Discovered that using cold butter straight from the fridge actually makes my pie crust flakier

I was always told to let butter sit out for 15-20 minutes before cutting it into flour. Last week I was in a rush for a pie order in Nashville and used butter right out of the fridge. The crust came out way flakier than usual. Tried it again on purpose with two test pies and same result. The cold butter chunks stayed visible longer and created more steam pockets. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just getting lucky with the humidity here?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara_patel23d ago

I tried the cold butter thing about 6 months ago for a lemon meringue pie and it was a total game changer for me too. I used to let my butter sit out for like 20 minutes, even 30 if I was distracted. But the first time I used it straight from the fridge the chunks stayed solid way longer and I saw these big flaky layers in the oven. I did it with my standard recipe and got the best crust I ever made. Now I only use cold butter, no exceptions. It really does create more steam pockets like you said and I swear it makes the crust tougher to overwork too.

kevin_west23d ago

Whoa, maybe the real trick is shocking the gluten into behaving.

-1

drewgonzalez22d ago

Hold your horses, it's pie crust not a science experiment. You'd think we were splitting atoms in here.