Secret to Tender Pie Crusts: Vodka
3 Comments Published by Joel January 24th, 2008 in Food. Share ThisI make a damn fine pie, but my crusts have always been a bit shit. Now I’ve got a new recipe in the wings, courtesy of Cooks Illustrated, which while untested seems brilliantly obvious: add some booze.
The trick to this pie crust is the inclusion of vodka. Eighty-proof vodka, which is 60 percent water and 40 percent alcohol, adds moistness to the dough without aiding in gluten formation since gluten doesn’t form in ethanol. Although the recipe includes 8 tablespoons of liquid, the alcohol vaporizes during baking, resulting in a tender crust that only contains 6 1/2 tablespoons of water. Because of the extra liquid, the dough will be moister than most standard pie doughs and will require up to 1/4 cup more flour.
I wonder how this would work with bourbon? I could see the bourbon taste in an apple pie being amazing.
Cook’s Illustrated’s Foolproof Pie Dough [SeriousEats.com]
That pie crust is crazy amazing, isn’t it? I used it for my Thanksgiving pies last year, and I don’t think I’ll made it the old way ever again.
The guy who made the recipe went on the Cooks Illustrated forums to answer questions (there were lots), and he said any alcohol would work. They just used vodka because it was neutral-tasting.
You might have to adjust the amount of water depending on what alcohol you use, though.
I love cooks illustrated. Another example of a cool technique learned from cooks illustrated is for bbq-ing brisket on a charcoal grill:
Apparently consistent heat is important for brisket. Since bbq-ing typically takes many hours, you do need to refresh the charcoal. Unfortunately, lifting the lid to add more charcoal results in too much lost heat. To counter this, Cooks Illustrated recommends lighting a pile of charcoal (a more-or-less specific amount), and once that’s lit you add *unlit* charcoal to the pile. Over time, as the old charcoal burns out, the new charcoal lights up, keeping the overall temperature adequately constant. Science!
this sounds very interesting indeed — I wish I could make decent piecrust (my hands are too hot, usually). I’ve wondered if Angostura bitters would be good in an apple pie.