A stupid question about pastry

devon_guy

I'm shortly to be moving out of home and living on my own (Awwww!) and want to make my own pies etc as I think it will be much cheaper than buying pies that are full of additives and god knows what else.

I'm going to get some individual pie dishes to make them. When I make the pastry can I just roll it out to fit the dish, put it in, then add the filling then top then cook it or do I need to bake the pie "blind" first?

LameWolf

I don't bother baking blind - I don't have the patience for it, and Mr LW says the pies I make are delicious.

Can I ask what fat you're planning to use? It might make a difference (I don't know for sure). I use all butter.

HTH

Edited to say Good Luck in your new home.

devon_guy

Thank you for the kind words! I'd use butter I expect. What pastry is best to make too?

LameWolf

I'd stick to bog-standard shortcrust pastry to start with.

I use a fraction over twice the weight of plain flour to butter; if I'm making savoury items I add a little salt, and if sweet, an ounce or so of sugar.

Get it to the "breadcrumb consistency" stage (I cheat and use a food processor because my hands are worse than useless) then bind it all together with a little cold water.

skintchick

I've always wondered this too! Might actually make some pies now...

SunnyGirl

Another good tip passed to me by my Mum is to make your pastry up to the breadcrumb stage then store in the freezer in a bag or tub. It usuable straight from the freezer more or less, and it's as easy to make a bigger batch as it is to make small ones every time. I make six 8oz mixtures (8oz of flour, 4oz fat) at a time then use them for whatever I want. The only thing I buy is puff pastry as it's a faff to make

thriftlady_2

SunnyGirl wrote: »

Another good tip passed to me by my Mum is to make your pastry up to the breadcrumb stage then store in the freezer in a bag or tub. It usuable straight from the freezer more or less

Great tip, thank you :T

Devon Guy, yes you can put your filling straight on the pastry and bake. If your filling is hot make sure you bake it straight after filling or the hot filling will melt the raw pastry.

You can also freeze the uncooked filled pie.

SunnyGirl

thriftlady wrote: »

Great tip, thank you :T

Devon Guy, yes you can put your filling straight on the pastry and bake. If your filling is hot make sure you bake it straight after filling or the hot filling will melt the raw pastry.

You can also freeze the uncooked filled pie.

You're welcome I also make up crumble mixes (6oz flour, 3oz butter & 3oz sugar) and do the same. If you want be really fussy (like me:o) you can store the bagged crumbs in an old ice cream tub or similar so they don't get lost in the depths of the freezer :rotfl:

thriftlady_2

I already do the crumble mix but hadn't made the connection with pastry- it's the same thing really isn't it? Ta again SG;)

nopot2pin

SunnyGirl wrote: »

Another good tip passed to me by my Mum is to make your pastry up to the breadcrumb stage then store in the freezer in a bag or tub. It usuable straight from the freezer more or less, and it's as easy to make a bigger batch as it is to make small ones every time. I make six 8oz mixtures (8oz of flour, 4oz fat) at a time then use them for whatever I want. The only thing I buy is puff pastry as it's a faff to make

:T Pure genius. :T