Baker and cookbook author Erin Jeanne McDowell Literally wrote the book on pie. So trust her when she says something about how to make the best pie, especially the tools you need to do it. (And if you need convincing, try her great recipes Concord Grape Pie, Maple Sugar PieOR Classic Sweet Potato Pie.) Watch the video below, or read on for her essential pie tools:
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
Stairs
Like the bakers in our test kitchen, Erin recommends measuring ingredients by weight rather than volume. “This is especially important with pie dough, which relies heavily on proper hydration,” she says. “If the flour measurement is even a little off, it can really change the cake batter.” She prefers this Essential digital scale because “it's reliable, easy to use and can be tucked away in a drawer when not in use.”
Store: Libra
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
Parlor knife
“This is one of my favorite tools for any baking project, but it's especially useful when working with pie dough,” recommends Erin. She uses it to cube chilled butter, to keep the edges straight and square when rolling out dough, and perhaps most importantly, to scrape all the flour off her work surface when she's done baking.
Store: Parlor knife
Pastry blender
Although she usually mixes pie dough by hand, Erin recommends a pastry blender for people who have naturally warm hands or live in a particularly warm place. As she explains, “The pastry cutter does a good job of cutting through the cold fat in the flour, leaving irregular-sized pieces scattered throughout the mixture. It also has the bonus benefit of being refrigerated before use – when the tool is cold, it's even easier to keep the ingredients cold while mixing, which is key to fluffy pie dough.”
Store: Dough/paste blender
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
rolling pin
Erin prefers one French tree, which has narrow edges that she says make it easy to manipulate the dough in all directions while still keeping it round. “That's what I said, I also address him flipping with heavy gloves in the moments I'm doingLOTpies—they're easier on my hands,” adds Erin. “I really believe that hand tools like rolling pins are the baker's choice – choose the pins that you find easiest to work with.”
Store: Pivot pins
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
Parchment paper
“I use a good quality, heavy-duty parchment paper to line any pies we need to pre-bake, before I fill them with pie weights,” says Erin. She adds, “King Arthur Parchment it's one of the heaviest duty I've ever found – and it even holds up to the weight of a deep dish's worth of pie weights. She also likes to bake pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet for easy cleanup if there's any trickery that drips, bubbles, or overflows.
Store: Parchment paper
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Liz Neily
Non-stick pie pan
“My favorite pie topping isthis pan”, declares Erin. “I like it for a few reasons – it's light (perfect if you, like me, bake a lot of pies and therefore own a lot of pans), non-sticky and does a great job of ensuring an even brown crust throughout the base – especially the bottom.” Erin likes to give these pie pans as gifts because they aren't as expensive as ceramic.She recommends baking someone a pie in them and giving the recipient the pan too!
Store: King Arthur Pie Pan
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
Baking steel
“Steel roasting is my favorite method also providing baking for the pie”, says Erin. That's because the steady, consistent heat that comes from baking a pie on a griddle helps the bottom crust cook at the same rate as the top crust. You can bake your pie directly on the baking sheet or use a parchment-lined baking sheet to protect it from dripping. Erin notes, “Steel baking is especially useful for pies with a long baking time, like two-crust pies—or for people who want to skip the first bake.”
Store: Baking steel
Find everything you need for your best pies yet at ours Pie Shop Collection.
Cover illustration by Michelle Chen.
