Traditional Flaky Pie Crust with Shortening (Easier for Beginners)

Instructions

Mixing the dough:

1. Use fork, pastry cutter or food processor to cut butter and shortening into flour.
2. Flour/fat mixture should be very coarse with some pieces looking like small peas and other pieces resembling thick cut oatmeal
3. Sprinkle ice cold water over flour mixture and start to compress into a ball. Only use as much water as necessary to make a shaggy ball.
4. Sprinkle flour over a pastry cloth or tea towel and work in with your fingers. I also use a special sock on my rolling pin that comes with the pastry cloth. Work flour into it also.
5. Dump crumbly dough onto floured cloth.
6. Put your hands underneath the cloth and use the cloth to press the dough together.
7. If dough will not come together, sprinkle a few drops of water over dough until it does. If dough is too sticky at this point, put more flour on the cloth--not the dough.
8. Divide the dough into 2 discs. Place in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or until ready to roll.

Rolling out the dough:

1. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to warm slightly.
2. Use rolling pin to roll out 1 disc of dough, making strokes starting at the center and going outward at different angles in opposite directions like you are going around a clock. Strive to keep your circle symmetric.
3. When you are satisfied your crust is large enough and thin enough, place empty pie plate upside down on top of dough.

Placing pie crust into pie pan:

1. Spray pie pan with flour/oil aerosol like Baker's Joy.
2. Carefully, scoot your hand underneath the pastry cloth and flip pie crust upside down. The pastry cloth will end up on top.
3. Peel the towel off of the crust. If crust sticks to the towel, use a knife to carefully free the dough from the cloth.
4. Trim crust with cooking scissors or a knife leaving about 1/3-1/2 inch overhang.
5. Fold overhanging dough up under the edge to make it even with the side of the pie plate.
6. Make a decorative border.
7. Place finished piecrust in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Repeat steps 10-18 with remaining pie crust disc.

Baking pie crust without a filling: (blind-baking crust)

1. Cover the inside of frozen pie shell with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Fill covered pie shell with pie weights or a heavy chain link like you can buy by the foot at a hardware store. (see picture in post)
2. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Remove parchment paper or foil but don't throw it away. It's reusable.
3. Use a knife or toothpick to carefully puncture any bubbles (making the smallest incision possible) to let the hot air out and gently press the dough back down against dish. If your pie crust shrinks down into the pan, more than likely you stretched it while rolling out or you neglected to freeze the crust ahead of time.
4. Put crust back into the oven and bake 5-10 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Watch carefully that it doesn't brown too much lest your crust taste slightly bitter/burnt.