Rice Flour Crust Crumbles After Baking! Help!

[azagave]

My grandmas recipe using flour, lard, vinegar, salt, egg & water. Works great till I sub rice flour...then it litterly crumbles after baking...Do I need to add something to hold it together? Help please! Thanks!

[RiceGuy]

There are many suggestions on this topic, but the main thing I've found with gluten-free pie crusts is to reduce the fat content considerably. The fat used in a wheat-based crust is to defeat the gluten, making the results flaky/crumbly. Otherwise you get a bread-like texture. Gluten-free flours obviously have no gluten to begin with, thus much less need for fat.

Try 2-4 Tbsp oil, butter, or other fat. I find vegetable oil works just fine, just as it did when I baked with wheat flour. Start with two Tbsp. You can always add more as you work the dough. My crusts take more water than oil, by far. I always add a small amount of water at a time, mixing as I go, until I get the right consistency. So I don't know the exact amount, but I also don't use rice flour, and the type of flour does have some impact on the amount. The type of flours also make a difference in the resulting texture, so if it doesn't suit your preference, try a different flour/blend. Personally, I like using bean flours and buckwheat the most. Teff is also good, but I haven't tried it by itself in a crust. As with breads, a blend generally works best for crust. Just don't expect precisely the same texture as you'd get from wheat crust, but it can be quite good.

Unlike breads, crusts don't seem to need binders like xanthan or guar gum. Possibly a tiny amount depending on your recipe, but I don't use any. I find it just makes the crust less crispy.

Lastly, I haven't tried rolling out the dough like I did with wheat-based crust, so I'm not sure how well that'll work by comparison. Seems like it might, but I just press it into the pan.