How to Cut in With a Pastry Blender

Food processors have taken a lot of the guesswork out of making the perfect pie crust or streusel topping. However, a handy tool to use when you don't have electronic gadgetry on hand is a pastry blender. Sometimes called a pastry cutter, a pastry blender is a hand-held utensil, usually made of stainless steel, that is comprised of a broad handle attached to a series of sharp wires or blades aligned in a slightly beveled, horizontal presentation. If your recipe calls for you to "cut in with a pastry blender," using the right strategies and techniques when you add your fat to your dry ingredients makes all the difference in achieving a tender, light pie crust or crispy streusel topping.

Things You'll Need

• Pastry blender
• Bowl
• Dry ingredients (varies depending on your recipe)
• Butter or shortening

Instructions

Pastry Cutter Use

1. Make sure that the fat ingredient you plan to cut into your dry mixture is cold. Room-temperature butter or shortening sticks to the blades of your pastry blender, making it difficult or impossible to distribute into your dry ingredients evenly.

2. Cut the butter or shortening into small manageable pieces with a sharp knife. Using butter or shortening that's packaged in bars (rather than containers) is often helpful. First slice the butter or shortening into tablespoon-sized segments, then cut them into quarters before adding them to your bowl of dry ingredients.

3. Grasp the pastry cutter so that your fingers curl under the handle. Secure the top of the handle with your thumb. Using swift, firm downward strokes, "cut" the butter or shortening into the dry ingredients, rolling the blades of the utensil through the butter or shortening and flour. Rotate the bowl as you work to ensure that the ingredients are distributed evenly.

4. Stop using the pastry blender when your mixture resembles your recipe's description. Some recipes indicate that your ingredients should be the texture of coarse meal or sand, while others may instruct you to stop when you notice pea-sized lumps of dough.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't own a pastry cutter? If your recipe requires that you cut butter or shortening into flour or dry ingredients, use two sharp knives instead.

• When using a pastry blender, it's important to know when to stop. If you keep cutting your fat into your dry ingredients past the desired texture, the end result will be large, unmanageable clumps of dough.