Resting Pie Dough/Pastry | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

FAQs

How long should pie dough rest? ›

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

Always rest the pastry in the fridge after handling it to allow the fat to firm up again. Make sure your fillings are cold before pouring into tart cases, covering with pie lids or wrapping in filo otherwise the heat will cause the fat to melt and lead to soggy pastry.

Pie dough can keep for two to three days in the fridge, or up to three months in the freezer. If you're making the crust and the filling ahead, keep them separated until it's time to bake your pie.

Most pie dough/pastry benefits from a rest in the refrigerator as it allows the glutens in the flour to relax - this should help to give a more tender pie crust with less shrinkage. It can also give time for the liquids in the dough to be absorbed, giving slightly less dry spots in the pastry.

Pizza dough that has been left to rise for too long, or has been over-proofed, can potentially collapse. The gluten becomes overly relaxed, and the end product will be gummy or crumbly instead of crisp and fluffy.

Yes, we're talking about resting your dough before popping it into the oven. Little known fact: Refrigerating your dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out allows the gluten to relax and the fat to firm up, resulting in an extra-flaky, melt-in-your-mouth crust.

Keep the bread dough covered to protect the dough from drying out and keep off dust. Place your rising dough in a warm, draft-free place in the kitchen while it's rising. Too much heat will speed up the yeast activity, and too much cold air will slow it down.

Pop in the fridge

Wrap the dough in greaseproof paper or cling film to prevent it becoming dry and the fat absorbing any unwanted flavours from the fridge. Pastry of all kinds needs to be left to rest in a cool place for at least 15 minutes.

After yeast dough has risen, you need to gently punch it down and knead it a few times to release the gases created by the yeast. Next, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl, for about 10-15 minutes before proceeding.

RULE #7 Rest the pastry

Putting the dough back in the fridge to rest for any time longer than 15 minutes – but ideally at least 30 minutes – allows the gluten to relax and allows the pastry to chill. Cool and relaxed pastry is far more likely to hold its shape when cooking.

What happens if you don't Chill pie dough? ›

Non-chilled crust is fairly crumbly and less smooth, which makes it harder to roll out and means it may not look as polished. It will brown more quickly and the final product will likely be tougher, heavier, and more doughy – none of those in a bad way. It will likely have a more intense, butter flavor.

Remove the first disc of dough from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for 10 minutes. Liberally flour your work surface and rolling pin. Begin to roll the dough, being sure to rotate it every so often to avoid sticking, to a 13-inch round.

After the dough has been punched down, if it is not going to have a second rise, you can let it rest for 20 minutes then move on to shaping it. You want the smooth surface to become the outside or the top of the loaf when shaping.

This rest period allows for better absorption of water and helps the gluten and starches to align. The autolyse is credited to Raymond Calvel, who recommended it as a way to reduce kneading time and thereby improve the flavor and color of bread.

A term used to describe the process of letting pastry dough set for a period of time to prevent shrinkage. The ball of dough should be wrapped in plastic and placed in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. This will allow the elasticity, which was built up during mixing, to relax.

Yes, you can let your bread rise overnight in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, you'll want the dough to come back up to room temperature before baking.

If you want to get a head-start on your baking, letting your bread or roll dough rise in the fridge overnight can be a huge help. Chilling the dough will slow down the yeast activity, but it doesn't stop it completely.

You can skip it if you don't have the time, but if you do have time, it's totally worth just letting the dough rest. I typically rest my dough twice. One short rest before I let it bulk ferment, and a second longer rest before I shape it and let it prove (rise) for the last time.

If your pie crust is tough instead of tender and flaky, you probably either overworked the dough or added too much water to it. There's not much to do in this situation but plate up a slice and throw on a scoop of ice cream. Don't sweat it: You'll do better next time.

Can I make the dough the day before and refrigerate it? Absolutely! You can even make them the weekend before, roll the crust out, line the pie plate (she recommends 9-inch glass), then wrap it in a double layer of plastic/foil and freeze the whole crust/plate combo.

How many hours does the dough rest proof? ›

Time: This will be different can vary depending on the recipe, and can range from 1 to 3 hours. A warmer environment, a warmer dough, and more yeast can make for a faster rise. Spring back: Bread bakers know proofing is done when the dough has doubled in size, and no longer springs back when pressed with two fingers.

