Perfect Pie Crust

I learned how to make pie crust from my grandmother Farish. She made the best pie I've ever tasted. Ever. I like to use a silicone mat to roll out my dough, but any hard surface will do.  Don't panic if your crust doesn't look perfect. Mine never does -- I don't mind if it looks a bit rustic. I care more about taste than presentation.  This recipe makes enough for a 2 crust,  10 inch pie. 

Note. Shortening makes the most flaky pie crust.l but when I’ve made it recently it has been a little grainy. I them to use all butter or a mix of shortening and butter.. Overhandling the dough makes for a tough crust so be gentle when combing ingredients. Over baking the crust can make it tough and a little bitter tasting. Watch your crust when baking!!

The ratio for a good crust is 3 parts flour, 2 parts fat, 1 part water. You can adjust the recipe depending on how many pies you want to make. Just make sure to consider the ratios mentioned above. This recipe makes enough for a two crust 10 in pie. 

600 g flour

400 g butter (or 300 g butter 100 g shortening)

200 g water

1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon sugar 

Mix dry ingredients 

Grate butter

Add to dry ingredients make sure all butter is coated in flour 

Add water a bit at a time. Toss sections of the flour until most. It should stay clumped when you lightly squeeze it. 

Dump onto plasticity wrap and use knuckles to form a ball. 

Cut the mass in half. 

Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour. 

Bake at 400. Dough should be really cold when it goes i to the oven. 

In. A large mixing bowl, add the the flour, sugar and salt and whisk to combine.

If you are using part shortening, cut the shortening into the flour until it is the size of small peas. 

Using the large holes in a grater, Grate your very cold butter.  

Dump the grated butter into the flour and using your hands gently toss until all the butter is coated with flour.

 Using two tablespoons at a time, sprinkle a section  of flour mixture thoroughly with water. Toss that section of flour with a fork to incorporate the water.  Repeat the process in an nother section of the flour mixture until all of the water is incorporated. 

The trick to knowing if you have added enough water to the flour is to gently squeeze sections of the dough. If it stays together and you don’t see alot of dry crumbs. If you have a section of doughy that is moist, set it to the side of the bowl and focus on the dry crumbs. Using a tablespoon at a time sprinkle water on the dry areas just enough to moisten. You do not want wet sticky dough. Patience is key!

Gather the dough into a loose mound. Cut the dough in half. Gently shape each piece into a disc and wrap with plastic. Place the discs of dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour before rolling out.   I usually leave mine in the refrigerator over night. 

Prepare your work surface by dusting it generously with flour. Do the same to your rolling pin. Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll out working from center outward. to about 1/4 thickness.  Don’t use a rolling back and forth motion or your dough will be tough and uneven. 

Fold the rolled out crust in half, lift into pan. Open the dough and shape to the pan so that it is secure against the bottom of the pan. You want excess dough to hang over the edge of the pie pan . Add pie filling and then roll out the second disc of dough for the top crust. Place it on the top of the pie and using scissors, cut off excess dough around the edge and crimp edges with fingers. If there is excess dough, roll out and cut decorative shapes with small cookie cutters to decorate top crust. 

Place the pie in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven. 

 Bake according to pie directions.  

 If you are baking shell only, pierce the dough all over with a fork.  Scrunch up a piece of parchment paper and use it to  line the inside of the crust. Weight the paper down with beans or pie weights, making sure they fill the pie level with the edge of the crust. Bake at 425 on the lowest rack the oven for 15 minutes. Or until  a light golden color. If you are worried about the edges burning, cover the edge with foil. 

If you don’t plan to make pie immediately, you can keep these discs in the freezer until ready to use. Let the dough thaw for about 20 minutes before rolling out.