PSA: Stop overworking your pie dough like I did for 10 years

I went to a pie shop in Portland last weekend and watched the baker there. She barely touched her dough. I always kneaded mine until it was smooth and got tough crusts every time. She told me "the less you handle it the flakier it gets" and now I feel like an idiot. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from old recipes?

2 comments

2 Comments

hall.charles19d ago

Actually I'm going to push back on this a little. I've been making pies for 15 years and I knead my dough pretty thoroughly every single time. My crusts come out tender and flakey and nobody has ever complained. I think there's this trend right now where people act like touching your dough at all is a crime and it's just not realistic for home bakers. If you're working with a standard recipe and decent butter temperature you can handle it more than you think. I've watched those Portland hipster bakers too and honestly their crusts fall apart on the plate half the time. Maybe the real issue is people using bad recipes or old flour not the kneading itself.

taylor17419d ago

@hall.charles makes a fair point about the kneading being less of a problem than people claim. One thing I don't see anyone mention is how much the type of fat you use matters. Butter works differently than shortening or lard, and each one handles handling differently. I switched to leaf lard years ago and my dough is practically indestructible now, kneading included.