Switched from room temp butter to frozen grated butter in my pie crust and I'm not going back | Bakers - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Switched from room temp butter to frozen grated butter in my pie crust and I'm not going back
For 15 years I rubbed cold butter into flour with my fingers like my mom taught me, and my crusts were always a little tough. Last month a baker at the Saturday market in Ann Arbor told me to freeze the butter and grate it on a box grater, and the crust came out flaky in a way mine never did. Anybody else grate frozen butter or am I late to this?
Been grating frozen butter for years now and it changed everything for me too. The trick is to stick the whole stick in the freezer for like 15 minutes first, then grate it right onto your flour. You get these little butter shreds that stay cold and separate, so when they melt in the oven you get those pockets of steam that make the flakes. One thing I learned the hard way, put your grater in the freezer too or the butter just smears. Also toss the grated butter with a bit of flour as you go so it does not clump back together. Try it with a cheese grater on the big holes, small holes just make a mess.