is my food processor big enough for this pie crust?

[balmofgilead]

Has anyone here successfully made piecrust for a 2-crust pie (the popular recipe with 2 1/2 cups of flour and a cup of butter) in a 7-cup food processor

Comments

[meowmensteen]

Personally for that amount of crust, I would just do it by hand, but your processor is big enough.

[balmofgilead]

Have you done this (with these sizes), though? It definitely fit, and if it were a less finicky dough I'd not be worried, but I got the sense it might not have mixed as evenly as it should have.

And I've had trouble with making piecrust by hand the few times I tried--I was excited about finding this food processor (Cuisinart! <3) in the thrift store because I've read it's much easier.

[meowmensteen]

One thing you could try is to start in the processor, but then dump it out on the counter before it's fully mixed and use a bench scraper to mix it the rest of the way. Basically press the dough together and chop it up, then take half the dough and put it on top and chop some more, and keep doing this until it looks pretty evenly mixed. It's not the end of the world if you still see a few chunks of butter here and there. Just do it enough to get the dough to hold together pretty well. It's better to cut it like this than mix or knead it together. You're less likely to develop gluten strands. Once you feel it's mixed enough, press it together and wrap it up and let it "rest" in the fridge for a while. This will keep the butter from melting when you roll it out, and also resting the dough will help prevent shrinking. I actually rest the dough after I mix it, and then again after I shape it into the pan.

[kamaliitaru]

It should be big enough, but I've found that if I shred the butter with my food processor (only when its frozen solid), and mix the crust by hand, I get better results.

[balmofgilead]

Alas, this food processor was a thrift store special that didn't come with the shredding blade. (Might buy one someday--thank you Cuisinart and your always-available accessories, but not in the budget right now.)

[chaosotter]

My secret trick for getting a flaky crust when I use butter is to put the butter in the freezer for a short while, then use a cheese grater to shred it into the flour.

[cymrullewes]

I let the processor blend the butter in for 5 or 6 pulses then stir the flour about then blend another 5 or 6 pulses before stirring again and adding ice water.

[antimony]

1. I've done two 10-inch crusts in mine, and it's a 7-cup. I have no idea what this "popular recipe" is but a pie crust is a pie crust. If you're unhappy with how it comes out, just split the entire recipe in half next time, but I've never had problems with it.

2. You don't want to mix it too much -- a little bit of unevenness makes for good flakyness.