BDL, that's a really interesting and informative dissertation on flakey pie crust. Question: what kind of lard do you use? Is it the commercially available and partially hydroginayed product you buy in the grocery store or is it "real" lard?
Flakey pie crust is finnicky at best and for years I struggled to find a recipe/method that produced consistent results. Then Cook's Illustrated created the Vodka pie crust which is my new go to recipe.
The idea is that gluten will not develop in the presence of ethanol. Now, vodka is 60% ethanol and 40% water so you can get away with adding a lot of liquid (equal parts water and vodka) to get a pliable dough with none of the adverse effects of too much water.
Another "secret" in this method is to take a portion of the flour (about 2/3) and mix it thoroughly with the fat (butter and shortening) until it is almost a paste. The fat coated grains of flour are protected from the water and will not develop gluten. The remaining flour is mixed in to form the final dough and being exposed to the water it will develop some gluten - enough to give the dough some structure.
Works every time regardless of the variable conditions which are the bane of more conventional recipes. Still, I'm interested to try BDL's method.  |