Pie Making Hints & Tips

By Addie

From burnt crusts to boiled-over filling, it took years of practice for Grandma to perfect her pie recipes. Thankfully, she let us in on a few of her secrets.

Ingredients

• For a more tender crust, use half shortening or lard and half butter for the fat.
• to dough can be made in a food processor, just be sure not to overwork it.
• to to and lightly flour the pie plate before adding the dough to keep the crust from sticking. And try not to stretch the dough as you place it in the pan—stretched dough shrinks.

Preparation

Step 1

MORE TIPS:

• Blind baking is a method of partially or completely baking a pie crust to set the shape and keep it from getting soggy when wet fillings are added. It’s easy if you know the right tricks. If cooking the filling separately, be sure that both the filling and the crust are completely cooled before adding.

• To keep an unbaked crust from getting soggy, brush with slightly beaten egg whites and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Always pour the filling into the crust just before baking.

• Whether crimped or fancily braided, a decorative pie crust, gives pies a homey feel.

• To keep the edge of the pie from burning, shield the edges with foil as soon as the pie starts to lightly brown. Cut a circle from a piece of foil big enough to wrap over the pie and snip out the center of the circle to form a ring that will securely protects the edges.

• To prevent super-juicy fruit pie fillings from boiling over, stick 3-4 pieces of raw tubular macaroni through the top crust in a circle, about 1 inch from the center. The macaroni tubes allow the steam to vent, releasing pressure that would force out the juices. Remember to remove after baking.