SC - OOP pie crust question

[Bonne of Traquair]

> > > My hands are too hot to
> > > properly work the dough, but I get by.
>
>When you're using a rendered shortening (as opposed to something like
>suet),  it is considered a good idea not to let your body heat melt the
>fat before the actual baking, because it can have an adverse effect on
>the texture of the pastry. See, the way it works is, you cut or break...
>Standard househusbands' wisdom generally calls for ice water to be used
>as the liquid to help with this, and you may want to use a pastry cutter
>or even a fork to mash the fat into the flour, rather than the hands. In
>cooking schools students are taught to use the hands for speed, but the
>rule is generally that while your fingers can get into the dough, your
>palm (a more "concentrated" heat source) should not touch the dough.

Although I have cold hands and have been pretty succesful with pie crust 
from my first try, I now depend on my food processor to do the blending.   
It takes seconds, so it's easy to over work the dough, but once I figured 
out just how --little-- to let the machine run, it was wonderful.   In under 
a minute I can make up 2 or 3 recipes, so I have plenty to freeze.  I cut 
the butter into small bits and set it in the freezer a few minutes before 
using it, while the blade and bowl are chilling.  I mix it only to the crumb 
stage, then dump it in a bowl and add the water myself.  Using the machine 
to mix in the water makes it too easy to overwork it.

Bonne

Bonne
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com