How to make perfect pie crust: Canadian Living Test Kitchen

[theoriginalpauly]

Did anyone else notice on the finished pie, the lower crust looks like it was store-bought?

[TullyColleen]

@theoriginalpauly Hi there, you have a point it does resemble a store-bought pie crust from that quick angle. However, this is not the case. Christine is an expert pastry chef and made the entire pie by hand. What you're seeing is a pie crust that shrunk slightly during baking (which happens to all pies), and released moisture between the crust and the pie plate. Thanks for commenting! Colleen Tully, web food editor, Canadian Living

[howtodocertainthings]

It's always interesting seeing how people put together their pies.

[RedTwiEyes]

totally copping Southern living.

[TullyColleen]

@RedTwiEyes thanks for your comment. Most women's lifestyle magazines have a basic pie crust that - due to the nature of its simplicity - are all quite similar. We appreciate being compared to a great magazine like Southern Living. I assure you all our recipes are developed in our own test kitchen in Toronto to suit Canadian palates, and we would never "cop" a Southern Living recipe.

[DarkAngelPaige]

theres nothing like a perfect pie crust

[Tuberinio1949]

I think the crust here is too thick. I would roll it out thinner than this. Much thinner. The egg vinegar trick is ok and produces a good crust tho not as flaky in my opinion as just using flour, salt, fat and water which is all my mother ever used. She made great pies. I would never use butter in a a pie crust. That produces what the French call pate brisee. I prefer using all shortening.

[TullyColleen]

@Tuberinio1949 thanks for your comment! Like a lot of food, pie pastry is perfect to the eater when it replicates what your mother or grandmother made. Great point about the pate brisee. This pastry recipe is one of the standards we use at Canadian Living, but is by no means the only way to make pie pastry. Shortening makes a nice flaky crust too.

[lbilowus]

This is a great video to have in your library. It's nice to actually SEE someone do this. I've had people tell me how but nothing beats seeing it being done. Also, everyone has their own way of making crusts so hearing from the experts helps out a lot! Thanks.

[crazybabes1991]

what if i dont wanna use lard? can i just add more butter that u suggest in this video? and how many should i add?

[TullyColleen]

@crazybabes1991 You can use all butter, however, the pie crust may shrink slightly when you bake it, due to the higher moisture content of butter over lard. Use a really high quality butter with a low moisture content for best results. If you want less shrinkage, you can knead slightly softened (but still cool) butter and the water will separate out of it, in order to get a higher concentration of butterfat. Make sure you re-chill the butter until hard before using it in your pastry.

[pansy1231]

I made a great apple pie with this recipe. Thanks a lot.

[ramynoodles28]

i used this recipe to make a cherrpie i picked the cherries out of my yard and made it from scratch and hands down this crust was absolutley AMMMMAAAAAAZING!

[TullyColleen]

Lard is rendered pork fat, and was the definition of Canadian cooking as olive oil is to Italian cuisine before the invention of cheap vegetable shortenings. Lard is making a comeback as it is naturally trans fat free (the bad bad fat). Lard has less saturated fat than butter, and loaded with mono- and polyunsaturated fats (the good fats). Lastly, nothing compares to lard when it comes to pastry. It has large crystals allowing for flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pie crust. Long live lard!

[M4037331]

what is lard

[celticpro]

I looked at this video, i did not comment untill i tried it out first, then i did as the lady said..as i had never made a apple pie before but i can say with out a shadow of a doubt it is the best apple tart i have tasted. i dont know if its the egg but the crust turned out way beyond my expectations thank you

[thesix107]

Supposedly this is bad already. I haven't even watched the whole video. From other videos I've seen, you should add the butter first, bec it's harder than lard. And you want even distribution of the fats. And you shouldn't be running the thing the whole time when the eggs are going in, you risk overworking the dough. Supposed to just pulse until you see the consistency start to come together, and then ball it with your hands.

[squito94]

Take your thumb and forefinger and shove it up your a@#.

[Vivalarachie]

Okay, my third post on this video. I tried the recipe and it came out quite well. The only problems I encountered were a slight toughness and significant shrinkage, probably due to the recipe calling for so much water. Most pie crust recipes call for 3-5 tablespoons. This one calls for almost 2/3 of a cup. If you're baking a pie, you might want to go with the traditional flour, butter, water, salt method. If you're making a galette/crostata, this would work quite well.

[sh97]

The dough may need up to 2/3 of a cup of iced water, but you have to take into account that this recipe is for a double crust- that is 3 cups of flour to start.

[reikidennis]

I did not find any toughness, but I am sure that some might. This recipe gave me a wonderfully flaky pie crust. I have tried some of the "traditional" recipes, but found this one to be so simple and delicious.

[warokian]

why vinegar

[cfortnerXYZ]

@warokian the answer is (with as little chemical knowledge as instinct) that the acid inhibits the formation of long strands of gluten (you want to develop gluten in bread) hope this helps. the classic American Southern Strawberry shortcake uses a vinegar crust similar to this.

[Vivalarachie]

Why does the recipe for pie crust on your website not include a food processor?

[lovelythel]

looks good and simple, thanks

[Vivalarachie]

Can you use all butter?

[cfortnerXYZ]

@Vivalarachie Yes, you can but it will be "tougher". If you use all lard you get a certain flavor that not all people appreciate; however, it will be softer and generally more "flaky". This is the voice of experience, NOT science or schooling.

[SiRpAnTsPoIsOn654]

Could Any Body Help Do I Hv To Use Lard Or There Anything I Can Use Instead Of Lard Please Reply

[Aprilshowersss]

just use shortening... also there are other vids that only use buter and have a simpler recipe. ive never seen such a complicated pie crust recipe anyway. simpler is usually better when it comes to pie crust

[cfortnerXYZ]

@SiRpAnTsPoIsOn654 -yes you can use any fats in basically the same amounts, you can use margarine, butter, chicken fat (schmaltz) bacon grease, crisco, any fat that is in a solid state-I wouldn't substitute oils simply because I'm afraid of them. I appreciate lard for both texture and flavor but understand reluctance.

[gardendaisy2500]

very nice complete video!

[jma1014]

i actually tried your recipe and it was grate. thank you.

[Absraction]

grate

[Twinman2]

Niiice!