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Tried using cold butter in my pie crust and it actually turned out flakier than my usual method
I always heard that cold butter is the key for pie crusts but I never really bought into it. Last weekend I made two pies, one with room temp butter and one where I cut frozen butter in with my pastry blender. The cold butter one had these beautiful layers that the other one just didn't have. I'm wondering if any of you bakers have done side by side tests like this and what you found works best for you.
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benlewis1d ago
Nah, I gotta disagree with the cold butter hype. I actually tested this exact thing a few months back and my warm butter crust came out way better. The cold butter one looked flaky but it was dry and crumbly on the inside, almost like it was underdone. I find that room temp butter blends into the flour more evenly, so you don't end up with those random pockets of fat that collapse in the oven. Plus you can actually work the dough without it falling apart, which means you get a solid crust that holds its shape. Maybe flaky is overrated if your slice falls apart on the plate.
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kaip1110h ago
My grandma used to freeze her butter and then grate it into the flour with a box grater. No pastry blender or food processor, just the grater. She never explained why, she just did it. But I remember watching her and thinking it was the weirdest thing. Then last Christmas I tried it myself and ended up with these paper thin layers in the crust that just melted on your tongue. @benlewis you might be right about the dryness though, I had to add an extra tablespoon of ice water to get the dough to hold together. Still turned out amazing though, my uncle asked for seconds which he never does.
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Did your buddy ever tell you what went wrong? My friend Sarah tried this exact thing last Thanksgiving and her cold butter crust came out so tough she couldve used it to patch a roof shingle. Turns out she was overworking the dough trying to get it all mixed smooth. She said the trick is to leave some pea sized butter chunks in there and barely handle it. She makes killer pies now after she stopped manhandling the dough. I watched her do it once and she barely touched the thing.
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