With strawberries crowding farmers market tables and plenty more summer fruit on the way, we've got pie on the brain. But homemade pie crust seems to be a culinary Mount Everest for so many of us. And those pretty and perfect store-bought crusts are so very pretty and perfect. Do you make or buy your pie crusts?
For purposes of comparison, we'll use Oronoque Orchard 9-Inch Pie Crusts and our own recipe for pie crust from scratch (get the recipe HERE). All costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery. In the homemade cost, we don't account for the cost of salt or other typical pantry staples.
COST BREAKDOWN
• Oronoque Orchard 9-Inch Pie Crusts
Package includes 2 crusts
TOTAL: $3.49
PER CRUST: $1.75
• Homemade Pie Crust
Makes 3 crusts
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour: $0.76
1 1/2 teaspoons salt: $0.00
2 tablespoons fine white sugar: $0.04
1 cup chilled butter: $2.00
1/2 cup chilled shortening: $0.72
1/2-3/4 cup ice cold water: $0.00
TOTAL: $3.52
PER CRUST: $1.17
TIME BREAKDOWN
• Oronoque Orchard 9-Inch Pie Crusts: 0 minutes
• Homemade Pie Crust: Let's put this at around 20 minutes, which is longer than it takes some people but less time than it takes others.
CONVENIENCE
Pie crust is definitely something that you get faster and better at making the more times you make it. To begin with, it feels very awkward and labor-intensive. But set a goal of making one pie crust a month all summer long and you'll see how quickly you improve.
Pie crust can also be frozen. It's easy to make a big batch, use what we need, and then freeze the rest of the dough in portions. You can even roll that extra dough into pie-ready disks so all you have to do when the pie craving strikes is thaw the dough a little, press it into a pie pan, and bake. In our minds, that's super convenient.
TASTINESS AND HEALTHFULNESS
The majority of store-bought pie crusts are lacking in flavor and more crumbly than flaky. There are some good ones out there; we especially like Trader Joe's crusts. You can also now find pie crusts that contain no hydrogenated fats or other nutritional bombs.
But we're still in love with homemade pie crusts. Love the flavor of an all-butter crust? Go for it. Have a fondness for crusts made with lard? Awesome. And yes, you might struggle with your crusts from time to time. But for the most part, even the most tattered-edged homemade crust will taste worlds above the store-bought version.
MAKE OR BUY?
Making your own pie crust is definitely something worth mastering. In terms of cost, tastiness, and healthfulness, it wins hands down. Convenience is more of a tie, with the store-bought edging ahead. But ultimately, we think it's worth the TLC it takes to make a good pie crust.
One other point in favor of homemade is that you get a top-crust.
OUR VERDICT: Make it!
What do you think?
Related: Make or Buy? Cake Mix vs. Homemade
(Images: Peapod and Faith Durand)
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Definitely make. Tastes SO much better, and you can do it on a sunday, freeze three batches, and have pie crusts ready for a month.
Here are the two things that converted me to make-your-own: 1) a pastry cutting tool 2) The Pioneer Woman's recipe (which introduced me to the wonderful world of freezing pie dough for a perfect result.
How come everyone always seems to forget the happy medium? If you don't want to compromise- as in, getting the flavor of an all butter crust with the flakiness of a shortening crust, use butter flavored shortening! Or half butter half shortening! Ok, now I need to go make pie...
I use the four-crust recipe from Rustic Fruit Desserts. Way easy. Way good. Absolutely no reason to buy one.
Make! I learned a easy pie crust recipe years ago that I keep filed away in my mind and just adjust to whatever I'm making (adding spices for quiche, that sort of thing).
I figure if I'm making a fruit pie, I'm not exactly being health-conscious in the first place, and I'll be damned if I don't get a delicious, flaky crust along with delicious, sugar-filled pie.
I don't know why I buy because when I get myself to make my own pie crust, I think how it's easier than I thought it would be and how much tastier it is. Thanks for this post! I'm going to try making one crust a month.
Make, for sure! I also base my recipe on the Pioneer Woman's, using butter-flavored shortening. People are always so impressed that you made your own crust, no one cares if it isn't perfect-looking.
Make, definitely!
Pie crust is one of the first things I ever learned how to bake, so by now it's pretty instinctive. And really, given cold butter, ice water, and a pastry cutter - all of which I generally have on hand - it comes together in minutes. In my opinion, it's much more convenient to be able to make a pie whenever the fancy strikes me, with no need to plan ahead or make a grocery run for a crust.
