Dough blender vs dough cutter?

Question

I'm regularly baking pies again and I might want to get into pastry a bit more and looking for tools to help me out.

I have seen about a dozen videos about creating the perfect pastry dough and I cannot decide between the Dough Blender and the Dough Cutter/Scraper. The dough cutter seems more versatile white the blender should do it's job of blending the butter with the flour the best. However, the people using the cutter made it look easier then the people with the blender where the dough and butter mixture stuck between the blades and you still had to push it out with your hands or another tool. Whereas holding two cutters you can clean them by simply scraping them against each other and to shove the blend together with one scraper and chopping with the other looked very efficient.

So I am very much leaning towards buying two good sturdy cutters. But every pro makes his tools look so easy to work with. I am just going to make a dough two times a week at the most and I am looking for the right choice.

-edit-

I understand my question is a bit hard to answer. The short question is:

Do I need to be a Japanese ninja to blend my butter and flour with 2 scrapers/cutters?

Answer 1

While mrog's answer is excellent, I'm going to make an opinionated and firm recommendation based on personal experience: you want a dough blender. Specifically, you want this type of dough blender, rather than the one you linked to.

Here's the reasons why this is superior to other options:

1. "wire" design for the cutters makes it easy to "knock off" stuck dough/butter using a spatula or butter knife, and often to not have to knock off at all;
2. Thumb rest provides better leverage for rapid butter-cutting (I can do a pie crust dough in under 3 minutes with one of these), and time is your enemy when working with cold butter;
3. Dough blenders allow you to do your cutting in a mixing bowl, instead of the flat surface that bench scrapers* require, saving on cleanup.

Of course, as mrog notes, YMMV.

(* the thing you link to as a "dough cutter" was known as a "bench scraper" back when I was a pastry chef)

Answer 2

It's really a matter of personal preference. I like using a pastry blender, but not all pastry blenders are worth using. It needs to be sturdy. And you really don't want a handle that might rotate when you push down on the dough, so pay attention to how the handle is fastened to the blender. When the dough starts to build up in the blender, just use your other hand to knock most of it back into the bowl.

The other method I was taught was to use two butter knives, one in each hand, and slide them against each other while cutting through the dough. This method works, but it takes longer.

I haven't tried using a pair of dough cutters. It should work, but it's going to require a flat work surface. The other two options (blender and knives) work well in a mixing bowl.

Regardless of which method you choose, it's going to be a bit awkward until you get some practice. Anyone with near-average dexterity should be able to master any of them with time.