Learned a cold butter trick from a pastry chef last weekend

Ngl, I always struggled getting pie crust flaky without the butter melting into the dough. Last Saturday I watched a pastry chef at a local baking workshop in Portland grate frozen butter directly into the flour mix using a box grater. It took maybe 2 minutes and the dough came together way easier without getting warm. Has anyone else tried this method for biscuits or scones?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey_barnes1mo ago

Well I'll be, I never thought frozen butter would work for pie crust but this actually convinced me. I used to think you had to keep the butter in cold chunks and work fast, but grating it sounds like a much smarter way to get those little pockets of fat distributed evenly. I might try this for my next batch of biscuits and see if it makes a difference.

margaret_singh11mo ago

The box grater method is a total game changer. I tried it last month for scones after seeing a video online and ended up with the flakiest ones I've ever made at home. @casey_barnes you are spot on about the even distribution, it really fixes the problem of melting butter patches. What kind of biscuits are you planning to try first?