhangs together and tuck the combined overhang into the pie dish behind the bottom crust.
6. With the forefinger and thumb of each hand, pinch the ridge formed by the tuck into a decorative edge, or press this ridge with a fork.
7. Brush the top of the pie with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Cut vents in the top crust so that steam can escape.
9. For a fruit pie, bake on the lower-middle rack of an oven at 425 degress Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to set the crust, then at 350 degreess Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to cook the filling.

Note: When baking two pies at once, rotate the pies 180 degrees at 15 minutes and 45 minutes to ensure the crust does not burn due to its proximity to the oven walls.

crust filled with fruit	top crust laid over filled bottom crust	3/4" overhang	how crust is folded over
edge completely folded over	edge of crust decoratively crimped	finished pies	milk brushed on top crust and sprinkled with sugar
vents cut in top crust	pies in the oven