Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix the flour, lard, and salt thoroughly with a knife.
Gradually add cold water until the mixture forms a nice dough.
Shape
Divide the dough to make three small pies.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once hydrated with water.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to shorten gluten strands, giving a tender, flaky texture.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together without becoming tough.
The step that matters
Adding the cold water. Adding water gradually and keeping it cold lets the dough come together without overworking it. Too much water or warm water can develop gluten and make the crust tough and less flaky.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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