Frozen Pie Crust Taste Test — October 2022

It’s unachievable not to be impressed by the delicately delicious artistry of a do-it-yourself pie crust, from perfectly scalloped edges to a lattice of buttery dough. With out the tender, flaky contrast of crust cradling creamy custard or spiced fruit fillings, your getaway pie is incomplete. Producing a home made pie crust is one thing every prepare dinner can study to do effectively, even if it does take a minor observe. 

While I advocate for retaining a disk of handmade pie dough in the freezer all year prolonged, there is some thing to be claimed for the benefit of a prepared-to-bake frozen pie crust. With most grocery retailers carrying many brand names of frozen pie crusts, it is challenging to know which one particular will enhance your quiche or holiday break pie greatest. Which is why I established out to exam just about every frozen pie crust I could acquire to discover the very ideal just one. After a day of baking and tasting, I’ve found the one particular frozen crust I’ll keep on hand all yr extensive.

I visited seven various grocery merchants to obtain every single frozen pie crust I could discover. In the close, I filled my freezer with 8 unique frozen pie crusts. When each standard and deep-dish types of the exact same brand names ended up offered, I selected the deep-dish model. Each frozen pie crust came in a two-pack, and all but one were being completely ready-to-bake in its own aluminum pan. Just one model was bought with the crusts rolled up, necessitating it to be thawed just before rolling and fitting into my own metal pie plate. All crusts were being baked from frozen, apart from for the rolled crust which was refrigerated for 30 minutes right after placing in the pan to organization the dough. I labeled the base of each pan with the manufacturer identify so that the crusts could be judged blind.

Even though I could have only baked the crusts with no filling to gauge taste and flakiness, until you are creating pie crust cookies that is not the way most of us are feeding on pie crust. Instead, I prepared pumpkin pie filling in accordance to the recipe on the back again of a national model of pumpkin purée. I used the same brand of pumpkin purée, evaporated milk, sugar, salt, spices, and eggs for every single pie so that the only variable in the tests were being the frozen crusts. Some crusts were being labeled as deep-dish and other individuals common or common, but each individual crust examined held the very same 3 cups of filling. The pies were being baked for the precise same time (15 minutes at 425°F, then 30 minutes at 350°F) so that no crust had the advantage (or deficit) of getting in the oven for a longer or shorter quantity of time. 

At the time baked, the pies ended up cooled fully on a wire rack in advance of style screening commenced. The crusts were judged on browning, taste, texture (shortness and flakiness), and look. Soon after the blind side-by-aspect style examination, a one crust stood out from the relaxation. Right here is our choose for the very best frozen pie crust. 

Despite the fact that I experienced observed this model in a range of merchants, it was not 1 that I experienced attempted right before this check. None of the crusts in this exam experienced an overtly buttery flavor — not astonishing, as most depend on other sorts of excess fat. Wholly Wholesome uses Natural Palm Fruit Shortening. While not buttery for each se, this crust does have a properly-well balanced and toasty pastry taste perfect for both equally sweet and savory pies. This crust also has a extremely limited component record, with no preservatives, dough conditioners, or shade additives. In addition to the shortening, these crusts are built from flour, drinking water, natural cane sugar, and sea salt. 

Wholly Wholesome’s Natural Common pie crust browned evenly to a golden shade both of those all around the edge of the pan and underneath the filling. Subtle scalloping is noticeable in the uncooked crust, but after baked it disappears to a uniform edging with minimal element in the dough. The crust is both of those tender and flaky, nonetheless robust enough to keep its shape when a wedge of pie is cut. The base of the crust was crisp, browned, and did not turn soggy even a working day immediately after baking. The ease of a prepared-to-bake crust that browns effectively and lets the filling choose centre phase is particularly what I hoped to uncover in a frozen pie crust.

Do you have a favorite frozen pie crust? Enable us know your decide in the remarks beneath.