Kellys Pie Crust..

[norgeway]

The loss of Kelly got me to thinking about all the great cooking lessons he gave all of us,a year or so ago he posted a recipe for pie crust made in the mixer, well, today Donalds Mother and Dad brought us some rhubarb, so I finally decided to try the mixer pie crust, I cant believe it, but for the first time in my life I made perfect pastry, I as well as many of us, will never set foot in a kitchen again without thinking of that wonderful kind soul.

 

[norgeway]

It really is

Easy to work with.

 

[norgeway]

Recipe..

1 cup flour
1/2 cup crisco
1 tsp of salt
Mix on low speed ten seconds, stop, add 1/4 cup iced water, mix on low speed 5 seconds, gather into a ball, roll using lots of flour, for a 2 cust I doubled the recipe, bake 425 for 15 minutes 350 for 45.

 

[petek]

I always had pie crust problems as well until we got those instructions from him.

 

[mattl]

Best and easiest crust I've made.  I did cut down the shortening a bit without issue.  Secret is to use LOTS of flour on the rolling surface.

 

[frigilux]

I've mentioned my aversion to making pie crusts several times---which is odd, considering I make all bread and other pastry products from scratch without batting an eye. Made one disastrous attempt years ago and switched to the Pillsbury refrigerated unroll-and-go version. While those have improved over the years, they can't beat the taste and flakiness of a homemade crust.

Will give Kelly's recipe a go this weekend, complete with (possibly hilarious) photos. I so enjoyed his "here's the process" photos, each highlighting his mixer of choice.

 

[countryguy]

I have no luck with pie crust either so I will have to give this a try. Do you use the flat beater bar or the dough hook for mixing?

Gary

 

[gansky1]

Excellent job, Hans!  

 

Kelly taught this crust-making to me once when he was here.  The first time around, it went so fast I hardly had a chance to keep up, before I knew what was happening he had it in the pie-plate.

 

While the first pie was baking, he kept saying it was looking a bit strange.  After taking it out of the oven and examining it and retracing his steps, he realized it was the shortening.  He had never seen Crisco sticks before and was quite taken with the concept.  Assuming they were 1/2 cup bars, he used a whole one for the crust and couldn't figure out why he needed so much flour when rolling it out.  The first crust got a whole cup of Crisco instead of 1/2 cup.  We laughed about that all through dinner and dessert, he even retold the story the last time he was here last month - having a good laugh all over again. 

 

Thanks again, Hans!  I have a whole case of peaches in the garage refrig, may have to make some pies this weekend as we are going to the apple orchards on Saturday afternoon and I have a "new" Glasbake pie plate to use that belonged to my grandfather's sister.

 

[norgeway]

I Used my..

1956 Kenmore to mix, Kelly always used a Sunbeam.

 

[polkanut]

Hans,

Shame on you!  (just kidding)

 

[bendix5]

Job well done. Your pie is beautiful. There is nothing as good as a home made pie crust. My wife makes beautiful pie crust. She was taught by my mom. This is becoming a lost art.

 

[rapunzel]

Instead of using Crisco would coconut oil - which is solid at room temperature - be a good substitute? And do you use regular beaters or the dough hooks?

 

[frigilux]

Pie Crust In The Mixer: This question has come up and not been answered, so here goes: Since you're cutting fat into flour, you need to use the beaters. A dough hook won't do the job. Use the flat paddle with a KitchenAid (or similar) mixer.

 

[washer111]

Coconut Oil:

I too would like to know the results of this. I imagine a different flavor would be produced, for better or worse.

 

Perhaps someone will have to give this a try? I'm going to have a crack at this next week when some guests come to my house for Afternoon Tea, but will try the hybrid mixture and see the results from that. Really and truly looking forward to it!

 

[frigilux]

There are recipes for using coconut oil in pie crust, but it's more difficult to work with than shortening and butter because coconut oil gets very hard when its chilled (making rolling difficult), and can separate at warmish room temperatures. There may be a distinct coconut scent while baking, but supposedly only a hint of coconut taste if you eat some of the crust on its own. Let us know how it goes if you decide to give it a try!

 

Coconut Oil Pie Crust  (Makes enough for one 9-inch pie crust. Recipe can be doubled for a 2-crust pie.)

 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature

4-7 tbsp ice water

 

Whisk together flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Rub in coconut oil with your fingertips or a pastry blender, pressing it into the flour mixture and breaking it up, until mixture resemble very coarse sand and no pieces larger than a pea remain. Using a fork, stir in cold water until dough almost comes together into a ball. Add water gradually, a tablespoon or two at a time. Press dough into a ball with your hands and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 60 minutes before rolling out.

[this post was last edited: 9/22/2013-21:39]

 

[rapunzel]

I actually use coconut oil for frying most things and have become almost addicted to it. I bake my brownies with it, and, yes, it adds just a hint of coconut, but not enough to spoil the flavor.

As for the pie crust, I will await washer111's result.