What can I use other than a pastry cutter?!
Answers: If a recipe calls for you to cut in something and you don't have a pastry cutter...what other technique/tool can you use???
Use two table knives together. Hold a knife in each hand. Place the blades in a cross position near each other in the bowl and pull each knife towards the outside of the bowl. You'll be able to break up the shortening just as you would with a pastry cutter.
Or, as a second choice, draw the blade of a table knife through the tines of a dinner fork. This will also break the shortening into small pieces to give you a crumbly mix of flour (or other dry ingredients) and shortening.
you could use a fork or two.
If you need to make slices, or strips of something, a pizza wheel works wonders.
If you're dealing with a delicate dough, you can freeze the pizza wheel ahead of time. Which will help the dough from sticking to the wheel.
Hope this helps.
a knife????
Two knives works well. Just use pull them in opposite directions. If you are going to make a lot of pastry I would recommend buying a pastry cutter they are really pretty cheap at Wal-Mart. You don't need the $35 variety from a chefs store.
The best kitchen tool you have... your hands! Squish the fat (i.e. butter, shortening, etc.) with the flour between your fingers until you get the right consistency. The idea is to get little pea sized beads of fat encased in flour so that when it cooks, the fat steams up and makes a flaky pastry.
If you use this method, make sure the fat is extra cold by leaving it in the fridge until you're ready to use it because your hands are warm and will heat up the mixture, causing it to melt faster.
French knife
A bread knife might work.
A knife for cutting pastry.
Are you talking about a pastry blender? If you are just use a mixer or food processor to make the dough. Don't over mix.