Pie Crust Calculator

How the calculator works

The calculator scales one recipe: King Arthur Baking’s Classic Single Pie Crust. One batch makes a single crust for an 8 to 10 inch pie:

• 180 g (1 1/2 cups) of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of table salt
• 46 g (4 tablespoons) of vegetable shortening
• 71 g (5 tablespoons) of cold unsalted butter
• 43 to 71 g (3 to 5 tablespoons) of ice water

It works out how many batches you need, then multiplies every ingredient:

• Single crust pie: 1 batch each.
• Double crust pie: 2 batches each.
• Mini pies: 1 batch for every 6.

flour in grams = batches x 180

The result is given by weight first, with cups and spoons beside it.

Worked example

You are baking one apple pie with a top crust and one pumpkin pie without.

1. Apple, double crust: 2 batches.
2. Pumpkin, single crust: 1 batch.
3. Total: 3 batches.
4. Flour: 3 x 180 = 540 g, which is 4 1/2 cups.
5. Butter: 3 x 71 = 213 g, or 15 tablespoons.
6. Shortening: 3 x 46 = 138 g, or 12 tablespoons.
7. Salt: 3 x 1/2 = 1 1/2 teaspoons.
8. Ice water: 129 to 213 g, or 9 to 15 tablespoons.

To get that from the calculator, choose single crust and enter 3, since three single crusts is the same dough as one double plus one single.

Why the water is a range

Every other ingredient is a fixed amount. The ice water is 3 to 5 tablespoons, and in a triple batch that range widens to 9 to 15.

That is not vagueness in the recipe. How much water a dough takes depends on your flour and on the day, and the recipe expects you to add it gradually and stop when the dough holds together. Start at the low figure and add the rest a tablespoon at a time.

When you scale up, do not pour in the top of the range at once just because the batch is bigger.

Double crust pies

For a pie with a top, make two batches and divide the dough in two. The pieces do not have to be equal. In its Crusty Apple Pie recipe, King Arthur Baking suggests that if you have a scale, one piece should be about 9 ounces and the other about 10 ounces, with the larger piece for the bottom crust, which has to line the pan and come up the sides.

Two batches of this recipe weigh about 680 to 740 grams in total, which is 24 to 26 ounces, so there is a little more to work with than that split uses.

Mini pies

The same article series covers pies baked in a standard muffin pan. The numbers:

• One single crust recipe makes 6 mini crusts. A double recipe makes 12.
• Each piece of dough is about 40 g.
• The pan is a full-sized standard muffin pan, with wells 2 inches across the bottom, 2 3/4 inches across the top and 1 1/4 inches deep.
• For 18 mini pies, make a triple batch.
• For mini apple pies with a top, pinch off about a quarter of each piece for the top crust.

Wells much larger or smaller than that will not match these amounts.

Rolling and chilling

From the recipe:

1. Shape the dough into a disk 1 inch thick.
2. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. If it has chilled for longer than 30 minutes, let it rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling, so the butter softens slightly.
4. Roll to about 12 inches across for a 9 inch pie.

A larger batch is easier to handle if you shape it into separate disks, one per crust, before it goes into the refrigerator. Each disk then chills evenly and is ready to roll on its own.

Pan sizes

The recipe says one batch fits an 8 inch to a 10 inch pie, so the calculator does not change the amount within that range. King Arthur Baking notes elsewhere that pie pans are described as 9 or 10 inches wide but may measure only 8 3/4 inches inside, and that a standard pie pan is 1 1/2 inches deep, with deep-dish pans at 2 inches.

For a deep-dish pan at the top of the range, you will be rolling the dough thinner to make it reach. The calculator does not add dough for depth, because the source does not give a figure.

The recipe gives a flour swap: 170 g of King Arthur’s pastry flour blend can be used in place of the 180 g of all-purpose flour.

Tips and common mistakes

Keep the butter cold. The recipe specifies cold butter and ice water.

Add water slowly, and scale the patience with the batch.

Divide a multi-crust batch before chilling, not after.

Roll to the full 12 inches for a 9 inch pan. A smaller round will not reach the rim.

Count the crusts, not the pies. A lattice or a full top is a second crust. A crumb topping is not.

The recipe says you may prebake the crust for fillings that are not baked, but it does not give a time or temperature on that page, so this page does not either.