Home Made Shortcrust Pastry

[Samantha Hill]

The other half is working nights this week so I like to make him something that he can heat up at work. I decided to make a chicken and pea Pie made from what I had left over in the fridge. I haven't made pastry since I was at school which was, ahem, a fair few years ago.
I thought I would give it a whirl as it looks pretty easy and its a good 6 miles to the shop to buy shop bought so noth at all economical.

I made a large badge of pastry, enough for the pie and enough for another so I have wrapped it up and popped it in the freezer. I was pretty proud of myself and the other half was more then happy with his Pie!

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I have never gotten the hang of making pie crust pastry. What I usually do is make kind of a biscuit crust, which is easier to do, and works well as long as it doesn't come out too thick. I use that for fruit cobbler, and also when I want to make a chicken pot pie for dinner.
It even works for a pizza deep dish dinner, which is one of my favorites, since I love pizza !

 

[Samantha Hill]

I really surprised myself when it turned out so well. The other half loved the pie and took some more into work. I am a bit nervous about trying puff pastry as that seems more time consuming so I will stick to home made shortcrust for now.

I love pizza as well, I havent made dough for one as yet but you have given me an idea!

 

[jodiann12]

I have never gotten the hang of making pie crust pastry. What I usually do is make kind of a biscuit crust, which is easier to do, and works well as long as it doesn't come out too thick. I use that for fruit cobbler, and also when I want to make a chicken pot pie for dinner.
It even works for a pizza deep dish dinner, which is one of my favorites, since I love pizza !

Miss DJ, a member of this forum gave some great tips about for making short crust pastry. The main point that she stressed was that in order to have very good pastry, the butter and the shortening should be cold, and the flour should be chilled if you're living in a warm climate, as well as the mixing bowl and rolling pin. The water should be ice cold too. I knew all of this already from watching Martha Stewart and reading various cooking websites all over the net. But Miss D had some additional tips that I wasn't aware of. I saved it on my word processing program on my computer.

Here's the post from Miss DJ:

Flaky Shortcrust Pastry (for a double crust pie)
3 cups all-pourpose flour - chilled if the weather is warm½ cup unsalted butter - ice-cold and cut into pieces½ cup vegetable shortening - ice-cold and cut into pieces1 teaspoon salt½ cup to ¾ cup ice water (depending on room humidity)
Directions
(TIP: If you live in a warm climate, chill your bowl, mixing tools, and rolling pin ahead of time.)
1. Sift the flour and salt into a chilled bowl
2. “Cut” the chilled butter/shortening pieces into the flour using a dinner fork or pastry blender (aka “pastry cutter”) until 40% to 50% of the butter/shortening pieces are still as large as peas.
(TIP: The large chunks of fat create flaky layers of pastry crust. If all the fat is too well-blended onto the flour, your crust will be as dense as cardboard.)
3. Sprinkle the ice water into the flour/butter mix, one spoonful at a time -- lightly mixing until the dough starts to clump together.
(TIP: By using ice water, you keep the butter/shortening solid.)
4. Pick up a small handful of dough and squeeze it in your palm. The dough should be just moist enough to hold together without falling apart (If it’s dry or crumbly, sprinkle a little more water into the dough).
(TIP: Be light-handed with the water. Too much water creates gluten, which will toughen the dough)
5. Transfer dough onto a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap. For the double crust recipe, divide the dough in two.
(TIP: If you are making a double crust pie, make one half slightly larger than the other. You should use a little extra dough for the bottom crust.)
6. Gently pat dough into two balls.
(TIP: Do not compact dough too tightly - a little air is necessary for flaky crusts.)
7. Flatten each ball into a rough disk. Wrap each disk in wax paper/plastic and let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour (can be left overnight).
(TIP: Chilled dough handles better, retains the solid fats for flakiness, and develops less gluten when worked.)
8. Turn chilled disk out onto lightly floured wax paper/parchment. Roll out dough with chilled rolling pin, rotating paper 1 quarter turn regularly to ensure a nice, even circle.
(TIP: If you work the dough too much, the crust will become tough and dense.)
9. Lift wax paper/parchment and flip the pastry dough right over the pan or filling. Position as necessary, and peel the paper off.
(TIP: Never stretch the crust; this will cause it to shrink as the pie bakes.)
10. Trim over-hanging dough with a sharp knife.
(TIP: You can patch tears in the dough by pinching it back together. Large gaps can be patched with scraps cut from the overhanging dough.)
11. Fill bottom pastry crust. Before adding top crust, cut “steam vents” in the top crust -- If you’re feeling fancy, make decorative cut outs which will serve the same purpose.
12. Crimp edges.
13. If desired, use pastry brush to lightly brush milk on the top crust for some “gloss”.
14. Put your pie in the oven!
(TIP: Set pie on a cookie sheet in the oven to catch any bubble-over spills.)

 

[Samantha Hill]

wowot hanks for the information. That is brilliant.Plenty of great useful tips as well, I will certainly be refeering to your post when I make some more I picked some more fruit yesterday so I will be making fruit pies over the weekend

 

[justusforus]

I have never gotten the hang of making pie crust pastry. What I usually do is make kind of a biscuit crust, which is easier to do, and works well as long as it doesn't come out too thick. I use that for fruit cobbler, and also when I want to make a chicken pot pie for dinner.
It even works for a pizza deep dish dinner, which is one of my favorites, since I love pizza !

Sounds like a good idea and I will look forward to giving it a try. Love pot pies of any kind and description.

 

[jodiann12]

wowot hanks for the information. That is brilliant.Plenty of great useful tips as well, I will certainly be refeering to your post when I make some more I picked some more fruit yesterday so I will be making fruit pies over the weekend

You're very welcome, Samantha. I know how difficult making pies from scratch can be and most people who are very good at baking them usually keep their secrets well guarded. So, I'm glad that Miss DJ was so willing to share her pie making secrets to everyone on this forum.

 

[NThomas]

I am going to try this recipe I have never gotten the hang of making good pie crust. I have some apple that would go great in a hand pie.

 

[Richard58]

I am a bit nervous about trying puff pastry as that seems more time consuming so I will stick to home made shortcrust for now.

there seem to be two options - either use a "rough puff" or "quick puff" pastry recipe which is much quicker or if you really want proper puff pastry then super markets stock ready made blocks and sheets at a reasonable price.
Here is a youtube video of Nick Malgieri making rough puff in a food processor.