Make! I love the America's Test Kitchen recipe with vodka in it. I had trouble with pie crust when first I moved to Colorado (altitude!), but this one works very well.
Make! Sometime last year, we had people over last-minute and I picked up a store-bought crust to make a quick pie. It was so disappointing: flavorless and flabby. Since then, I keep a pre-made homemade crust in the freezer, flattened into a fat disc a little bigger than my palm. I can just thaw it, roll it out, and --- ta-da! --- pie crust!
I used to make awful pastry: tough and heavy. Then my father, who (no exaggeration) couldn't heat canned chili without swearing, took me into the kitchen and showed me how to do it. I realized that if he could make light, flaky crust, I certainly could.
For me, it was a matter of just paying attention to the details: break down some of the fat to coat the flour, leave some of it in bigger pieces to provide the lift, and don't over-handle it. I used to think that meant "be gentle with the dough," but it absolutely doesn't: I whack the hell out of it sometimes, but I do it fast and keep it cold!
I usually skip the pie crust and turn my berries and other summer fruit into cobblers and crisps. Topping is so much easier!
I try to make as much as possible, but I always have Trader Joe's crusts on hand just in case.
I will be the lone voice of dissent... I buy. I can NOT make crusts. I have tried. Tried my mom's recipe, tried Cook's Illustrated, tried the half butter half shortening. I'm just more of a cooker than a baker I guess. I do make a mean graham cracker crust though, so usually I just pick pie recipes that can go in one of those, or make something other than pie!
Definitely make. IMO you might as well not bother making pie if you're going to use store-bought crust. It is just not very good.
I'll admit it: I used to buy pie crust. The pillsbury ones that aren't already in a pie tin weren't so bad (though full of annoying ingredients). I was always afraid of pie crust, convinced it was too difficult. But then I made it a few times and it's easy as... pie. It turns out better and after a little practice it really is very simple. I won't judge people who use store bought, though. I get it.
My wife is the baker, she just buys them now. She made one from scratch just to prove that she could. The frozen ones are so convenient for pies and quiche.
I make when I can but I have no problem buying if I want to save time.
I won't judge people who use store bought, though. I get it.
foodefafa, I am with you! Just because I learned to make a lovely pie crust easily doesn't mean everyone will! And I'm in no position to judge: when called upon to make a fluffy layer cake, I use boxed mix. In any case, if someone is making pie and sharing a slice with me, I am NEVER going to turn up my nose at pre-made crust.
I make Martha Stewart's version that she does in a food processor. I also use all butter. I am very pro-butter!
I buy pre-made "homemade" dough balls that I roll out. I lack the counter space to make the mess necessary to a good dough. *sigh*
Make all the way.
It might be a bit silly of me but I will NEVER buy a pre made pie crust. If I'm making a pie to begin with, it means that I've got some time on my hands and why not go that extra quarter of a mile?
Make, all the way. Especially after I learned how simple and easy it is. The store bought ones are everything from awful to disappointing. I use half butter, half lard (yes, lard!! unbelievably delicious results!) and vinegar in the ice-water: perfect pie crust every time.
These pie crust recipes are way too complicated. :-) All you need is flour, salt, milk, vegetable oil. 30 seconds = pie crust. http://newbrokefoodie.blogspot.com/2009/11/super-easy-no-fail-pie-crust.html
Make, reluctantly. Nothing can make me swear like a pie crust. Some things I can just whip up without a fuss that make other people tear their hair. With a pie crust it's my turn. But there's no doubt--even with my less-than-stellar skills and the undeniable fact that my crusts are made with RAGE, not LOVE--boy, they taste a whole lot better than the ones I buy!
My husband is the pastry chef in our household. He uses a slightly modified version of Julia Child's food processor recipe (butter, shortening, flour, salt, vodka) and it takes him maybe 10 minutes to whip out a crust. Of course, afterward it looks like the flour canister exploded in the kitchen but that happens every time he cooks. I think it takes longer to clean up the counter and food processor than it does to make the crust.
i'll vote make because it's very easy for me now, but you can't fault someone for buying it if they're not comfortable. flour, sugar, salt, water, butter, dash of vinegar, BOOM crust.
since mastering pie crust i've become quite good at making biscuits from scratch as well. it's the same process just with levener and buttermilk. it's more convenient to not have to run to the store everytime you want to make this stuff.
