The Perfect Pie Crust, Blogtoberfest, Day 14

“Only very clever man can bite pie without breaking crust.”                                                           ~Charlie Chan

I have used this recipe for so many years, not only because it makes the perfect pie crust, but it's also easy.  A few months ago, I saw where The Pioneer Woman shared her pie crust recipe and by golly, it's the same as mine!

PERFECT PIE CRUST

3 cups flour
1/1/4 cups shortening, like Crisco
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 whole egg
5 tablespoons of cold water

Blend the flour, Crisco and dash of salt with a pastry blender.  This is as I'm starting...

This is one of the great tips for making a perfect pie crust.  Make sure all the dry ingredients are blended with the shortening until the shortening is about the size of small peas...

For cold water, I always add an ice cube.   Use only the 5 tablespoons of water, no more, no less...

Add the 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 1 beaten egg...

Mix well with hands and roll out into a large circle.  Keep turning the rolling pin to get that nice circle.  It should be larger than your pie dish.  I used a 9 inch pie dish.  Some people prefer to roll between two sheets of wax paper or put into a very large Ziploc bag...

To transfer the dough to the pie dish, using a table knife, carefully loosen the edges all around.  There's different ways to transfer the dough, but for me I usually fold it very carefully into quarters and then lift it to the pie dish and carefully unfold it.  If it breaks, just patch up with more dough.  You can also roll it onto a rolling pin, very carefully, or use the wax paper or Ziploc method...

I use a fluting method around my edges.  As I'm using my left thumb and finger, I use a finger from my right hand at the same time to form this design...

I know many people prefer using the ready-made pie dough, and there's nothing wrong with that.  I just happen to be one who prefers my homemade to any pre-made.