Big Batch Pie Crust

I finally did it.  I spent an hour making enough pie crust dough for five pies, including cleanup time.  Then I ran out of shortening and called it a day.

I've been watching Acre Homestead on YouTube.  She does a lot of batch cooking, as well as demonstrating various forms of preserving her backyard bounty.  Becky has far more energy than I do, but it's still nice when you can learn a few things. While I'm not going to make a year's worth of pasta in a day or freeze four pans of meal-prep lasagna, five pounds of pie dough is something I can go through during baking season.

I opted for Pie Crust #2, with a slight modification of replacing some of the water with vodka, as a versatile recipe for any size sweet pie that can also work for small tarts, including savory.  It would probably crack on a 10" freestanding tart, but the 4" should be fine.

One thing to know about making multiples of a recipe for baking is that it doesn't always work to just use a bigger bowl.  In this case, I was still planning to use the food processor, so I ran the recipe through four times, then kneaded in the big bowl until ready to wrap.  (I always have a lot of extra dough after making a pie, so I figure four batches equals five double-crusts.)  The benefit of that is any minor differences in hydration during the processing get evened out when you're tossing all of it together with the extra water.  The five discs, divided by weight, can camp out in the freezer until I feel like making a pie.  I can let one defrost on the counter for an hour or two, then roll and fill.

Another way to do this project is to pre-roll and line disposable pie tins, then freeze them until needed, like what you buy at the market in the freezer section.  I opted not to do this because I don't always make the same size of pie, and I'll still need extra dough for the top on the fruit ones.

Yes, it's a bit of work and mess.  And it takes a bit of guts to go through a pound of butter and half a bag of flour in one sitting.  However, batch prepping allows for spontaneity down the line, and I was planning to scrub my counters that day anyway.  When you think about it, you're only cleaning the food processor, wiping down the counters, and doing dishes once, not four times.  By the third time around, I didn't need to look at the recipe anymore.  It also removes the excuse of not feeling like making a crust (or cookie dough, or whatever else you're prepping).  Because, let's face it, whenever you need a treat, you don't feel like making one from scratch.