Are pre made pie crusts as good as home made?

Better than mine are. I’m just not that good with dough.

I think they are pretty good. I have a rough time with pie crust, so they definitely look prettier than my homemade pie crust. :-)

As good? Maybe not… However, pie crust is not the easiest thing to make. It’s worth getting the pre-made, in my opinion. They aren’t that expensive, it saves a pretty good amount of effort and the final product doesn’t suffer much at all. Actually, like @YARNLADY, I don’t make the best dough. My grandmom’s beats pre-made.
Pie dough is one of those pre-prepared things that I think are a good buy. (Frozen spinach, puff pastry and spatini are some others). I would recommend using it!

My aunt who has been making spectacular pies for the last 40 years was just turned onto Marie Callender’s frozen pie crust this year, by her daughter in law. She said she couldn’t believe how good they were and how much time they save. She’s got 2 grandkids now and she says using ready made pie crusts will give her more time with them and everybody still loves the pies.

My mom just tried Trader Joe’s pie crusts 2 weeks ago and she was amazed by how good they were. We’re using those for a pumpkin and a chocolate pecan pie tomorrow.

My aunt also tried Mrs. Smith’s brand, but didn’t care for them. You may have to try a few to find the ones you like, but they can be terrific and do save a lot of time.

Ironically, this is the year that I told my mom I wanted her to teach me how to bake a pie from scratch. We’re going to do it, but I’m waiting until after Thanksgiving. I might make boysenberry!

It depends quite a lot on the cooking abilities of the person who would make the crust from scratch. My friend made one last year from scratch. It tasted like pavement and cherry-flavored hard candy (but was a pumpkin pie…)

Pre-made ones are a lot better than any attempt I would make. The one time I tried pastry before, it ended up in the bin.

The kind that you unroll and fit into the pan taste just like homemade. There’s two pieces in a box, so you can make two pumpkin pies, or one pie with a top.

If they’re good enough for Paula Dean, they’re good enough for me.

No, not objectively as good as a good homemade pie crust, but acceptable.

To me, it depends on the ability of the person making the pie crust. Mine is better than store bought, my sister Jo’s isn’t.

In my opinion, a good homemade crust is unequaled. However, a store bought crust (i use the rollled up ones) is a decent second. I think the one in a tin pie plate is not good at all.

My mom is a great crust maker. I have tried and always had trouble rolling dough out big enough, and it would get warm and mushy and stick to the rolling pin. if you’re good at it, i say go for it. if you’re not, then use the rolled up one.

the rolled up one is also good for making a smaller tart, which is just laying out the dough, putting the filling on top (apples, whatever) and rolling up the edges like a present.

I can’t imagine they could be better than home made. And of course, if you make any variation on flour and butter or flour and lard, they can’t match that.

@jca Not to sidetrack the thread, but if you roll your pie crust between two pieces of wax paper, it keeps it from sticking to the surface you are rolling it on and your rolling pin.