Finally tried the ice cube trick for pie crust and it actually worked wonders

I was always getting tough, soggy pie crusts that just fell apart. My grandma told me to dump my butter into a bowl of ice cubes before cutting it into the flour. Tried it last weekend on an apple pie for a family dinner in Phoenix, and the crust was flaky and perfect for the first time ever. I had to work fast because the butter was cold, but it made such a difference. Has anyone else had luck with keeping butter super cold like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubys8013d ago

Oh come on, it's really not that deep. I mean yeah cold butter helps but people act like it's this huge secret that'll change your life. You don't need to dump it in ice cubes like you're making a fancy cocktail. Just stick your butter in the freezer for ten minutes before you start, that's what I do and it works fine. All this extra fussing around with ice cubes just makes more mess and cleanup for no real reason. Unless you're entering a bake-off for a blue ribbon, nobody's gonna taste the difference anyway.

richard_anderson13d ago

Dude I tried the ice cube thing once and it was a disaster. Butter got waterlogged and made my dough all weird and sticky. Now I just grab my butter, grate it on a box grater straight from the fridge, then toss it in the freezer while I get the flour measured. Stays cold, mixes in easy, and I'm not fishing wet butter cubes out of ice water. Saved me so much headache and my biscuits come out flaky every time now. Plus I don't have to wash a colander full of butter slime after.