The Quick Pinch Test To Check If Your Pie Dough Needs More Water

While preparing the dough to make the crust for a recipe like Ree Drummond's perfect pecan pie, you're about to start adding ice water to bring everything together, but you hesitate. The recipe might call for several tablespoons of ice water, but how will you know where to stop? Your pause is wasting valuable time and it won't be long before the butter in your mixture begins to melt. Fortunately, the pinch test is one reliable way to know that your dough is perfectly hydrated.

It's been said that a good pie is all about the crust, and to a large extent, the adage rings true. After all — unless you've traveled back in time to try 16th century pastry which wasn't for eating, and pretty much served as an inedible cooking vessel — a pie crust not only holds the filling together, it lends its own unique flavor and texture to every slice. To execute the pinch test, simply add the minimum requirement of ice water to your flour and butter (or shortening) mixture, then press a small amount of dough between your fingertips. If the pinched mixture clumps together easily, you're ready to roll!

If the mixture just falls apart after executing the pinch test, simply add more ice water. But be sure to go slow, adding only a teaspoon at a time. On the other side of the coin, if you add too much water to your pie dough — it'll come together too easily while mixing and become sticky — you can attempt a fix. But if you simply add more flour, your dough can get overworked. More mixing will develop gluten, resulting in a tough or brittle crust.

The best remedy is to wrap the too-wet dough in cling wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours, which allows the fats to solidify and gives the flour more time to absorb excess moisture. Then roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper, and transfer it to a pie plate to blind bake for your favorite pie, or cut it into rectangles for homemade blueberry cheesecake Pop-Tarts. Now all you have to do is pop it in the oven, cross your fingers, and hope for the best!