Savoury Pie Pastry

[FredericRobinson]

I’ve never managed to achieve the holy grail of a pastry robust enough to maintain it’s shape when cooked and be tender an pleasant to eat.
Shortcrust- never strong enough
Suet - too tough
Hot water - best of the three, have tried just lard and 50/50 lard and butter, still generally too tough.

Where might I be going wrong?
I’m guessing commercial operators use hardened vegetable fat, is this what I need to try next?

[21TonyK]

Its going to depend of the type of pie, ie. physical shape and size. But water content and flour types have an impact. For example a pasty designed to be held in the hand is strong plain flour, normal shortcrust just plain. Under and over baking will also affect the pastry texture and strength.

[FredericRobinson]

21TonyK said:

Its going to depend of the type of pie, ie. physical shape and size. But water content and flour types have an impact. For example a pasty designed to be held in the hand is strong plain flour, normal shortcrust just plain. Under and over baking will also affect the pastry texture and strength.

I’ve not tried bread flour, that’ll be my next move, ta, I’m possibly cooking at too high a temp also

[21TonyK]

FredericRobinson said:

21TonyK said:

Its going to depend of the type of pie, ie. physical shape and size. But water content and flour types have an impact. For example a pasty designed to be held in the hand is strong plain flour, normal shortcrust just plain. Under and over baking will also affect the pastry texture and strength.

I’ve not tried bread flour, that’ll be my next move, ta, I’m possibly cooking at too high a temp also

Brittle pastry? The thickness is a bit of an art as well. I had to do several "emergency" pies recently with a generic plain flour, soft margarine with no resting. Had to go a fraction wetter and about 25% thicker then bake for much longer to get something that held together out of the tins. Looked the part but was not the greatest by any means.

Strong flour will give you a firmer, cruchy crust.

[FredericRobinson]

21TonyK said:

Brittle pastry? The thickness is a bit of an art as well. I had to do several "emergency" pies recently with a generic plain flour, soft margarine with no resting. Had to go a fraction wetter and about 25% thicker then bake for much longer to get something that held together out of the tins. Looked the part but was not the greatest by any means.

Strong flour will give you a firmer, cruchy crust.

Hmm, strong flour probably not the answer to my issues with hot water pastry then, maybe need to try cooking temp reduction first