Where did the idea of using alcohol in pie crust come from?
Back in 2008, Good Eats showed a recipe for pie crust which included distilled alcohol. In 2009, America's Test Kitchen showed a recipe for blueberry pie which also used alcohol in the crust. In both cases, the program explained that alcohol made the pie dough easier to work without encouraging gluten formation the way that water would.
Does anyone know where the idea of using alcohol in pie crust really came from? Was this a well-known trick, or did one of these programs invent the idea?
Best Answer
In November 2007 a recipe was published in Cooks Illustrated for a Foolproof Pie dough with vodka. That recipe was created by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt who was one of the chefs on America's Test Kitchen and writer for Cooks Illustrated. He has an article about the recipe here http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/07/the-food-lab-the-science-of-pie-how-to-make-pie-crust-easy-recipe.html?ref=sweets-sb3. As far as I know this was not a well-known trick and Lopez-Alt came up with it originally.
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Why do some people put vodka in their pie crust?
The vodka works for two reasons. First, it makes the dough feel way more moist and easier to work with. Second, the ethanol in the vodka stops the gluten in the flour from binding, making for a more tender end product.What does adding alcohol to dough do?
Baking with booze\u2014such as bourbon, rum, port and vodka\u2014can add additional flavor, texture and even change the consistency of many baked goods. Take pie dough for example, adding a splash of vodka produces a super flakey dough and develops less gluten in the dough than water. For tarts and shortbread dough\u2014same thing!Does alcohol prevent gluten formation?
gluten won't form in alcohol. The ethyl alcohol in vodka and other liquors does not attach itself in the same way as water. Because of this, it does not hydrate the proteins, and therefore does not aid in gluten formation.\u201dCan you use any alcohol in pie crust?
Surprisingly, the vast majority of our tasters could not distinguish among the different flavors of booze; all of the crusts had a clean taste and flaky texture. So if vodka is not your tipple of choice, go ahead and substitute any 80 proof spirit.Pie Crust made with Vodka
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