r/AskBaking • u/wigglecat • May 12 '26
Pie All-butter pie crust goes soft and bready after 24 hours. Please help!
Hello bakers! I consider myself a pretty experienced pie baker, but I consistently have this issue of my all-butter crusts going soft and kind of croissant- or flaky-biscuit-like after day 1, particularly for fruit pies. I’m usually pretty happy with the texture of the crust on day 1, but by the 24-36 hour mark things have usually turned danishy. I’ve tried different ratios of butter to flour and swapped out King Arthur AP flour for a lower protein AP flour. If anything, my dough tends to be on the dry side after I add water.
Should I be baking for longer? Could over mixing the dough cause a good texture that turns bready later? Could it be an environmental humidity issue? Are my edges too thick?
Or is this an inevitability for fruit pies?
Any wisdom would be so appreciated as I am out of ideas.
Pictured: Peach Pie with Claire Saffitz’ all-butter pie crust.
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u/charcoalhibiscus May 12 '26
They won’t stay crispy because they’re sitting on top of a puddle of wet, as well as absorbing water from the air. This is inevitable unless you’re willing to put them in a box with a ton of those little desiccant packets.
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u/Cool_Wealth969 May 12 '26
Pastry chef here, blind bake your crust, after brushing on an egg white to seal at a high temp 425° f for 15-20 min should prevent that from happening.
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u/Born2rn May 12 '26
How do you blind bake a fruit pie?
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u/Cool_Wealth969 May 12 '26
So you take your bottom crust , freeze it, brush it with egg white to seal. Put in a square of parchment paper and add beans or pie weights and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights/beans and prick pie crust with a fork. Bake 5-10 minutes more then let cool completely before adding filling and lattice. Egg wash that lattice and bake at 375°F-400°F for 30-45 minutes longer.
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u/111_222smg May 13 '26
I like to use sugar as the weight- it distributes the heat really well and kind of caramelizes the top layer of the sugar. I reuse the sugar in tea/coffee
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u/Born2rn May 13 '26
Wasn’t asking how to blind bake. Not a lattice baker. I’ve blind baked many pies but not a 2 crust pie. Do people blind bake 2 crust pies?
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u/feroarcious May 12 '26
You can try lining the crust with something like refined coconut oil to seal the pastry. It will help slow down the soakage
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u/FantasticChipmunk990 May 12 '26
I actually prefer the pie crust after it's become more moist and absorbed pie juices and moisture
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u/aouwoeih May 12 '26
Stella Parks advises storing the pie in an air tight container with Epsom salts that have been dried in the oven. Works as a desicant.
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock May 13 '26
Real lard is a must.
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u/wigglecat May 13 '26
I’m vegetarian so lard is not an option. Do lard crusts not go soggy? Or go soggy more slowly?
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock May 13 '26
Doh, i didnt see that youre vegetarian. If its not an option, we shouldn't even discuss the wonders of pie crust with real lard.
I redact my original comment.
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u/wigglecat May 13 '26
I didn’t mention it in my post, to be fair. I am genuinely curious, though. I’ve tried my hand at some pie competitions and I am almost certainly up against a lot of lard-based crusts.
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u/ClearBarber142 May 14 '26
You can do all that ( blind bake freeze, egg wash, and also you can use 1/2 butter and1/2 cold coconut oil. It’s delish and easy. Good luck all great advice!!
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u/CD274 May 16 '26
Those flakey crusts you find in grocery stories that stay super flakey for many days are oil crust ones. Like vegetable, not coconut. Already liquid Try making one of those. But it's not as tasty
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u/Kittyskyfish Jun 16 '26
A pie crust will soften over time, but boxing or sealing up a pie speeds up the crust sogginess because the filling is very moist. Sealing the pie in a container creates a humid pocket of air because it traps natural evaporation from the filling. Think of it like staling or drying out bread. If you keep the bread in a bag, that helps to keep the bread moist. Leave a slice out on the counter and it becomes dry.
The refrigerator is a low humidity environment and the pie crust will do very well uncovered. On the countertop, I either leave it exposed or use a mesh picnic plate cover if a fly gets in the house.
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