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...his pie crust method seems revolutionary. "The goal of pie crust is to create thin, even layers of fat and flour," he said. "That's what makes them flaky. But the usual method isn't really optimal for that."
Instead of using his fingers to rub globs of fat into flour, then dribbling in ice water, Mr. McGee starts with square chunks of cold butter and a pile of flour on a board. With a rolling pin he presses and rolls the butter into the flour, flattening it into thinner and thinner flakes. Occasionally he scrapes the mixture into a bowl and freezes it for five minutes, to keep the butter from melting. Since the gluten is not activated until the water is added, there is no worry about overworking the dough, even though the process can take some time.
Finally, to add the water Mr. McGee fetched a plant mister. "I always found it was hard to get the water evenly into the dough" he said. "So I measured how many sprays of the mister it takes to get half a cup of water — it's 150, by the way — and I use that to get uniform droplets." Now working quickly, he lightly squeezed the mister over the dough 50 times, then turned the dough and folded it. After two repetitions the dough just held together. He divided it into two round discs and returned it to the freezer.
Hours later his careful work paid off in a golden-brown crust of unspeakable flakiness and buttery flavor: Mr. McGee's method means that there is no need to add shortening to ensure a good texture.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/dining/24SCIE.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=a142bf38ab1974e8&ex=1259211600&partner=rssuserland)
Hmm. I'm going to have to try that. I've gotten fairly decent with pie crust myself, although I always use vegetable shortening and not butter. (Lard is apparently truly superior, but I don't make anywhere near enough pies to justify having that on hand.) I didn't know that you couldn't overwork dough until water was added to it. I gave up on forks, knives, and pastry cutters some time ago when I discovered that fingers did it much more quickly.
Instead of using his fingers to rub globs of fat into flour, then dribbling in ice water, Mr. McGee starts with square chunks of cold butter and a pile of flour on a board. With a rolling pin he presses and rolls the butter into the flour, flattening it into thinner and thinner flakes. Occasionally he scrapes the mixture into a bowl and freezes it for five minutes, to keep the butter from melting. Since the gluten is not activated until the water is added, there is no worry about overworking the dough, even though the process can take some time.
Finally, to add the water Mr. McGee fetched a plant mister. "I always found it was hard to get the water evenly into the dough" he said. "So I measured how many sprays of the mister it takes to get half a cup of water — it's 150, by the way — and I use that to get uniform droplets." Now working quickly, he lightly squeezed the mister over the dough 50 times, then turned the dough and folded it. After two repetitions the dough just held together. He divided it into two round discs and returned it to the freezer.
Hours later his careful work paid off in a golden-brown crust of unspeakable flakiness and buttery flavor: Mr. McGee's method means that there is no need to add shortening to ensure a good texture.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/dining/24SCIE.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=a142bf38ab1974e8&ex=1259211600&partner=rssuserland)
Hmm. I'm going to have to try that. I've gotten fairly decent with pie crust myself, although I always use vegetable shortening and not butter. (Lard is apparently truly superior, but I don't make anywhere near enough pies to justify having that on hand.) I didn't know that you couldn't overwork dough until water was added to it. I gave up on forks, knives, and pastry cutters some time ago when I discovered that fingers did it much more quickly.
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Date: Nov. 21st, 2007 06:22 am (UTC)From: