7 Daily Simple Kitchen Hacks

When you’re rolling out pastry dough, excess flour often clings to the dough, lending an unpleasant, floury taste and texture to the finished product. Extra flour can also make the pastry tough if it gets worked into the dough. To avoid this, use a clean pastry brush to sweep excess flour off the surface of your dough.

For extra assurance that your breads will release intact from their pans, try not only spraying the pan with vegetable oil spray, but also borrowing this classic technique for working with french pastry dough.
1. Make a sling for the loaf by laying long, wide strips of parchment paper across the length and width of the pan so that the paper overlaps the edges.
2. Use the overlap as a handy grip when it’s time to remove the loaf from the pan.

If you find yourself short a pie plate, a seasoned cast-iron skillet can make the perfect alternative. (make sure the skillet is 9 or 10 inches in diameter to keep the volume and baking times consistent with the recipe.)

To streamline your pie-baking process, store your pie weights (or beans or rice used for the same purpose) in a doubled-up ovensafe cooking bag that can be used again and again. Because the bag can be lifted in and out of the pie plate, there’s no need to line it with foil or transfer the weights from their storage container to the pie plate and back again.

When you need to blind-bake a pie shell, try using a large basket-type coffee filter to contain the pie weights.

If you need a little help making clean, even strips for your lattice-top pie, try this foolproof tip.
1. Roll out the dough and then lightly press the top of a cooling rack into the dough.
2. Use the indentations as a guide to cut the dough into 1¼-inch strips with a pizza wheel.

Fragile strips of dough for lattice pies or tarts often break when they are transferred from the counter to the pie. Here’s a way to make this delicate task easier.
1. Transfer the dough, still on parchment paper, to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut through the dough and parchment paper to form strips. (if the dough is too soft to cut, place it in the freezer until firm, about 5 minutes.)
2. Using the parchment paper to lift the dough, transfer the strips to the top of the pie, gently pulling the paper away.