Bottom Crust Started Pate Brisee

Bottom Crust started

pointsevenout 15 years ago

Using 1 pie crust round from ttaaccoo's submitted recipe, I rolled it out this morning.

Used the plastic wrap technique for rolling out the crust: Lightly floured a section of plastic wrap and placed the dough round on it. Placed a second lightly floured plastic wrap section on top of the dough round and matching it up to the bottom plastic wrap.

Theory is that the plastic wrap is 12" wide, so if the dough is rolled out to the edges of the plastic wrap, it will cover a 9" pie pan just nicely. And it did!

Toughest part was for me to wait for the dough round to warm up enough to be malleable for rolling using a LIGHT TOUCH. I want to jump in there and roll it out quickly to keep the fat from melting too much. I am a guy and it is easy for me to try to force things too quickly. So it took about 20 minutes for the dough to warm up, out of a 40 degree fridge, enough for it to be pushed around with the rolling pin with a light touch.

The dough spread nicely, working the pin from the center away from me and rotating the dough when the shape started getting out of round.

With the dough rolled out to a 12" circle, I removed the top layer of plastic wrap, inverted the pie plate, which was in the fridge chilling, and placed it centered on the rolled-out crust. Slide one hand underneath the bottom plastic wrap and one hand on top, which actually is the bottom, of the pie pan, and flip the two together.

Carefully remove the plastic wrap from the crust. If it starts to tear, put the whole thing back into the fridge for 30 minutes so the fat can resolidify. Then remove the plastic wrap. Lift the edge of the crust off the edge of the pan and let the crust relax down into the arc of the pan instead of trying to press the crust in place. It keeps from stretching the dough and possibly tearing it.

My pie dish has a fluted edge built-in to the side of the dish, so I don't have to flute it. Took the rolling pin and rolled it across the rim of the pie dish, cutting off the excess dough.

It's back in the fridge, covered, until I get ready to half-bake the crust.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Best thing about using the plastic wrap technique is you don't have to worry about the dough sticking to your work surface and it is very easy to rotate the dough for rolling.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

This portion of baking the crust is a par-bake or half bake process designed to keep the bottom crust from getting soggy when using wet fillings.

Dock the bottom crust. Docking the crust is a curious phrase. We don’t want the crust to bubble up from trapped air under the crust when the air starts expanding. Using a fork, stab the crust all over the bottom and sides so the air can escape while the crust bakes. Made a blind with parchment paper and lentils. That’s what I had on hand.
Oven to 425*F; rack adjusted to bottom 1/3rd of oven; bake for 10 minutes.
Remove crust from oven.
Remove blind from crust.
The crust will look waxy doughy. We are removing the blind so that the heat can get to the crust where the blind was.
Reduce oven to 350*F; Dock the crust some more.
Place the crust back in the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove the crust from oven. It will now have taken on sort of a translucent quality. Dock any part of the crust that looks like it wants to bubble up. Have an egg wash ready, one egg and two tablespoons water beaten, and brush the bottom and side of the crust. This will seal the crust from all the docking and help prevent moisture from the filling from getting to the crust and making it soggy. If the sugars from the filling get through the docking holes then the crust will tend to stick.
Place the crust back in the oven for 5 minutes to complete the sealing process.
Remove crust from the oven. It will appear egg yellow where the wash was spread. Let the crust cool while the filling is prepared.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Layered the apples and spices in the par-baked crust. Then forgot I was supposed to take the top crust out of the fridge to warm up so it could be rolled out. OOPS!
So the filling is already in the pie pan and I'm pressing my luck trying to rush the crust roll out process by rolling it while it is too cold. I'm probably applying too much pressure. There goes that light touch.

BTW I'm using the "Apple Pie My Way" recipe by Zena824 for this crust.

So the top crust is rolled out and is sticking to the plastic wrap; into the fridge it goes to try to firm up. Didn't even let it rest in there 10 minutes before I started sweating that I was wasting energy with the oven humming along at temperature. Looked at the filling and it was starting to collect fluid in the pie. Decided to use the top crust "as is". Carefully removed the plastic wraps while positioning it in place. Cut off the excess as in the bottom crust. Used a fork to score the edge of the pie and seal it as it was sticky. Cut vents and fork holes in the top crust. Painted it with egg wash.

Into the oven in the bottom 1/3rd with some loosely laid foil around the bottom of the dish so I can wrap it up around the edge if the edge starts to get too brown.

