When I made my first pie in 2016, I had just moved across the country into a tiny apartment in Seattle and was still settling in. I didn’t even have a ruler to my name, so I cut dough strips with a baking sheet and a not-sharp-enough knife. It was unwieldy, but as a pie-baking novice, I couldn’t justify purchasing an arsenal of fancy equipment to explore what I saw as a one-off venture (ha!). Besides, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a pastry wheel, and in any case, priority was directed to more crucial items like . . . oh, a mattress. Even now that my life is completely consumed by pie and my house is more than filled with all sorts of gadgets, my core baking toolkit remains fairly basic.
Furthermore, while quality is important, practically speaking, I generally seek out the most economical versions when purchasing equipment. None of these items requires the “splurge model,” and in fact, I encourage you to look around your kitchen and repurpose what you have whenever possible.
This is not a comprehensive list of tools used in this book. These are simply the essentials that bear mentioning.
BAKING SHEETS (FLAT AND RIMMED): Flat (unrimmed) baking sheets are supremely useful for sliding under rolled-out pie dough when the whole operation needs to cool down in the fridge. Since the supreme law of pie land is keep things cold, the ability to chill your dough quickly at any point of the design process is crucial. Rimmed baking sheets are equally important for catching bubbling juices when baking pies. Unless smoking out your house and spending hours scrubbing blackened puddles on the bottom of your oven happen to be your ideal weekend pastimes, I recommend setting all your pie and tart pans on a rimmed sheet before baking.
BAKING WEIGHTS: Unless you already own a set, there is no need to purchase specifically marketed pie weights. Dried goods like beans, rice, or, as extolled by pastry wizard Stella Parks, even sugar, set in foil serve the purpose perfectly well and are pleasantly affordable. At some point, I amassed a quantity of pearl barley beyond anything I could sanely consume, so I keep the grains in a large container and reuse them exclusively as baking weights.
BENCH SCRAPER: Not only is this tool handy for cleanly dividing double batches of pie dough, it also makes clearing off crusty debris from your work surface a breeze.
CRUST SHIELD: Pie edges often brown before the fillings are cooked through, and crust shields help prevent burning before the full pie reaches nirvana. You can manually construct a protective barrier with aluminum foil, but if you plan to bake pies with any frequency, I recommend a reusable silicone crust shield. Admittedly, I find the silicone shields a headache to use, particularly once they’re hot, since they rely on a tiny, fiddly latch that often comes undone, but they’re the best option I’ve found thus far. The weight of reusable metal shields usually inhibits the full manifestation of those coveted flaky crust layers, so all roads still lead back to silicone despite its foibles. Please contact me ASAP if you invent a better solution.
CUTTERS (ROUND, SHAPE, ALPHABET): Shape cutters are the easiest way to cut uniform pieces of fruits and vegetables, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can always manually slice shapes with a knife. (Just clear your calendar and plan to have a dog walker come take your pup out while you are occupied for the next year.) I prefer the sets from Ateco, and they’re pretty affordable considering the amount of time they save.
DIGITAL SCALE: They give you better baking accuracy, and you’ll have fewer dishes to wash. Need I say more? Okay, I will. Digital scales are also low-cost and eliminate the need for mental math (shudder), which makes them worth their weight in butter.
ELECTRIC MIXER: I have a hand-me-down stand mixer that I recently relegated to the basement to regain counter space real estate, and because it’s frankly more than I need. For all the whipped fillings in this book, a simple electric hand mixer will do the trick. Elbow grease and a bit of stamina will also suffice to replace any electronics on this end.
FINE-MESH SIEVE: My 9-inch stainless steel fine-mesh sieve sees heavy rotation. One with a sturdy handle and a hook to rest securely on a mixing bowl is handy in case you too somehow lack a third arm.
FOOD PROCESSOR: Making pie dough by hand results in superior baked flakes, but I’ve included methods for preparing dough both manually and in a food processor. Leisurely dough preparation can be a luxury, and a food processor serves as a great time (and hand) saver on this front.
