Pie Crust

This recipe comes from my friend Ron Furan who was the Chef for the State of New York’s Governor for many years.  It is a very good pie crust.  Ron likes to weigh his ingredients.  He also gave me the recipe in cups and in ratios.

For two 10 ounce balls or 2 pie crusts

In Cups:

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water

3/4 cup shortening

2 to 2 1/2 cups flour

Pinch salt

In Weight:

3 1/3 ounces ice water

6 3/4 ounces shortening

10 ounces flour

Pinch salt

In Ratio:

1 part ice water

2 parts shortening

3 parts flour

And a pinch salt

Combine flour and salt in medium mixing bowl.

Chill shortening. Cut in chilled shortening into flour mixture, using a pastry blender or fork, until it looks like small peas and coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle half the cold water over the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir and draw flour from bottom of bowl to the top, distributing moisture evenly into flour. Press chunks down to bottom of bowl with fork. Add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to hold together when pressed together.

Check dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly it has enough water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful until it is ready.  BE CAREFUL TO NOT HANDLE THE DOUGH TOO MUCH.  It makes the dough tough.

Make 2 balls out of the pie crust.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll the dough from center out with steady pressure on a lightly floured work surface (or between two sheets of wax or parchment paper) into a circle 2-inches wider than pie plate for the bottom crust. Move the dough to pie plate by loosely rolling around rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing dough into pie plate.

For a SINGLE pie crust: trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold edge under. Flute dough as desired.

For a DOUBLE pie crust: roll the bottom crust, trim the edges of dough even with outer edge of pie plate with a knife. Fill unbaked pie crust according to recipe directions. Roll out top crust. Transfer dough carefully onto filled pie. Trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal and flute as desired. Cut slits in top crust or prick with fork to vent steam. Bake according to recipe directions.

 Two Methods for Pre-baking Pie Crusts (Cream Pies)

Pre-baking WITHOUT weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Bake crust in lower third of oven, at 425°F, 10-12 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

Pre-baking WITH weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Chill or freeze for 30 minutes. Line pie dough snugly with foil or parchment paper. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Reduce oven to 350°F. Bake 5-10 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

The instructions were mostly from this site:  http://www.crisco.com/Recipes/Details.aspx?recipeID=1242