Supposed to bake for an hour but I will check it after the first half hour to see if I need to use the foil.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Only needed to cover the edges of the pie for the last 20 minutes of bake.
Got it on the rack cooling. Looks alright for a rush job at the end. I even took the time to make some apple slices and leaves out of the scraps to decorate the top crust.
What do you think, a couple of hours to cool off? Should I put it on the window ledge to get the neighbors sniffers working?

Time for a nap.

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chefzilla 15 years ago said:

Point, honey, to put the rolled dough into the pie dish all you have to do is give a little sprinkle of flour to your rollin pin and then roll the dough around it and then put it over top of the pie plate and roll it back out. I hate to say this but its easy as pie.

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peetabear 15 years ago said:

Point.... I want you to know that I have really enjoyed your pie story ... !!! can't wait for the final chapter.... I hope it turns out good....(smiles on my face)

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Chefzilla, I hope you're right. But for the next couple of crusts, as a confidence builder, I will use the plastic wrap to roll-out the dough, then maybe graduate to a plain work surface where I can use the rolling pin technique. I did it that way on the first pie I made and had troubles, all my making mind you, but troubles just the same.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Mother jumped on the pie 10 minutes out of the oven. I was at my desk typing out observations on the pie and downloading pictures and I heard her squeaking the flatware drawer. I got back to the kitchen as soon as I finished my sentence but the pie was already butchered.
There was soup in the bottom if the pie pan where the missing piece had resided only moments before. Mother was hied to the livingroom with her saucer plate piece of hot pie and dollop of ice cream, guarding the prize with her big pastry hooks and a fork.

Received instant feedback on the pie. "The flavor is good, the crust is good, but the apples are not done".

I poured out 1/3 cup of fluid from the pie pan and returned to my note taking and a nap to let the pie cool.

It is now 2 1/2 hours since the pie was pulled from the oven and time for my taste test. The little bit more fluid that leaked from the pie was thickening up nicely. Mothers' assessment of the pie was spot on. A very good taste. The crumb had a flakey crunch that melted into the chew. Now that's a very nice crust. Even the edge of the pie crust was a flakey crunch-to-melt-in-your-mouth sensation. YES, the apples were not completely done.

Next time I will boil up the apples, sugar and spices to fork tender first, before filling the crust. That will make the filling done as well as thickening up the sugar solution. But I have a feeling that the fluid in the pie would have congealed on its own if left undisturbed to cool completely.

I'm happy with the results of the pie crust. Will make this same crust formula a couple more times to get some experience under my belt, as well as some pie.

I'm going to have to eat another piece of pie to check the effectiveness of sealing the bottom crust from the soggies. I was enjoying the flavor and texture of the pie and crust on the first slice. Going to roll the second slice over and inspect it closer.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

Yes, the bottom crust did get soggy. It didn't help that the crust was cut early before the pie set up. The soggy bottom crust was not dense. It was even trying to be flakey in its wetness. Well maybe a better description would be wet than soggy.

It's going to be a tall order to keep mother dearest away from the pies so they can cool. Any suggestions?

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chefzilla 15 years ago said:

Lock her in the shed. Just pullin your leg Point.

Good idea to parboil the apples a bit.What kind of apples did you use?

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notyourmomma 15 years ago said:

Invest in a pie safe......LOL.

Your instructions are spot on for a novice and for a veteren baker. Bravo. I expect to see you at the next bake-off! When you get to blueberry, I"ll be booking my flight and you'll have to fend off two marauders to the goods. Wonderful thread, really nice way to start a Sunday with a good entertaining read.

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pointsevenout 15 years ago said:

They were a sack full of apples someone was giving away at the senior center. Mother didn't bother to ask what kind they were. They were FREE. YAHOOOOOOO! She'll bring home anything free.

Now silly me, I'm assuming they were granny smith apples. But after an hours bake time in the pie, they were still kinda rubbery. After doing some research on the 'net, I found out that crabapples would not bake down like regular apples. And there is a serious lack of crabapple pie recipes there too. Geeze, I wonder why!

I'm going with the assumption that they are indeed crabapples. Think they were giving them away at the center because a lot of the folk in this farming community use them for making jelly. There are a lot of crabapple jelly recipes available.

Found one recipe that has the crabapples boiled then blended then spiced and thickened to go into a pie and another one that steams then tosses in a spice sugar mix.
I've got about 10 cups of the suspected crabapples peeled and sliced this morning. Think I will steam them then boil them in a spice sugar mix 'till al dente, then thicken the reduction so it will fit in a pie shell without being too runny. Enough here to make two pies. It will also give me a chance to hone my fledgling pie crust skills.

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