Cook's Illustrated's Foolproof Pie Dough
When we talked to Cook's Illustrated publisher Chris Kimball about the November 2007 issue of the magazine, we asked what recipes really stood out in it this year. This pie crust is one of them, he said. "It's a brilliant recipe," Kimball said. "The secret ingredient in it? Vodka."
Foolproof Pie Dough
- makes one 9-inch double-crust pie -
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.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water
Procedure
1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
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17 Comments:
Fantastic, who would have ever thought about the vodka?
How did Kimball get this info, did somebody else suggest it? Was it an accident? Or did they actually think about the science of it to build the recipe around it?
Although I would love to give the credit to Cooks Illustrated my sneaky suspicion is that they heard this tip elsewhere and then investigated it...but I could be wrong!
Anyways...good job!
...cook, chef, culinary sponge, traveler, volunteer, missionary.
tyronebcookin
tyronebcookin at 8:54AM on 11/09/07
My money is on Chris Kimball and the CI team coming up with this one and perfecting it on their own--they are just that good with the science of cooking. I can't want to try this out!
PAWriter at 2:47PM on 11/09/07
I tried this recipe when the issue first came out, and I was stunned at how well it worked. It was certainly slightly disconcerting to process the fat so much, then add so much liquid into the other ingredients. My main pie crust recipe for ages was the previous one that CI had published (I finally figured out how to do pie crust from them).
When I pulled it out of the fridge after resting overnight, I rolled it out. The almost fondant-like feel of the rolled out dough really made me skeptical that it would be anywhere near as flaky and tender as my normal crust. It didn't tear at all and draped like a dream in the pie pan. I baked a pumpkin pie and just sprinkled the leftover dough with cinnamon sugar and baked. We ate the leftover dough first when it was done, and they were insanely good. The crust on the pie was the same, with plenty of sturdiness to serve the pie.
This recipe, particularly along with the explanation of their technique and science behind it, is the reason I still subscribe to Cook's Illustrated!
proccers at 4:30PM on 11/09/07
I wonder what it would be like to use flavored vodkas, such as vanilla, fruit flavors, or even pepper vodka for savory pies and tarts............. I bet it works really well.
seyo at 12:10PM on 11/13/07
sounds good. we can use any type of vodka?
lawtonchiles at 5:56PM on 11/19/07
mine was really wet I used artisan organic flour 3 g protein is it suppose to be this wet?
Nourishment at 10:22PM on 11/21/07
I made this recipe at Thanksgiving. the dough was very moist and pretty hard to work with but I rolled it out between two sheets of waxed paper which worked pretty well. It was, by far, the flakiest pie crust I've ever made! I'm sure I'll make it again.
Stephanie at 12:04AM on 12/15/07
Has anyone tried this with gluten-free flour?
PerkyMac at 2:57PM on 01/23/08
I tried this recently, and chickened out once I'd added 3/4 of the vodka/water. It turned out perfectly.
zamboni at 2:36PM on 07/25/08
would we have the same of ok results if we just use butter ?
sjisland girl at 2:23PM on 09/23/08
I refuse to use shortening so I make this with all butter and it comes out awesome. Like Zamboni, I chickened out the first time I made this and added only 2 tablespoons of the ice water because I was freaked out by how moist the dough was - the crust came out insanely flaky. The 2nd time I added 3 tablespoons to make the dough easier to work with and it was perfect. I've made it 4 times to date and I simply refuse to use the full 1/4 cup! I don't think you really need that last tablespoon; maybe it's the pie crust snob in me not wanting to work with a completely smooth dough.
BTW, I think they really do have scientists on staff there - I saw a posting for an (unpaid) internship there a while back that required that the person have some background in science (which I have). I wanted the internship so badly but the fact that I have to pay rent and bills made me forget it quickly!
charm city cupcake at 11:26PM on 11/24/08
I won't make this pie crust again. I followed the directions and used the exact ingredients including unsalted butter. When I at a piece of my pecan pie, the butter dominated the flavor of the pie and the pie crust. My purpose in making a pie is to have the filling be the primary taste, not the crust. The pecan filling leaked out the bottom causing the bottom crust to be doughy. I feel that I wasted 1 1/2 cups of butter and 2 cups of fresh pecans. I made another crust with just shortening using my old standby recipe. It rolled out beautifully and handled far better than the CI crust. This pie crust recipe just wasn't impressive to me. Using vodka is a gimmick, not a tried and true ingredient, as shown by the hundreds of pie crust recipes available that don't use vodka.
doryjunebug at 4:20PM on 11/26/08
I just tried this recipe for Thanksgiving 2008. Wow, I really loved it. I didn't feel the dough was too sticky at all but then again my mom's recipe used an egg and was always VERY sticky.
I love this recipe...i.e. how it rolls out, how it tastes, it is so flaky and easy to make. Definately go the route of using wax paper to roll out, I've been using that method for 25+ years and that really makes it stress free.
Tossing my old recipe for good! This one is MUCH better.
pcymbala at 12:10PM on 12/01/08
p.s. I do think it does have a buttery taste so next time I will use a bit less. I think this would be great for quiche too.
pcymbala at 12:12PM on 12/01/08
I finally make this crust. WOW! I've been making good pie crust for 45 years and was absolutely blown away by this one--as was my husband. It youwas beautiful to work with!!
Thank you!
pielady at 3:31PM on 02/19/09
@tyronebcookin
That was actually a recipe that I developed here at Cook's. Completely our idea, arrived at through rigorous testing and thinking about the science of pie crusts! It took over a hundred individual tests before arriving at a solution that worked.
GoodEaterKenji at 1:01PM on 03/16/09
I love this pie crust!!!!!!!!! I made some changes though... Since i'm not a big fan of shortening, i simply replaced the 1/2 cup shortening with 1/2 cup butter, used only 1/2 tsp salt and omitted the sugar. I think because of the extra water from the butter that replaces the shortening, I don't use the full amount of vodka/water mixture. Whatever vodka/water mixture i have left over, I simply store in the freezer. The sugar makes the crust brown too quickly and the full amount of salt made the crust way too salty for my taste. This dough is a joy to work with, almost like playdough. warning... the raw dough tastes awful. Thanks for this recipe with all my heart and soul!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cmocva at 7:55PM on 04/11/09