How To Keep Pie Dough From Melting During The Summertime

A slice of apple or blueberry pie sweetened by a dollop of vanilla ice cream is as classic as baseball or any other American pastime. So, unfortunately, are the heatwaves that sweep in every June and refuse to depart until August or September. The sweltering temperatures are at odds with pie dough, but there are ways to keep the crust cool on the hottest of summer days.

Even if you follow all the best pie crust-making tips to a T, there's only so much you can do about the high temperatures that create an overly warm kitchen environment. Once-stretchy dough can easily turn soggy and lose its shape, and it all has to do with the butter. The fat is crucial for the texture of pie crust, and whatever happens to it, the dough will follow suit. Once your butter starts to melt before it even hits the oven, you can expect a pie crust that doesn't hold its shape.

One of the best tips for baking with butter is to keep it frozen when making the dough. That way, it'll melt when it's baked, keeping the dough intact. To maintain the coldness of the butter, you'll need to ensure all the other ingredients it comes in contact with have also been chilled. Refrigerate the flour, sugar, and salt beforehand, and opt for ice water when making the dough. Grate or slice the butter into large chunks, with a cold grater or knife, to keep the fat cool.

If you're not quite ready to make the pie yet, feel free to pop the dough in the fridge while you're prepping the filling. Refrigerating the dough prior to rolling it out, after it's been rolled out, and basically any chance you get keeps it at a consistently cool temperature, preventing it from melting during the most humid days.

One of the best methods, however, will always be to make and store homemade pie crust ahead of time. With dough kept in the fridge or freezer until it's ready to be used, you lessen the risk of it melting or turning soft before it's time. You can whip up the dough and divide it into discs before freezing, but rolling it out, shaping the crust onto a pie baking dish, and freezing the whole thing prevents a soggy bottom.

This technique is great for peach pie and other moisture-filled ingredients that may wet the bottom of the crust, but if you don't want to freeze your crust ahead of time, add in an extra step to wick away moisture. Before incorporating the filling, sprinkle a mix of equal parts flour and granulated sugar on the inside of the pie crust so the fillings' juices don't seep into the dough.