Shrinking pie crust -- what gives?
Wonder if anyone can tell me what might have happened and how to prevent it from happening again:
A few days ago, I mixed a batch of pie dough (standard, all-butter, food processor), chilled it a few hours, then rolled it out to line my glass pie pan. I wrapped it well and froze it. Last night I moved the pan to the fridge to thaw, and then today set it out for an hour or so to come to room temp before blind-baking.
I baked it my usual way: prick with fork, line with foil, weigh down with dried beans, remove foil and beans for the last 10 minutes or so. Nonetheless, when the crust was ready to come out, the whole thing had shrunk: the pie crust is laying in the pie pan like a mismatched nesting bowl: the edges are holding it up (they didn't shrink), so it sort of hovers over the bottom of the pan.
I filled with pumpkin pie filling and and baking that off now anyway (whatever happens, ie., if it collapses, will still be edible).
But does anyone know what happened? Thanks in advance.
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4 Comments:
Shrinking pie dough usually comes as a result of too much gluten being formed in the dough. The protein strands contract as they cook and you get a shrunken pie crust.
There are two possibilities as to why this may have happened: you used a higher protein flour than normal (perhaps bread flour) or you overworked the dough, which develops gluten out of two different proteins.
Good luck with the next batch!
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 8:05PM on 11/21/07
The best way to combat that is not to overwork the dough but if you suspect in the least that you have, wrap the dough and let it rest an hour in the fridge. Take it out about 15 minutes before you need to roll it and proceed with the recipe.
therealchiffonade at 9:46PM on 11/21/07
I never thaw pastry dough. You get better results from the butter if you take it from the freezer to the oven. The steam makes good pastry.
Also I like the half butter half shortening pastry best for pies. This combination never shrinks as long as you do not overwork your dough. Your dough needs to rest a bit before you roll it out. Check out Dorie Greenspan's Good for almost anything pie dough http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/baking-with-dorie-sour-cream-pumpkin-pie.html
Dorie and I agree on the combination.
JerzeeTomato at 10:46PM on 11/21/07
Apparently vinegar (or another acid) will inhibit gluten formation and reduce shrinkage. Rose Levy Beranbaum's ''The Pie and Pastry Bible'' has a great crust recipe that includes vinegar for that purpose. It also has cream cheese, which gives it a nice tang. The NYT archive has the recipe.
Marc at 1:35PM on 11/22/07