The Rolling Pin Technique For Perfectly Even Pie Crust

So, you're rolling out a fresh pie crust you just made from scratch. The fact that you made it yourself and didn't just buy a pre-made dough or a mix is impressive in and of itself. For a truly show-stopping, "Great British Bake Off"-worthy pie, though, you'll need to do something else: Make that pie dough look just as good as it tastes.

One of the most important factors is ensuring you have an even pie crust that's a complete circle — not an oval and not a square. It should be the same thickness throughout and the perfect size to fit your pie plate. Achieving all this is much easier said than done, however. You roll the crust one way, and you have an oval. You roll it the other way, but now one side is too thick. But what if you tried moving the dough, not the rolling pin?

Before rolling, shape your dough ball into a flat, thick circle using your hands. Make sure the edge is flat and even all the way around by gently rolling the dough like a wheel across your countertop. Then, pushing away from you, roll out your pie dough a few times in one direction before lifting the dough and rotating it 90 degrees. Roll the dough again using the same pressure. Repeat this process until your dough reaches your desired thickness. The 90-degree turns ensure that you keep that circular shape and a uniform thickness.

There's one factor that can complicate this method for a perfectly even, perfectly circular pie crust: dough that's sticky or falling apart. If you can't lift your pie dough off of your rolling surface, this method just won't work. So, what can you do?

If your pie dough is too sticky, you have a few options. Toss more flour onto your workspace and rolling pin or, if you haven't yet started rolling, cover your countertop with a sheet of parchment paper. This way, when you use the 90-degree rotation method, you won't even necessarily need to move the dough itself — you can just turn the parchment paper.

On the other hand, if your pie dough falls apart when you try to lift it, you may need more moisture. Add a little water to your dough. If you'd prefer not to, parchment paper will also come in handy here — you can even use it to transfer your perfectly rolled dough onto your pie plate so it doesn't fall apart in transit. Of course, refrigerating your pie dough before rolling always helps, so whatever you do, don't skip that step.