Q: Why finger tips to blend the butter into the flour?
A: Because finger tips are cold, which can keep the butter being not melted so quickly into the flour, so that you can blend evenly the butter into the flour.
Q: Quantity of water is important?
A: Yes indeed! Imagine the dough is too wet, you can't roll it out since it sticks on the working surface! The humidity of the environment affects the dryness of the dough, you can't strictly follow the quantity indicated in the recipe. That is why usually in the recipe they ask you to add the water little by little, NOT ALL AT ONCE!
Q: Why the crust is tough?
A: Mix the ingredients quickly, do NOT overknead the dough, do NOT roll the dough too much. That is why when you rework the trimmed dough off the pie pan, the crust becomes tough.
OR, when your dough is too wet, at this moment, you may want to add more flour to make it "dry", but that can make the crust becomes tough since the ratio is changed!
Q: Why the dough crazily stick on the working surface when rolling out?
A: Dough temperature is not right - too warm & soft. In this case, you will need to add a lot of flour on the working surface and on the rolling pin, it can affect the texture of the crust when you bake it.
Solution - put the dough in the fridge for 1hour or more to relax the dough. You still need to slightly flour the working surface and the rolling pin.
Q: Why the dough shrinks when rolling out?
A: Because the dough is kneaded too much, specially you find this problem after you collect & combine/fold the leftover dough to make the 2nd batch... So try to just combine all the ingredients in the mixing bowl, when the dough starts to form & starts becoming non-sticky, place the dough on the working surface and roll it out immediately. It is especially the case when you use KitchenAid or other machines to form a dough. You will need patience to observe it.
Q: How to ensure the thickness of the dough is even?
A: When you roll out the dough, start towards 12 o'clock, when you roll out towards the edge, ease your force so that the edge won't become too thin. Then, pick the rolling pin up back to the center and roll it towards 6 o'clock. Repeat the same steps for 3 & 9 o'clock, 1 & 7, 2 & 8 o'clock etc.
Also, turning the dough when you roll it out helps to even the thickness.
Q: Why the dough still stick on the working surface even though it is slightly floured?
A: When you roll out the dough, you need to check regularly if the dough stick on the working surface, use a knife and put it underneath. If the dough becomes sticky, add some flour underneath; yet brush away the excess flour.
Q: What can we do to prevent the dough shrink while baking?
A: When the dough is cooled in the fridge, it becomes relax. When you roll it out, you can easily flatten it without shrinking back. However, when you put the cooled relax dough immediately in the oven, the hot environment makes the dough shrinks because of the big temperature difference...
My suggestion is either:
1. Let the dough slowly back to room temperature. After you place the dough in the mould, let it sit for like 30mins or 1 hour. When the dough becomes warmer, you can preheat the oven
OR
2. If the dough is not soft & sticky (probably during winter), you can skip the fridge step, just roll it out and place on the mould. When it's ready, bake in the oven
Q: Why the crust appears a lot of bubbles after baking?
A: Because there is no air pass through the dough when the heat is rising in the oven. What you can do it to making some some holes by using a fork. Pinch the dough regularly so the small holes are spread evenly over the dough.
OK... now you should be an expert of pie crust ;)
If you have any other questions. Please leave me a message, I will try to answer you :)
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