Finally tried the ice cube trick for pie crust and it actually worked wonders

I was always getting tough, soggy pie crusts that just fell apart. My grandma told me to dump my butter into a bowl of ice cubes before cutting it into the flour. Tried it last weekend on an apple pie for a family dinner in Phoenix, and the crust was flaky and perfect for the first time ever. I had to work fast because the butter was cold, but it made such a difference. Has anyone else had luck with keeping butter super cold like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantf731mo ago

Wait, have you actually tried the ice cube method right or just heard about it? I get where rubys80 is coming from about extra cleanup, but honestly the ice cube trick was a game changer for me living in Arizona where my kitchen is basically a sauna. My problem with just freezing the butter was it would still get soft on the outside while I'm cutting it in, but ice cubes keep everything properly cold through the whole process. Rich's grater idea sounds smart though, not gonna lie, I'm kinda curious about trying that since my biggest headache is the wet butter cubes sticking together. Different strokes for different folks, the cold butter is what matters not exactly how you get there.

rubys801mo ago

Oh come on, it's really not that deep. I mean yeah cold butter helps but people act like it's this huge secret that'll change your life. You don't need to dump it in ice cubes like you're making a fancy cocktail. Just stick your butter in the freezer for ten minutes before you start, that's what I do and it works fine. All this extra fussing around with ice cubes just makes more mess and cleanup for no real reason. Unless you're entering a bake-off for a blue ribbon, nobody's gonna taste the difference anyway.

richard_anderson1mo ago

Dude I tried the ice cube thing once and it was a disaster. Butter got waterlogged and made my dough all weird and sticky. Now I just grab my butter, grate it on a box grater straight from the fridge, then toss it in the freezer while I get the flour measured. Stays cold, mixes in easy, and I'm not fishing wet butter cubes out of ice water. Saved me so much headache and my biscuits come out flaky every time now. Plus I don't have to wash a colander full of butter slime after.