The Dough Springs Back. After kneading the dough for several minutes, press it with your finger. If the indentation stays, the dough still needs more work. If it springs back to its original shape, your dough is ready to rest.

Conversely, dough that rises too quickly produces bread with flat flavor. Nail the sweet spot — warm enough to rise at a decent rate, yet cool enough to develop flavor — and you're golden. Studies have shown that the optimum temperature for yeast to grow and flavor to develop is 75°F to 78°F.

The goal is to keep the surface of the bread from drying out. A wet towel works fine but plastic wrap is cheaper and easier than constantly cleaning wet towels.

By chilling the dough before rolling it out, we allow the present gluten strands time to settle down and relax. This actually makes your pastry dough easier to roll out and cuts down on any shrinking during the baking process. Chilling also lets the available moisture find its way back into all parts of the dough.

General rules

Keep everything as cool as possible otherwise the fat may melt which would spoil the finished dish. Introduce as much air as possible during making. Allow to relax after making to allow the fat to harden. Handle the pastry as little as possible.

You can keep your pie dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure to allow the pastry to come to room temperature before rolling out for pie. Not ready to use your pie crust in the upcoming days? Place it in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Pastry should be at room temperature for rolling (to make it more pliable), but chilled before baking (so the buttery layers remain separate). A hot oven allows the layers to rise, but needs to be monitored to prevent burning.

Most baked goods keep well at room temperature. That goes for cookies and brownies (which can be stored in an airtight containers for up to five days) as well as muffins, breads, and pastries (which will start to stale in two to three days but will keep better here than anywhere else).

stick the dough in a Ziplock bag, removing all of the air, then place in an ice water bath and stick the whole thing in the fridge.

Can you put pie dough in the freezer to chill faster? ›

Butter the bottom, sides and rim of the pie plate before positioning the pastry in it. Cover with plastic wrap and chill shaped pie pastry in the freezer for about 10 minutes or for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. This firms the pastry and helps keep its shape.

If you start whipping up a cookie recipe only to realize you have to chill the dough for a longer amount of time than you have, there's a trick for speeding up the process: freezing the cookie dough. That's right, you can freeze it for a bit to shave quite a bit of time off the chilling suggestion in the recipe.

You can chill your dough during either the first or second rise. Your yeast won't give you much love if it's asked to do both rises in the fridge, so it's best to do one or the other at room temperature.

Turns out, chilling dough before rolling does two things: The most important is that it gives the gluten strands in the dough time to relax, which makes the pastry easier to roll out and limits shrinkage during baking. The other reason is that giving dough a good rest encourages the moisture to disperse more evenly.

Ideally after rolling your pie dough, the dough should still be really cold. It will likely take some practice before you can roll your dough fast enough to keep it cold from start to finish. However, there is no need to worry.

Allowing dough to rise twice results in a finer gluten structure than allowing it to rise once. It results in a smaller crumb and prevents huge gaping airholes in your bread. The reason that you have to let it re-rise is that you just pushed all the air out with the kneading you did developing that gluten structure.

The first golden rule of making pastry; keep the ingredients, the bowl and the hands as cool as possible. Sieve the flour to add extra air and lightness to the pastry.

Proving which is also known as proofing is the process where the dough is rested to allow the yeast to ferment and produce gas bubbles which help the dough to rise.

You can keep your pie dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure to allow the pastry to come to room temperature before rolling out for pie.

How long should the dough be left to rest? That really depends on the type of bread you're making and where you're letting the bread dough rise. For the most part, bread only needs about 1 to 3 hours at room temperature. If it's in the fridge, you can let it rise for up to 24 hours.

How long should dough be allowed to rest before baking? ›

After yeast dough has risen, you need to gently punch it down and knead it a few times to release the gases created by the yeast. Next, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl, for about 10-15 minutes before proceeding.

What's the solution? Once you bring the dough out of the cooler, keep it covered to prevent drying and let it temper at room temperature for upwards of 2½ hours or until the dough ball temperature reaches 50°F.

Physically test your dough with the poke test

What bakers call the “poke test” is the best way to tell if dough is ready to bake after its second rise. Lightly flour your finger and poke the dough down about 1". If the indent stays, it's ready to bake. If it pops back out, give it a bit more time.

Plastic wrap is the best cover for dough. It's the best at trapping moisture, and if you spray it with a light misting of oil, it won't stick to your dough. However, if you avoid plastic due to environmental concerns then a lint-free, damp towel will work just fine.