Pie Crust + tips

• 300 grams of all purpose flour.
• 226 grams of unsalted butter, cubed small, chilled.
• a teaspoon of salt
• a teaspoon of sugar
• a small amount of ice water (see more later)

Pie crust can be very difficult. We all want those buttery, flaky layers that make pies and pastry so distinct and lovely. I’ll explain a little about the science and give some practical tips.
The key to getting a good pie crust is avoiding gluten from forming in the dough. Heat and water are reactants in that, you need to minimize the possibility of overwatering and letting your dough get too warm.
A couple of tricks I’ve found are cubing the butter ahead of time and letting it sit in the fridge until the moment you need it, be sure to cover it before putting it in the fridge, next is using very small amounts of ice water in the forming of the dough ball. After you’ve incorporated the butter into the flour (by hand or in a processor) you need a little water to bind it all together, adding too much can be hazardous and as mentioned above, you don’t want the dough to get warm either. So I fill a glass full of ice water, my preferred method is to dip my (washed) fingers into the water and let the water that remains on my fingers as I hand knead the dough bind it together. Naturally, you have to dip your fingers a few times to get it right. I like this because I know a good dough by its feel more than anything else, but you may not want to do this. That’s ok, just spoon small amounts into your dough while mixing it with a dough hook. Either way, you can get a good pie crust. Just make sure to put it in the fridge to chill as soon as you finish mixing it.