Can Homemade Pie Crust Dough Be Left In The Fridge For 2-3 Days?

[icecone]

I'm referring to pie crusts with and without baking powder. Can I make them ahead, wrap them, and leave them in the fridge? I'm worried that the crust with baking powder will suffer from extended storage.

[icecone]

Thanks everyone. Great info!

[rabaja]

If it won't be used that day, I freeze pie/tart dough. The flour oxidizes pretty fast, and the grey color is off-putting even though it usually bakes up ok.

[roxlet]

My rule of thumb for things like this is to consider how long the component ingredients could stay in the fridge. In this case, flour, butter and shortening can all stay in the refrigerator for quite some time. Of course, this all depends on how well the food is wrapped, and as zamorski wrote, you want to make sure that the dough is well wrapped so that it doesn't pick up any off-flavors.

All that being said, if you know that you will not be using the dough in the immediate future, why not just pop it in the freezer?

[Cherylptw]

I made the dough for two pie crusts on Saturday, which I wrapped in plastic & put in the fridge. Monday, I used one in a tart and I have one left in the fridge still wrapped in plastic which I'll use in a cobbler on Friday. My tart came out delicious...but, I don't use baking powder in my dough.

[shaogo]

Simple answer: no.

Freezer's the option you want.

[bushwickgirl]

Sure, a few days is fine, but as dcfoodblog wrote, stick it in the freezer for longer storage. Baking powder is double acting, and lately I've been less concerned about overall loss of it's leavening abilities than I used to be, and I doubt whether you use much baking powder in pie crust anyway. The double crust recipe I have calls for 1/4 tsp.

You're not baking a cake, which relies greatly on the quality and efficacy of leavening agents.

[zamorski]

Need to be careful that the crust doesn't pick up off flavours in the fridge or freezer. That really annoys me!

[bushwickgirl]

Well wrapped is the way to go. Use freezer bags for freezing, better than plastic wrap and/or foil.

[John E.]

I wrap the dough (usually pizza or bread dough) in plastic and then in zip freezer bag.

[Dcfoodblog]

If you are not going to use it for more than a day, stick them in the freezer. Pie dough freezes beautifully. I've used homemade pie dough that was previously frozen a month later with no discernible effects on the dough.