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My grandma's pie crust recipe always came out tough until I switched to vodka

For years, I followed her old card to the letter, using ice water and ending up with something you could patch a roof with. The change happened after a cooking class in Cincinnati where the teacher said the alcohol evaporates faster, keeping things flaky. Has anyone else found a weird swap that fixed a family recipe?
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3 Comments
barbaraw16
My aunt's biscuit recipe was the same way, dry as dust. I started using buttermilk instead of regular milk and it made all the difference. I get what @theaward is saying about a tough crust still tasting good, but a flaky one is just better. That vodka trick works because it leaves less water behind to make gluten.
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theaward
theaward2d ago
Honestly, that vodka trick gets talked about a lot. It works, sure, but was the old crust really that bad? A tough crust still tastes pretty good filled with apples or berries.
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hannah_wright
The texture's part of the memory though, like grandma's tough pie crust.
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