Every year at the BBQ on the By Pass I have the privilege of being a judge for the Great BC Bake-Off. Something I have noticed is that although much time and care is put into each pie, and they look fabulous, very few people manage to cook the bottom crust. I've got good news...it's a simple fix.

If you've already got a great recipe then keep using it but keep these things in mind.

- Handle the pastry as little as possible when making it. I like to use a food processor.
- Rest your pastry a good 2 hours in the fridge to let the glutens relax and to firm up the fat.
- Let it sit at room temperature, just a bit, before rolling. If you roll it straight from the fridge the edges will crack quite a bit.
- When you're ready to roll it out, wash your counter with a damp cloth and then dust it with flour right away. There's just enough moisture to create a thin film of flour that's perfect for rolling out your pastry.
- Loosely roll the pastry around your pin and unroll it over your pie plate. I like to use glass so I can see that the bottom crust is cooked.
- Gently ease it into the bottom of the pan by lifting the edges and pushing towards the bottom. You don't want to stretch your dough. Smooth it along the edges of the pie plate and trim it to about 1/2" overhang. Return it to the fridge. Roll out your top crust in the same manner but transfer it to a pizza pan and put it in the fridge as well.
- Place your oven rack in the bottom position. Place an extra baking sheet or pizza pan on the rack and preheat your oven to 500F. Prepare your filling.
- Fill the cold pie crust. Lay the top crust over and trim to about 1" overhang. Fold and tuck the top crust under the bottom crust and flute the edge with your thumb and fingers. Use a small, sharp knife to cut vent holes in the top.
- Place pie on the hot baking sheet and reduce the temperature to 425F. Bake for about 30 minutes. Rotate the pie and reduce the temperature to 375F for roughly 30 minutes more. Watch the edges. If they start getting too dark, cover them with tin foil. Bake until the filling is bubbling, and for the best flavour the crust should be a rich golden brown. Pale pastry will taste floury and uncooked. Allow to cool before serving.

There's lots more about pies that we can talk about in the future...what types of fat, using enough salt, what types of thickeners, how to blind bake a crust, etc. but I hope these tips will get you started. I'd love to hear how you make out.

Here's my favourite recipe at the moment, from Tartine.

Flaky Tart Dough

1 teaspoon salt
11 Tbsp (5 ½ oz) water, very cold
(16 oz) all-purpose flour
(10 ½ oz) unsalted butter, very cold
Stir salt into water and place in fridge to keep cold. Cut up butter and place in fridge to keep cold. Measure flour into food processor. Add cold butter and pulse until largest pieces are the size of peas. With the food processor pulsing gradually add cold water and continue to pulse just until dough comes together. It will still look a bit crumbly but if you press the crumbs they should stick together. Turn out half the pastry onto a large piece of parchment and press together into a flat round. Repeat with remaining pastry. Wrap airtight and chill for at least 2 hours.