Pie Crust

Method

1. whisk1 min
   dry, cool bowl
   flour + salt + sugar — distribute the salt now, because once water is in you can no longer stir without building gluten
2. mix5 min
   cold hands, butter still firm
   + cold butter cubes, pressing each one flat between fingertips and thumb into a coin, then tossing it in flour. You want irregular sheets from pea to postage-stamp size, not uniform crumbs: in the oven those sheets melt and their water flashes to steam, prising the dough apart into layers. If the butter warms past about 65°F it smears, coats the flour in fat, and you get a short crumbly shell instead of a flaky one — stop and refrigerate the bowl if it starts to look greasy
3. mix3 min
   tossing with a fork, minimal handling
   + ice water (and vinegar if using) a tablespoon at a time, until a squeezed handful holds together and no dry flour shifts in the bowl. Water is what turns flour protein into gluten, so every extra spoonful buys cohesion and pays in toughness; stop at barely-shaggy, not smooth
4. rest60 min
   wrapped, refrigerated
   press into a 1-inch-thick disc, wrap, and chill. Two things happen: the flour finishes absorbing the water so there are no dry patches to crack while rolling, and the gluten you did develop relaxes so the round stops springing back. The butter also re-hardens, which is the whole point
5. prep10 min
   lightly floured surface, dough still cold
   roll from the centre outward, giving the disc a quarter turn between passes, to a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Lift and drape it into the pan and ease it down into the corners — never stretch it to fit, because stretched dough is under tension and will contract back down the sides of the pan in the oven. Trim to a 1/2-inch overhang, fold under, crimp
6. rest15 min
   freezer
   chill the shaped shell until the fat is hard to the touch. A crust that goes into the oven cold sets its walls before the butter melts; a room-temperature one slumps
7. bake30 min
   400°F, lined and weighted for 20 min, then bare
   blind-bake with parchment and weights until the rim is set and pale gold, then remove the weights and bake until the base is dry and biscuit-coloured. Weights hold the floor down while steam is trying to lift it; pulling them for the last stretch is what drives off the moisture that otherwise leaves the bottom crust sodden under a wet filling. Brush with beaten egg and return for 2 minutes if the filling is very liquid — the set egg seals the surface