5 Pie Crust Tips Every Baker Should Know

Keeping your ingredients cold for a pie crust is a crucial part of successfully baking a pie. If the dough gets warm and overworked, it can get tough and be difficult to roll out, resulting in a pie crust that's anything but flaky. To keep your cool, consider grating or cutting the butter for the pie crust into small blocks, then chilling it in the refrigerator until it’s ready to use. While you're at it, keep your water, flour, and other pie crust ingredients in the refrigerator until just before you're ready to make the dough. Your baking equipment will need to be cool, too. For instance, as noted in The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colorado, some professional bakers prefer to roll out pastry on marble slabs that have been stashed in the refrigerator. 

Have you ever heard of blind baking? This technique refers to baking the pie crust sans filling. This technique, which is typically used for pies with cream fillings that can include chocolate mousse or key lime (or can sometimes be used for double-crust pies), is not as difficult as it sounds. After forming the dough, the crust is placed in the pie pan, then docked with a fork several times so that the crust does not puff up while baking. The pie crust is then lined with parchment or aluminum foil, then filled with dry beans, sugar, or special pie weights. When the pie crust is completely cooled, you can pour in your desired filling, including your favorite recipe for cream pies.

When you add a top crust to your pie, does it tend to look more like a lump of dough and less like the flat crusts seen in your favorite bakery? Here's a tip to help you out. When it’s time to place the top crust, roll out the chilled pie dough to a size that will amply cover the pie shell. Carefully pick up the pie dough and place it on top of the pie’s filling. Use your thumb, a fork, or a spoon to crimp the edges of the pie, and trim off any pie that hangs over the side. Next, grab a knife and make slits in the top crust, with Bon Appétit noting you should completely cut through the top crust to allow steam to escape.

You may have brushed the top of your pie crust with milk to get a unique taste and look, but what about using an egg wash? According to the Science and Food Blog, which is supported by the UCLA Division of Life Sciences and Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, an egg wash applied to the top crust right before baking can help your baked treat achieve that delicious browned appearance. Simply mix an egg with a little bit of water — you want this to be well mixed, or you’ll wind up with scrambled eggs on top of your pie crust — then use a pastry brush to apply a thin coat on the top crust of your pie. 

It’s a conundrum many home bakers have faced: How can you brown your pie crust without burning the edges? Luckily there’s a quick fix for that. About halfway through the pie’s bake time, take a peek at the crust along the edge. If it appears to be baking faster than the remainder of the pie crust, then wrap the edge in aluminum foil (Real Simple has a quick and easy trick for this). Keeping your eye on the pie as it bakes will ensure the edge of the crust will not start to burn. You can also try rotating the pie pan 180 degrees about halfway through the bake time to ensure that the crust bakes evenly. 

Put your skills into practice and get ready to dig in when you bake these delicious pie recipes! From tried-and-true favorites that Grandma would love to new and innovative twists on the classics, this selection of homemade pie recipes will be just what you need for almost any occasion. Bake a pie for company coming over, and then bake a second pie to eat the next day when you use these recipes for pie. If you'd like to get creative and bake your own pie, then you'll want to take a look at the pie crust recipe included in this list, too. You'll want to bake it with your favorite fillings!