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From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: no-fail pie crusts
Message-ID: <154@opus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Oct-85 03:29:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.154
Posted: Thu Oct 24 03:29:15 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 07:41:11 EDT
References: <250@sdcarl.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 31

> The secret that i've discovered for successfully making pie crusts is
> to have ALL of the ingredients well chilled.

Not at all necessary.  It may be helpful to counteract other problems, but
I've made wonderful pie crusts using room temperature ingredients except
for adding HOT tap water--to prove the point to people who think cold is
the secret.

> For mixing i just use a pastry blender; the thing with 5 or so wires
> bent in a curve with a handle attached.  Perhaps a food processor
> would work but it is too easy to over-process stuff with them.

This is a good point--easy to overdo the blending.  You can do a better job
of the blending if you do the first half of the shortening very thoroughly
before adding the second half of it.

> The second thing that i use that most likely helps is a spray bottle
> for adding the water.  It allows me to apply the water very evenly to
> the shortening/flour mixture.

More importantly, it allows you to monitor the amount of water that goes
into the crust.  Once you have the required amount of shortening mixed in,
the amount of water needed is critical to the final texture.  Since
different flours behave differently, and absorb different amounts of water
from the air, you can't follow a strict recipe for the amount of water.

Allowing the crust to rest, as mentioned in the parent article, is
unnecessary, though it won't hurt.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...At last it's the real thing...or close enough to pretend.