This website's verdict is always "Make It!" I like the Pillsbury rolled-up crusts. They come 2 in a box, so you get a top crust.
lol, when I first met my mother-in-law...you know, on that first visit to meet the parents...she made pie from scratch and proceeded to tell me that any woman who didn't know how to make a (homemade) pie crust would go to H E Double Hockey Stick.
Well, I may still go there for numerous other reasons, but it won't be b/c I couldn't make a pie crust. :)
First---We MUST get past the idea that a pie crust should be pretty and perfect. My family doesn't care if my pie crust looks like a train wreck as long as it tastes good. Do not beat yourself up over looks. The county fair is for over-achievers.
make! Even if it doesn't turn out looking as perfect, it always tastes better!
Make!
The Pillsbury refrigerator crusts taste better than many a crust I've had in restaurants, plus I don't have to find space in my tiny kitchen to store a cutting board large enough to roll out a pie crust.
I mostly cook pies with no bottom crust and a crumb top crust, though, as the calories in pie crust are horrific.
Make!
UNLESS; you are hosting a huge brunch, or a big dinner party, with lots of little nibbles - and no one will likely notice. In my case, I won't notice, or go crazy making pie crust ahead of time during a work week.
Buy!
I swear I know every trick in the book for pie crust (I've read so much on the topic I'm basically now an armchair piecrust theorist) but mine always shrink, crack, and generally make a mess. I'm a confident baker but maybe I'm more a baker than a cook and I like precision and perfection thus my crusts seem like failures to me.
I switched to buying when I went to a luncheon and the fancy matriarch who was hosting served a delicious pie with an amazing crust. When I asked her to teach me to make her crust she took me aside and showed me the wrapper to a pre-made freezer crust. She tips them into her own pie plate for baking and no one knows the difference. That converted me.
Make. Never bought a pie crust so I don't know how it compares.
I don't roll it out though, it sticks to everything. Instead I just spread it out on the dish using my fingers. A little more time intensive perhaps, but much cleaner!
I always make them, but to be honest, most of the time I'd rather skip the crust altogether. I'm more of a crumble kind of girl.
I've made them, and it's fast in the food processor, but the rolling out part is a messy pain in the neck and I've never quite understood how anyone thinks otherwise.
I usually make crisp anyway, since I love the crumbly, nutty, oaty goodness much more than bland white flour crust.
I recently took a food science class and we had to compare the relative flakiness, tenderness and flavor of pie crusts made with various fats. I thought I was going crazy when I ended up preferring the one made with vegetable oil!
It didn't have big flakes like the ones made with solid fats, but I thought the flavor was much better and it was SO much easier to make! Plus there's no trans fat.
I don't really miss the flakes when the crust is sopped with fruity filling anyway. I plan on using olive oil from now on for even better flavor!
My dad taught me how to make a perfect pie crust, but it does take time and patience. However, in a pinch, I have found that the Jiffy mix in the vintage-looking light blue box makes a really tasty pie crust. I also use this crust to make pasty (savory ground beef, potato, and onion pocket). I have 4 boxes in my cupboard right now! The only hitch is that you have to roll it out, so if patience is not your virtue, I guess, go for frozen (eww).
Worlds above? Hardly. My boyfriend makes a killer pie crust. Frankly, though, no one at the table ever notices or cares when there is pie (!) to be eaten, and pie crusts are a pain to make. Maybe y'all haven't had frozen pie crusts in a while - they taste just fine these days, and certainly better than a poorly made pie crust (e.g., mine). We prefer homemade in a vacuum, too, but ultimately find our time is usually better spent on other details. Store-bought pie crust is always preferable to no pie at all.
Make.
And use all butter. Made properly, it is plenty flakey.
Shortening is gross.
If you are obsessed with "flake" at least use lard.
buy. it's the filling that shines when i make pie (pumpkin, cherry, i'm looking at you).
I love to make crusts, and I'm actually pretty great at it, but when I make pies (rare), I almost always end up buying. Making the crust represents a commitment that I just don't have, lol. The counters have to be clean (I have a small kitchen and my counters are always covered). The procedure is exacting (which translates to stressful for me). It takes planning ahead (freezing the butter) and it takes quite a bit of hands-on time (I count the "letting the dough rest" part in the time, and if it doesn't rest, it always falls apart for me). So in conclusion, MAKE, but damn that's hard so just go ahead and buy it, lol.
I like making pie crusts, and I also think that making something by hand is part of the pleasure of the whole experience. Eating the pie and serving it to others is more emotionally satisfying when it is something you made yourself from start to finish.