How to Roll Out Pie Dough Without Ruining It
Every time I feel like a new season is coming, I think to myself, “It’s pie season!” Summer? Yes. Winter? Yes. Spring? Let’s eat pie! Now that spring has arrived, we’ll start to see loads of strawberries, rhubarb, apricots, and cherries gracing our grocery stores and farmers’ markets. All of these great deals can benefit from the flaky, buttery crust that is often the only thing that stops us.
You may have already remembered your favorite pie dough recipe , but when we start rolling out the cake, we face a lot of problems: it continues to spring, the dough breaks, the middle completely sticks to the table, it is paper. -thin on one side – just enough to make you scrape everything into a ball and roll it out again (a move worthy of the pie crust hall of shame). But if you use several of these strategies, you will achieve successful crust deployment.
Let it rest, but not in the refrigerator
Many cake recipes call for you to wrap freshly kneaded pie dough and put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to several hours. This is a great idea if you’re making pie dough ahead of time and need somewhere to store it for a few days, but if you’re making the pie the same day, avoid refrigeration . The temperature in the fridge hardens and the crust mix is more likely to crack and break if it gets too cold. The important takeaway from all this hype about chilling out in the fridge is not the fridge, but the chill time.
Your goal is to take this two-by-four-inch disk of butter and flour and convince the gluten to voluntarily expand to three times its original area. Gluten needs rest. Without it, he becomes cranky and will keep retreating despite your best moves. After you have kneaded the dough, wrap it up and leave it on the counter for 20-30 minutes. Then roll back. The dough is less likely to crack or crumble, and the gluten should be sufficiently softened. If your kitchen isn’t stuffy (over 80°F), counter rest is the way to go.
Flour dough… and a table… and a pin…
And your hands. You know? Do it again for good luck. Sprinkling in enough flour is the only step that will make every other step easier. It’s definitely better to use too much flour than too little. Many of us have experienced rolling out the perfect circle of dough only to lift the edge and find that the entire center has merged into the counter cells. The substantial amount of flour underneath your dough will ensure it doesn’t stick.
The same goes for the top: dust the surface of the cake and the pin with flour to create a barrier while rolling. With each turn of the pin, the outer surface is pushed outward and a little more of the oily interior is exposed. These pieces will either meet with more flour or find a surface to stick to. You will most likely need to dust both the top and bottom of the cake with flour two or three times before you reach your desired diameter and thickness. Do not be shy; it’s almost impossible to spill. Just keep a pastry brush handy so you can shake off the excess before transferring the dough onto a pie plate.
Roll out thick pieces
If this is your first time encountering a pile of pie dough, the natural reaction is to start smoothing the edges. After all, they are the most pliable and open. Resist! Rolling from the thinnest parts (edges) will almost certainly result in ultra-thin patches or sticky edges from melted butter. Instead, fold the thickest parts outward. In the beginning it will always be the center. Think of it like a delicious pie dough container to scoop from. When rolling out from the center, try not to roll up the edges of the dough. Stop just before the end and return to the center to roll out in the other direction. If you press down on the edges, you will notice that the dough becomes very thin in these places and starts to stick.
Once your dough is about 90% rolled out and the center is no longer the thickest place, you can look around for any thick spots and gently roll it out to even out.
Turn the dough
Sometimes you don’t know you’re doing extra work until someone asks you why you’re doing it. I will be her. Why are you spinning around your body when you are rolling out pie dough instead of rolling it? My theory is that until we have confidence in the crust of the pie, we are all a little afraid of baking – afraid of tearing it, wrinkling it, ruining it. Instead of handling the crust with conviction and risking a tear, we’d rather just bypass it. The hard truth is that the less you command the test, the more likely you are to rip it. So, let’s boost your self-confidence.
Roll out the dough by placing the rolling pin in the center and pushing it forward, away from you. Put down the pin, take the dough disk with both hands and turn it a quarter of a turn. Now you have the thick part in front of you, and you’ve spread some flour evenly around it. Take a pin, roll out from the center to the edges and again turn the dough a quarter of a turn. Repeat, adjusting the speed to accommodate the thick patches of dough. In addition to making the rolling process easier, lifting and turning the dough allows you to regularly check for any sticky areas, gives you the option to add extra flour from the bottom, and allows you to feel the dough for uneven thickness.
The next time you walk into the grocery section of your grocery store, let yourself be inspired by the juicy spring fruits falling into it – feel free to grab a few pints and show off your big pie dough energy.