Chilled my butter grater for 30 minutes and it fixed my pie crust problem

I've been trying to get a flaky pie crust for like 6 months and everything always came out tough or greasy. My grandma said I was overworking the dough but I swear I barely touched it. Last weekend I was about to give up and tried something random I saw on a blog where you grate frozen butter and then put the whole grater in the freezer for half an hour. So I chilled my grater, froze the butter block for 15 minutes, grated it straight into the flour, and then tossed everything in the fridge before adding ice water. The dough came together in like 3 minutes of mixing and the crust was actually flaky and tender for once. Has anyone else tried chilling their tools like that or is there a better trick for keeping butter cold?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_fox921mo ago

Oh man that's genius actually! I've been doing the frozen butter grating thing for a while but never thought to chill the grater too. I bet that little bit of warmth from the metal is what makes the butter start melting right when it hits the flour. I'm gonna try this with my pastry blender too because that thing always gets warm in my hands. Maybe even throw the mixing bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before I start.

riverm481mo ago

Wait hold on, you actually freeze the grater? lmao that's wild I gotta try that