"pie crusts" news and stories

I don't know about you, but I've always been daunted by pie crusts. Even with working in a professional pastry kitchen, I'm hesitant to try it at home. I can make pie dough in large batches, no problem, but that doesn't translate to single pies/ home baking very well.

There is hope, though. Check out the step by step walk through you get from Baker's banter, and you'll realize that you too can make great pie crusts at home. The instructions are simple and direct, there are lots of pictures, and you get lots of great tips. If you've been wanting to make pie at home, but have been nervous about it, take a look at this article. I know I'm keeping this information saved for the next time I want to make pie.

One of the reasons that we love and respect Cook's Illustrated is that they take care to cover all the bases in their testing of foods, recipes and kitchen gadgets, filling us in with the whys and hows of the process, so that we really understand what when into their decisions and can trust the conclusions that they make. Sometimes, however, those conclusions didn't really need to be drawn. A recent test showed that homemade pie crust faired better in a taste test than prepacked, store-bought crusts. In a pinch, they would only consider recommending the Whole Foods Pie Shells.

But unlike many of the CI tests, it doesn't seem like these crusts got a fair shake. After all, if you have the time and culinary skill to confidently make a pie crust from scratch, you're probably not going to buy one. A more equitable test would have pitted the frozen store crusts against the crust of frozen pies, since anyone pressed for time could be trying to make a decision between those options and is probably not factoring in a completely from-scratch pie. The problem with that situation, which is probably why the test kitchen didn't consider it, is that you're tasting two things that aren't as good as they could be. So instead of choosing between the lesser of two evils, you might want to consider just picking up a pie at a bakery, Marie Callendar's or a similarly pie-oriented store and at least take the quality up a couple of notches. And maybe practice making a homemade crust (which can be stored in the freezer for a few weeks) for next year.

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