KNIVES (PARING AND CHEF’S): Knives are perhaps the most important equipment in any cooking and baking lineup. While you do not need to splurge for high-end brands, nor do you need an extensive number of knives, there is no substitute for a sharp knife you know how to handle well. I love my Tojiro chef’s knife for slicing fruit and chopping vegetables, and I use a no-frills $7 Victorinox paring knife for everything else, from cutting precise fruit shapes to trimming excess pie dough to transferring dough pieces for certain designs. The key is ensuring your knives are always nice and sharp!
PASTRY BLENDER: Pastry blenders, along with rodents, are my personal nemeses. The ire they provoke in me is tantamount to being noisily wakened from slumber. Unless you want to unleash the beast, it’s best to leave me/it well alone (just ask my husband). I find them incredibly aggravating to use, what with butter chunks constantly clumping between the blades and needing to be scraped out. But to each their own. If this is your preferred battle-ax, proceed at your own risk. I mean, our friendship ends here, but you do you, okay?
PASTRY BRUSH: I like to have two sizes in my arsenal—a large silicone brush for egg washing quickly and with abandon and a smaller soft-bristled one for careful and attentive sealing on the more intricate designs. For the latter, I specifically like the ½-inch-wide flat soft-bristle cake brush from Wilton.
PASTRY WHEEL: Sure, a sharp paring knife and a ruler will suffice in a pinch for cutting dough strips, but this little tool is especially handy for executing straight lines with a zip of the hand. Choose one with limited wheel wobble for maximum precision. The Cake Boss version has delivered most reliably for me on this front.
PIE TIN: The USA 9-inch aluminized steel pie tin is far and away my favorite pan to bake with. I get reliably crisp bottoms and slices that slide cleanly out on my command every time. The no-frills Pyrex glass pie dishes are also good options, particularly as they give you a window for checking the doneness of the bottom crust.
PIE-PELINE: One of the many ironies of this journey is the fact that I don’t have a sweet tooth. I could be doomed to eat only savory foods for the rest of my life, and aside from the errant craving for a good churro or yeasted chocolate doughnut, I wouldn’t feel bereft. My husband long ago reached pie oversaturation, and since I do not sell the pies, getting rid of them in a sustainable manner posed a problem. Enter the Lokokitchen Pie-peline—an email listserv of all the people I like in Seattle with mouths on which I rely. I send weekly bulletins listing all the items languishing on my dining table, and those who are fast enough to call dibs then swing by my house to collect their spoils. It’s a highly effective way to endear people to you and keep food waste at bay. I recommend maintaining a pie-peline in your contacts list should you also require edible assistance (or need friends).
PIZZA STONE: One useful method for preventing soggy bottoms is to keep a pizza or baking stone in your oven. I leave mine in so it gets nice and hot while the oven heats, and I bake the pie (on a rimmed baking sheet, of course) right on top.
ROLLING PIN: I was given a $10 French tapered rolling pin as a wedding gift many years ago. Thank you, kind friend and online registry. It was the only one I owned for many years, so I became accustomed to its weight, shape, and feel for lack of other options. But I still prefer it over other makes and models today. Of all the secrets pies presume to harbor, the type of rolling pin hardly factors, so crust your instincts on this one.
RULER: You may be surprised to discover that I use a ruler less for measuring than I do as a straight line guide, both for cutting dough strips and building patterned fruit lines, but it’s handy to have one either way. Stainless steel rulers are ideal, as they can be tossed in the dishwasher and will dry without risk of molding.
SPATULAS (SILICONE AND METAL OFFSET): Flexible silicone spatulas get a lot of mileage in this book between folding fruit fillings, cooking citrus curds, and scraping every last bit of chocolate ganache out of a bowl. Spatulas of the 6-inch metal offset variety are also useful for smoothing the surfaces of tarts and on occasion, transferring fruit and pie dough pieces. You would do well to have both in your baking drawer.
TART PAN: My preferred model is the 9-inch nonstick Wilton tart pan with fluted edges and removable bottom. Unless otherwise specified, I recommend keeping tarts in the pan until the design has been completed. To remove a tart from the pan, gently rest it atop a stable can or cup, allowing the sides to drop away, then move the tart to a secure surface, such as a cutting board, and use a chef’s knife to ease the bottom plate off.