How to Keep Your Pie Dough from Cracking (when you roll it): Video Lesson

Step 1

Before you do anything else, put the butter cubes on a plate and put the plate in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. If you're using the butter AND shortening, put them on the plate in separate areas.

Step 2

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to mix. Add the butter - but if you're using the shortening, too, don't add it yet - and toss the butter with the flour to coat everything. Using a pastry blender, start cutting in the fat until you have an assortment of fairly large chunks. You'll need to clean off the blades of the pastry blender from time to time as the clumps build up.

Step 3

If you're using the Crisco, add it now, after this initial breaking up of the fat. Toss by hand, like you did with the butter, to coat.

Step 4

In either case, continue to cut in the fat - cleaning off the blades regularly - until the fat is well distributed and you have much smaller but still random size pieces in your mixture, as shown in the video. Everything should look like it has been "touched" by the fat.

Step 5

Pour the ice cold water over the mixture - don't dump it in one place, rather, spread it around. Using a large fork, lightly stir the mixture to moisten the whole thing. Don't press down on the mixture quite yet; just stir briskly to spread the moisture around.

Step 6

Before long, the mixture should start forming larger and larger clumps. When this starts to happen, stop stirring, flour your hands, and pack the dough together.

Step 7

Put the dough on your floured work surface and knead it once or twice, shaping it into a disk about 3/4-inch thick. Flour the disk, place it in the center of a gallon freezer storage bag, and roll it gently - right in the bag - to make a disk 8-inches in diameter. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Step 8

When you're ready to proceed, take the dough out of the bag and place it on your floured rolling surface. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then finish rolling according to your recipe. (For most of The Pie Academy recipes, the dough is rolled into a circle 13- to 13 1/2-inches across.)

Step 9

Yield: Makes enough dough for 1 large pie shell; make twice if you need a top crust