Aeagle.193
net.cooks
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!mhtsa!eagle!cw
Tue Feb 2 14:58:45 1982
Re: pie crust
It is the accepted knowledge that animal fats (though not all butter, for
some strange reason) make flakier pie crust. They also slightly modify the
flavor, for my taste to the better. (If you don't believe, try comparing
fresh Mexican taco chips cooked as they should be in lard to taco chips cooked
in any other oil.) As to water, the rule always is to add very little and
not all at once. Stop adding water as soon as the crust sticks together.
Use ice water. Don't use fingers, use a pastry knife. Finally, refrigerate
the pastry for an hour before rolling it out.
Two more points. I think animal fats are flakier because they are hard fats;
for the same reason, they make better french fries when you use the two-steo
(that is, two-step) blanching method. Second, my mother used to make pastry
by putting the shortening, salt, and flour together in a canister. Whenever
she needed a crust, she just scooped out the necessary quantity. The crust
was flakier because the oil worked its way between the flour particles over
the (relatively) long time between mixing and use. I will get the exact
proportions from her if anybody is interested. Notice that you have to
make a lot of pie to make this trick worthwhile.
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