How to make a perfect pie at home and what tools you need for this

No dessert is complete without pie, whether it's apple, pumpkin, or another seasonal variety. Of course, you can buy a ready-made product, but it's much more enjoyable to bake your own and show it off at the dinner table. Where do you start and what tools do you need to bake a golden brown masterpiece?

SSPDaily talked to professional bakers to find out how to make a homemade pie and what tools are essential for the job. Here's what they had to say.

Dough

The first step in baking a pie is to prepare the dough.

Digital food scales

When baking, you can measure ingredients either by weight or volume. Measurement by weight involves the use of a scale because when preparing a pie dough, solid and loose ingredients such as flour and oil are weighed in grams, while liquid ingredients such as water are weighed in milliliters.

Zoë François, pastry chef and host of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network, believes that scales should be used when preparing any baked goods. "It makes the process more consistent, and once you get used to using them, it becomes easier to work with. At the very least, it's more convenient than dealing with measuring cups," she says.

Mixing bowls

Once the ingredients are gathered and divided into portions, you can start preparing the dough. Some chefs use food processors or mixers for this purpose, but most still prefer to knead the dough by hand. And the best way to do this is in durable and sturdy stainless steel bowls.

More importantly, stainless steel helps ingredients stay cold, and cold dough is easier to roll and handle

Scraper

A scraper is useful for cutting butter for dough and adding it to dry ingredients.

Pastry blender

The pastry blender cuts butter into the pie dough. It is used after the scraper. If the latter chops large portions of butter, the blender mixes the butter into the dry ingredients.

Rolling out the pie dough

After kneading the dough, you need to roll it out. Here are the tools for this operation

Conical rolling pin

Of course, you can use a wine bottle or a cylindrical tin can as a substitute, but a rolling pin will give you a more even result.

There are different types of these tools, but lightweight conical rolling pins have proven to be the best for rolling. They are shaped like a loaf, wider in the middle and narrower at the ends.

According to experts, regardless of the type of rolling pin, the thickness of the rolled dough should be about 3 mm. If the dough is thinner, it is likely to tear, and if it is thicker, the cake may not bake to the end.

Marble pastry plate

A marble table is an ideal surface for rolling out dough as it stays cool even during the warm season. Wooden butcher block counters also work well: they provide a smooth and cool surface to work on. However, if you don't have either, you can buy a board made of any material.

Putting the dough into the mold

The material of the pie dish affects how the dessert will bake.

Aluminum mold

Aluminum can withstand temperature extremes, for example, if you take a pie crust out of the freezer and immediately put it in the oven. In addition, aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat, which guarantees a crispy crust on the bottom of the cake during baking.

Glass mold

The main advantage of glass molds is that they make it easy to see if the bottom of the dessert is fully baked. However, glass is thicker than aluminum, so it may take longer for the bottom of the cake to reach the desired condition.

Ceramic mold

Ceramic molds have the same qualities as glass pans. If you're willing to wait a little longer for the bottom of the pie to become crispy, you should use ceramic dishes. Besides, ceramics are always beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

Decorating the top of the cake

The top of the pie is a "canvas" that you can decorate at your discretion. To do this, you will need the following devices.

Pastry roller

A ruler and a pastry roller are essential for cutting straight lines in the pie dough if you are making strips for lattice or braid. However, this can also be done with a sharp knife and the edge of a baking sheet.

Baking the cake

As soon as the oven temperature reaches the temperature specified in the recipe, you can start baking. Here are the tools that will come in handy after you put the cake in the oven.

Baking stone

Regardless of what material the pie mold is made of, professional pastry chefs heat up a baking stone and bake the pie on it.

The baking stone absorbs the heat from the oven and transfers it evenly to the pie dish, helping the bottom crust to become crispy and bake through.

Sheet pan

Placing the pie dish on a baking sheet during baking will catch any spills, such as fruit juice. This is also convenient when turning the cake in the oven or taking it out after baking.

Pie bird

This device allows steam to escape from a double-crusted pie while the dessert is baking. The bird also helps you determine when the cake is ready.

Protective screen for the crust

Sometimes the edges of a pie turn golden brown and crisp up faster than the rest of the pie. To prevent them from becoming too brown, you should add a special crust shield that covers the perimeter of the pie and protects its edges while the rest of the dessert is baking.

Cooling the cake

Any chef will tell you that you can't cut a hot pie as it needs to be allowed to cool for at least four hours for the filling to set completely. To do this, you will need a special stand.

Trivet for cooling

Experts recommend placing the cake on a cooling rack after it is removed from the oven. A raised wire rack with an open mesh allows air to circulate around the cake, helping it cool quickly.

How to cut and serve the cake

After all the preparations, it's time to cut the cake and serve it to the table. The easiest way to do this is to use a sharp chef's knife and remove it from the dish using a pie plate or offset spatula.