How To Roll Out Pie Dough Without Making A Huge Mess

A homemade pie crust is a daunting feat. Instead, many home bakers flock to the refrigerator aisle and reach for pre-made pie dough to avoid the hassle of making their own. However, preparing a perfect homemade pie crust is easier than you may think. Jerrelle Guy, a food blogger and author of "Black Girl Baking," gave us her tips on how to roll pie dough in a clean and easy way.

Guy said that to prevent the dough from sticking to a rolling surface while rolling it out, you should put the dough between sheets of parchment or wax paper. "It's foolproof — nothing sticks to the counter or the rolling pin, and cleanup is easy," she told The Takeout. Another benefit to this method is that, if the dough begins to get warm and gummy, you can transfer it into the fridge or freezer easily. Then, as the dough becomes firm again, you can start right where you left off.

Keeping the dough between two sheets of parchment or wax paper also makes putting the pie dough into the dish easier. "Just peel off the top paper and flip it into the pie dish, no risk of tearing the dough by transferring it onto a rolling pin first," Guy said.

Though Guy's method eases the rolling and clean-up process, some may want to stick to tradition and roll the dough directly on a counter surface: like this pie-curious baker who went on a month-long journey of learning the ins and outs of pie dough. For those who want to follow the traditional technique, Guy suggested chilling the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge or 20 minutes in the freezer prior to rolling. Before rolling, she advised lightly flouring the surface and rolling pin, but too much flour can make the dough tough. From there, "Work quickly, and keep lifting and rotating the dough as you roll so it doesn't have time to rest on the counter long enough to stick."

Even with flour, if the dough is still sticking, Guy recommended using rolling pin covers, which are cloth casings that fit over a rolling pin. Similar to flour, they prevent the dough from sticking to the surface of a rolling pin. The rolling pin covers have the added benefit of not involving flour, which decreases the likelihood that you'll accidentally make your pie dough too tough.