Pie crust for Pecan pie - baked or raw - Crisco vs butter?

[ModernCat]

I am making pecan pie for Thanksgiving and I am probably the few people who do not like pecan pie at all, it's just too sweet for me. Why am I making it you might ask, well because the other people LOVE pecan pie so that means I will have more pumpkin pie for myself. I might not have to share a lot of the pumpkin pie

Back to my question: I've read several recipes. One says cook the crust before putting in the filling, another say pour into uncooked pie crust. which one is best, whats the difference after it's cooked? Crispier? nuttier?

Also recipe using crisco vs butter for the dough/crust?? Which is better?

Thanks in advance

 

[Addie]

First I would bake the crust for just a few minutes so that it doesn't become soggy. Or you can coat the crust with egg white and allow it to air dry. The main thing is to prevent it from becoming soggy from the filling. The egg white will dry and provide a shell on the crust.

For the crust you can use half butter for the taste and half Crisco for the flakiness.

I have to agree about it being too sweet. The filling is mostly Karo syrup.

 

[GA Home Cook]

As a true southern who LOVES pecan (pee-kan) I have to admit I have used some frozen pie doughs in the past and they are amazingly good. I always blind bake with dried beans to get that nice flakey crust. It you want to make the crust I tried ATK's process of using Vodka and it works great. There is no flavor but you can use extra liquid to help the dough and then its rapidly baked off and gives a great flakey crust. Oh and use butter flavored Crisco.

 

[lyndalou]

First I would bake the crust for just a few minutes so that it doesn't become soggy. Or you can coat the crust with egg white and allow it to air dry. The main thing is to prevent it from becoming soggy from the filling. The egg white will dry and provide a shell on the crust.

For the crust you can use half butter for the taste and half Crisco for the flakiness.

I have to agree about it being too sweet. The filling is mostly Karo syrup.

Addie is right on all counts. Half butter and half crisco is what someone (Rhee?) made her pie crust out of the other day.

 

[bakechef]

I use half butter, half shortening, but have used all butter in the past.

I prefer to blind bake the crust. You may not need to blind bake since the pie will be in the oven for close to an hour, the crust should cook through just fine. I also lower a rack to the lowest position which also helps the crust cook through nicely.

 

[Andy M.]

I make a pecan pies every year. Do not pre-bake the crust. I have found (same as bakechef) that the pie cooks for so long that the crust will be fine. As a matter of fact, I have to cover the crust for part of the baking time so it doesn't get too brown.

 

[medtran49]

Beautiful pie Andy! I've never taken the time to place the pecans but it sure is pretty.

Mother and grandmother always made pie crusts with Crisco and lard respectively. Neither of them used butter. Both always had beautiful flaky crusts. Neither pre-baked the pie crust for pecan (and in my part of the south it's peh-cahn, we don't eat something that sounds like a place you'd go to the bathroom in a pinch).

Sadly, while my crusts are okay, I never quite learned the trick to get crusts like theirs, course I also don't make pies like they did either. Grandparents owned and worked a farm and she made a pie of some kind pretty much every day to help keep them all full and going strong.

 

[Addie]

Correction for Pumpkin Cheesecake

For those who copied the Pumpkin Cheesecake, I left out one half cup of white sugar.

Please correct your copy if you printed it out. I apologize for any inconvenience. Or if it was moved to desserts, I would appreciate it if one of the moderators could insert it. Thank you.

 

[bakechef]

I make a pecan pies every year. Do not pre-bake the crust. I have found (same as bakechef) that the pie cooks for so long that the crust will be fine. As a matter of fact, I have to cover the crust for part of the baking time so it doesn't get too brown.

I have a silicone crust shield that I really like, I usually put it on after 15 minutes so that it doesn't mess up the crust, one of these days I'm going to put it on in the beginning to see if it messes up the crust.

 

[Andy M.]

I have a silicone crust shield that I really like, I usually put it on after 15 minutes so that it doesn't mess up the crust, one of these days I'm going to put it on in the beginning to see if it messes up the crust.

I make a foil "lid" for the pie and put in on part way through the process.

 

[bakechef]

I make a foil "lid" for the pie and put in on part way through the process.

I've done that too and it works well.

 

[Addie]

I have a metal aluminum one and it goes on before it goes in the oven. No problems. Have been using it for eons. Wouldn't bake a pie without it.

 

[Mad Cook]

As a true southern who LOVES pecan (pee-kan) I have to admit I have used some frozen pie doughs in the past and they are amazingly good. I always blind bake with dried beans to get that nice flakey crust. It you want to make the crust I tried ATK's process of using Vodka and it works great. There is no flavor but you can use extra liquid to help the dough and then its rapidly baked off and gives a great flakey crust. Oh and use butter flavored Crisco.

I'm so glad you pronounce "pecan" like that. There's an American cook on Food Network who insists on saying "p'karn" and I want to throw something at the television screen every time!

I like pecan pie BECAUSE it's so sweet!