Flagstaff Baker Sells 60 Pies Daily

Flagstaff baker Charles Lewis has built a low-overhead pie business by making about 60 pies a day in a home-based commercial kitchen and selling them through local convenience stores and markets. For home bakers, experts say cold ingredients, careful handling, and chilling or resting dough help create flaky crusts and prevent shrinkage; a Manchester library is offering a free hands-on workshop to teach those techniques. A separate taste test found noticeable differences among store-bought crust mixes, with Betty Crocker’s mix criticized for a greasy texture and lack of buttery flavor. A from-scratch recipe also emphasizes that pie dough can be made with basic tools, prepared ahead, refrigerated or frozen, and adapted for single- or double-crust pies.