Pie Crust

Any tips on making a pie crust with bacon? Santander, I expect to hear from you...

I have made a crust with chilled rendered bacon fat (for a maple chess pie) which turned out great, but never actual bacon.

Good luck.

Here's a recipe from Sara Moulton on Good Morning America for a vegetable pot pie in a cheddar bacon pie crust. It actually sounds good, and I'm sure it's adaptable...

Has anybody tried the Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust recipe from Pioneer Woman? I'm using the foodsaver to freeze apple pie fillings (looks like I overbought apples a bit; I've got 3 pies already and hardly made a dent) and I came across this recipe and thought it might be nice to freeze some dough, as that's the thing that usually comes between me and pie. Seems like a very wet dough.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has tried it, otherwise I'll post back; if it's any better than Pillsbury it'll be a staple: I tried freezing my regular piecrust, rolled-out into flat rounds but it shattered and was a real pain to put back together. Sometimes you need something faster.

Our results (using the Cook's Illustrated part-vodka version) was that it came out rather stiff and dry, and less flaky, after a stint in the icebox.

Right - that would be not dissimilar to my own experience with my regular crust - this recipe, though, is designed to be used from frozen (it does have quite a bit of moisture; I'd even say it was gloppy)

JoelF wrote:Our results (using the Cook's Illustrated part-vodka version) was that it came out rather stiff and dry, and less flaky, after a stint in the icebox.

Hi,

Could you be more specific. What was the recipe?

I am assuming that cured and smoked bacon fat (to replace lard) will make a stiff crust.

Organ fat, especially kidney fat (leaf lard) is much softer and makes for a wonderful crust.

Tim

Mhays wrote:Has anybody tried the Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust recipe from Pioneer Woman?

So, I tried it for a bit of post-Halloween-candy dessert - it's a good crust, not exactly like my vodka piecrust (though still flaky, it edges a bit towards shortbread cookie) It is, however, very easy to work from frozen and certainly something I'll keep in the icebox in place of Pillsbury; it's easier to work and comes out better. I wonder if I could make it with lard - the Crisco really lacks flavor. Bit of an ugly-duckling apple pie, but it was delicious: Mutsus with a brown/white sugar combination, a hint of cinnamon and a bit of allspice (and heck, it's Halloween.)

Not a holiday piecrust, but definitely a solid every-day piecrust.

I did not pay much attention when this recipe using crisco and vinegar and egg first appeared but did read it today. I will be married 50 years in April and have been using this as my go to pie crust for years. Before me my mother and aunt used the same recipe before me.

I have frozen extra dough for a couple of months, thawed it and rolled without any loss of taste or texture. I have always found this to be a flaky pie crust. My son would prefer I use butter but I still think the vinegar, egg crisco mix makes a great pie crust.
Paulette

paulette, I'm so glad to hear you have a history with this piecrust: it's really growing on me, and I can see why. After we ruminated on the pie a bit, we decided that what was really missing was the flavor of the butter, not the texture (funny how interrelated those two are.) I wonder, since it's frozen, if we could use ghee - or part ghee? I'm guessing the reason you can't use butter is because of the high water content, but ghee doesn't have that. At some point, I will experiment.



Here's a cut-in of the piecrust (topped with an egg wash and a sprinkling of orange halloween sugar) The coolest part is that I have two entire two-crust pies in the freezer in the basement: all I have to do is roll out the dough, put it in the pan, put in the frozen apple filling, top, and bake - while the baking takes a bit longer from frozen, I can get a pie in the oven in about five minutes! I'm thrilled!

Mhays wrote:...frozen apple filling...

Mhays, how are you making the frozen apple pie filling? Do you do anything to get rid of the excess water that is expelled by the apples after freezing? I am planning to give a frozen apple pie for a holiday gift, but I don't want the filling to be too soupy. The amount of liquid is probably very dependent on the type of apples. What kind are you using?

Cheers, Jen

I am a die-hard fan of Mutsus (also called Crispins or Senchus,) but they're hard to come by outside of a farmer's market. I also highly recommend the use of a foodsaver vacuum sealer for freezing pie fillings: if you fill the bag and put it in your pie dish (you should make sure you use a standard size) and then vacuum and seal, it holds its shape. Last year I used ziploc bags; they didn't present any problems but the apples weren't held together and it wasn't as pretty.

My recipe is loosely adapted from the Farm Journal's complete pie cookbook: I cut up about 8 medium-to-large apples, (make sure you sprinkle them with something to prevent browning - I happen to have citric acid, so I used that.) Mix together 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup regular sugar (sometimes I use vanilla sugar) 3 tbsp of instant tapioca or flour (I'm not so happy with the tapioca and am going back to flour) 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/8 tsp of allspice (I like my pie to taste mostly of apple, so I season accordingly) Sprinkle a heavy layer on the bottom of the bag you're filling, and then toss the apples with the remainder before you put them in the bag and seal them. When you're ready to bake, line your pie shell with pastry, dump in your frozen apples (the sugar will probably keep them from holding together like a brick, so be a bit careful) and top with remaining pastry. Bake at 450 for about an hour.

I do get a bit of seepage, but also a benefit: because moisture gets released when they're frozen, you don't have the usual problems with your top crust sagging. If you have enough thickener (it does depend a bit on the type of fruit) you shouldn't have too much trouble. Prior to discovering Mutsus I used Granny Smiths, but I wasn't as thrilled with them. BR suggested a combo of Winesap and Northern Spy, but I'm not sure where he sources them.

FWIW, on her website, Paula Hainey suggests dusting the inside of your pie crust with the crumbs and flour left from rolling out your pie dough. Makes sense: essentially piecrust crumbs are a slightly wet beurre manié.

