Matching the correct amounts of dough to a specific pie pan is necesary because using the wrong amount of dough can cause the crust to either fall short of the pan rim or puddle over the sides of the pan in folds. A mismatch in dough size can occur if the person choose the wrong amount of dough relative to the size of the pie pan. Using too little dough will cause the crust to not completely cover the bottom and side of the pan.
Using too much dough will create thick crust folds that may not bake even. Thus, it is important to ensure that the weight of the dough for a specific recipe match with the size of the pie pan prior to beginning the baking process. Pie size charts is a helpful tool in ensuring that the amount of dough that is used for a pie is the correct amount.
How Much Dough to Use for a Pie Pan
Pie size charts account for the fact that altering the diameter of the pan will alter the weight of the dough that is necesary to create a crust with the proper amount of overhang to allow for crimping of the crust. For instance, increasing the diameter of the pan will require more weight of dough to cover the pans surface area. Additionally, pans of different shape, such as galettes, require different weights of dough than straight-sided tart pans.
This is due to the fact that the galette’s crust must travel a further distance then the tart pan’s crust to cover the entire pan. The amount of dough that is required for a pie also depend upon whether the pie is a single or double crust pie. Single crust pies will require less dough than double crust pies because a single crust pie must cover the bottom and sides of the pan.
A double crust pie will require more dough because there will be a top crust layer in addition to the crust that lines the bottom and sides of the pan. For instance, a nine-inch pie pan will require seven ounces of dough for single crust pie but will require fourteen ounces of dough for a double crust pie. Deep-dish pans will require even more dough than single or double crust pies of the same diameter because deep-dish pans has more surface area to cover with the crust layer.
Another factor that can influence the baking of a crust is the material of the pie pan. Metal pans will allow the bottom of the crust to brown prior to the rest of the crust being cooked because metal conducts heat rapid. Glass pans will hold the heat from the oven allowing the person to monitor the color of the dough from underneath the pan.
Ceramic pans will allow the heat to travel at the slowest rate of the two materials, therefore allowing these pans to be used for custards that requires slow cooking of the ingredients within. Although pan material can impact the crust differently during the baking process, the type of pan will not change the amount of dough that is required to line the pan. Many people will create a mistake when adding the correct amount of dough due to specific habits regarding the dough.
One mistake is rolling the crust to a diameter that matches the size of the pan, but rolling the crust only to the size of the pan will leave the crust without enough dough to create a rim for the crust; furthermore, it can cause the crust to bubble over the rim of the pan. Additionally, people often make the mistake of adding too much dough to a pie pan because they think this will provide extra safety should the crust be too thin for the pie. However, using too much dough will cause the crust to not bake even due to the thickness of the crust.
To prevent these mistakes, use the two-inch rule for the weight and diameter of the crust. According to the two-inch rule, the person must roll the dough to a diameter that is twice as wide as the size of the pan. Then trim the crust to ensure that there is one inch of overhang for crimping the crust.
Similar rules applies to other specialty shapes of pies, such as slab pies and mini hand pies. Slab pies are baked into a sheet pan instead of a tart pan. Thus, the weight of the dough will be the same as the area of the sheet pan.
Mini hand pies will use only a fraction of the amount of dough as is used for a full-sized pie. However, the person will follow the two-inch rule for these mini pies so that the edges will seal when baked. Scaling a pie crust recipe requires an understanding of the volume of the pan in relation to the amount of ingredients.
For instance, a six-inch pan has half the volume of a nine-inch pan. Thus, only half the amount of ingredients is required for the crust and for the filling. A ten-inch pan will contain more volume than a nine-inch pan; therefore, it will require thirty percent more ingredients than a nine-inch pan.
If the amount of dough is set to match the pan size, then the thickness of the crust will be consistent from the center to the rim of the pan. Thus, there will be no issues regarding raw bottoms or over-browned edges of the crust. Store-bought crusts have limits to the size of the pans to which they can be baked.
Refrigerated dough circles are often only available in sizes for nine-inch pans and come in two portions for double crust pies. Frozen pies are often provided in foil tins that may not match the depth of the pie pans. Additionally, mini graham cracker shells may not be able to be stretched to accommodate a larger pan.
Thus, it is essential to know these limits so that only the appropriate amount of store-bought crust is added to a pan so as to avoid any baking errors. Regardless of the size of the pan, the process for rolling the dough is the same. The dough must be chilled prior to rolling.
Furthermore, the dough should be rolled from the center of the dough outward. After the dough is rolled to the desired size, the dough should be rotated a quarter turn so that the crust is even. After completing the rotation, the dough should be unrolled onto the pan.
Finally, the dough must be chilled once the pie is lined with the dough.