I did Mutsus last year-- big plus is the fact that they hold together so well; smaller minus is that I don't think they have as much flavor. I find they really benefit from mixing with something else with more tartness (and in fact made a pie like that for a Halloween party last night which was mighty fine that way). To the liquid problem, they don't seem to give off all that much, but I also do Rose Levy Berebaum's thing of letting juice run off from a colander and then cooking it down/caramelizing it a little with a little butter.

The other thing any apple benefits from mixing with is Spice House's apple pie seasoning.

Mike G wrote:...I also do Rose Levy Berebaum's thing of letting juice run off from a colander and then cooking it down/caramelizing it a little with a little butter.

The other thing any apple benefits from mixing with is Spice House's apple pie seasoning.

Thanks Mhays and Mike G!
I just got bag of the Spice House apple pie seasoning and will try it out with my next pie. Also, I have a bunch of mixed apples from apple picking, including some russets and Golden Delicious. We went a little late in the season, so no winesaps this year, alas. The russets (I'm not even sure exactly what type) are really good, but small with a big core. For the frozen pie, I will probably do the RLB juice runoff and concentration method, and definitely the vacuum sealer, great ideas. The RLB juice runoff works great for peaches.

Cheers Jen

I did an apple tart once, and used the leftover peelings to make a glaze - my gosh that was amazing. There is so much flavor left in the peel!

For apple pies, I also use the Rose Levy Beranbaum method of letting the apples macerate in the sugar and lemon juice (which releases the juices as it would with any fruit mixture), and then reducing that mixture. I disagree with RLB when it comes to adding the spices to the liquid mixture to be reduced because I think that it's too easy to burn the spices. Instead, add them separately to the apples and mix well to incorporate the spices throughout.

As for apples, I'm a fan of Nichols Farm . . . they've had great Granny Smiths lately and Granny Smiths not only have the perfect tartness for apple pie but they hold up so well during baking. The Spies and Winesaps I've purchased have also been from Nichols - Seedling has nice Spies and Mutsus but I didn't find Granny Smiths or Winesaps.

Also, since I use an all butter crust, after I've filled the pie and sealed the top crust to the bottom crust, I put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes. This helps some in keeping the shape of the borders which otherwise quickly fall apart on an all butter crust. I've also read that this helps prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy, but I also bake on a stone to avoid this issue. In any event, I don't see any problem with preparing the pie completely, freezing it, and then giving it to a friend to bake. I would suggest wrapping it well though and making sure that your friend bakes it within a couple of days (note that I've never kept an unbaked pie in the freezer for more than 90 minutes). I don't think the freezing process in this case would result in additional moisture. If you try it once and it does, then you could slightly increase the amount of cornstarch/tapioca/flour.

BR wrote:Also, since I use an all butter crust, after I've filled the pie and sealed the top crust to the bottom crust, I put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes. This helps some in keeping the shape of the borders which otherwise quickly fall apart on an all butter crust. I've also read that this helps prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy, but I also bake on a stone to avoid this issue. In any event, I don't see any problem with preparing the pie completely, freezing it, and then giving it to a friend to bake. I would suggest wrapping it well though and making sure that your friend bakes it within a couple of days (note that I've never kept an unbaked pie in the freezer for more than 90 minutes). I don't think the freezing process in this case would result in additional moisture. If you try it once and it does, then you could slightly increase the amount of cornstarch/tapioca/flour.

BR (or anyone else who takes pies direct from freezer to oven) - Should I be concerned putting a totally chilled pie plate in a hot oven? I was worried about this last year so I took the pie out and put it into a room temperature plate. This might have been overly cautious, but i definitely would be even more worried about the chilled plate being put directly on a preheated stone.

Any experience or lack thereof with thermal shock during pie baking? My Thanksgiving guests thank you in advance for helping to keep their mouths free from Pyrex.

I usually bake frozen pies off in disposable pie tins, so it's never been an issue for me (most often, these are pies I'm taking somewhere, so it's just easier.) If I want to make them pretty at home, I nest the pie in its disposable tin inside the nice pie plate. (I am the queen of re-using aluminum pie tins, so waste isn't really an issue)

Yes, pies bake off nicer in a heavier plate, but I've never really had problems with the disposables. Probably not the answer you wanted...

I would think taking pyrex from freezer to oven would be a pretty risky proposition.

Mhays wrote::oops: I usually bake frozen pies off in disposable pie tins, so it's never been an issue for me (most often, these are pies I'm taking somewhere, so it's just easier.)

Me too

When I do use my glass pie dish, I take it out of the freezer, fill it, add top crust, etc. so I assume by that time it's warm enough. Nothing has cracked thus far.

For a new (old) pie crust, try this recipe:

Oil Pie Crust

• 2 ½ C Flour
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 ¾ tsp. Sugar
• 2/3 C Oil
• 6 Tbsp Milk

Mix all together with a fork. Roll between wax paper (this really makes this easy!) – 2 disks of dough

Place one disk in 9” pie pan. Fill with apple pie mixture. Top with second disk of dough.

Crimp edges and liberally sprinkle top crust with sugar. Cut vents.

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Then 350 for 45 minutes.

I've got nothing but rave reviews for years with this. I think it is all the sugar I put on the top of the crust!

Mhays wrote::oops: I usually bake frozen pies off in disposable pie tins, so it's never been an issue for me (most often, these are pies I'm taking somewhere, so it's just easier.) If I want to make them pretty at home, I nest the pie in its disposable tin inside the nice pie plate. (I am the queen of re-using aluminum pie tins, so waste isn't really an issue)

Yes, pies bake off nicer in a heavier plate, but I've never really had problems with the disposables. Probably not the answer you wanted...

I do exactly the same Mhays . . . I'd be scared to put cold pyrex/plate onto a hot baking stone . . . unless I'm trying to conduct a scientific experiment.