This is my grandmother's recipe in her handwriting. She has been gone for almost 29 years and I can still taste her peach pies and her strawberry rhubarb pies. She made the flakiest crusts!

Mix the flour, shortening, salt and vinegar (do not mix the vinegar with the milk.) Add milk, a little at a time, to form a soft dough. Roll out on floured surface with a floured rolling pin.

I'm gong to HAVE to try that piecrust & see if I prefer it to mine---which is flour, half butter-half Crisco, salt & cold water. I always add some white sugar if a fruit or other sweet pie. None for a quiche-type though.

Thanks.

Marci-
Thank you for replying and it does look simple and good. What kind of shortening do you use?

Marci_pa- My mother in law made the best pie crust and gave me her recipe.I still have it too,in her handwriting.It's exactly the same recipe as yours! I remember when she told me it had vinegar in it I couldn't believe it.LOL

I make mine with vegetable oil. It never fails... ever! The recipe is from the Better Homes & Garden Cook Book.

Pie Crust:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt (I use less)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 Tbsp cold water

Mix flour & salt. Pour oil & water in measuring cup (do not stir). Add all @ once to flour mixture. Stir lightly with fork. Form into ball, then divide into 2 balls; flatten dough slightly. Roll out between 2 squares of waxed paper or plastic wrap. (Slightly dampen counter so paper won't slip.)

Makes enough for one 8 or 9 inch double-crust pie.

My recipe is the same as beeohio's, except that it calls for 1/4 cup cold water or milk (5 Tbsp = 1/4 cup).

As she said, it never, ever fails. Mine is from "Joy of Cooking"--1953 edition, and it's called 5-Minute Pie Crust.

I've been using a similar recipe, using lemon juice instead of vinegar, for about forty years. DD#5 used to love making pies, but had a heck of a lime making crust, and would hand it over to me to "do something with this". Needless to say, by then, it was not the most flaky crust possible. But one day, I came home from work and she had the pies in the oven. She had found a recipe as above and it WORKED, and that's what we have used since. I do use lard, as that works well for me.

This has to be the easiest and best tasting, flakiest pie crust I have ever made....I think it is from The Cook's Magazine but it was posted a lot over at the Cooking Forum
Foolproof Pie Dough For a Single-Crust Pie
Published: November 1, 2007
For one 9-inch Single-Crust Pie

Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavorÂdo not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup).
INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening , cut into 2 pieces
2 tablespoons vodka , cold
2 tablespoons cold water

1. Process 3/4 cups flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 1/2 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to ¼ cup) work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave overhanging dough in place; refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.
4. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Flute dough or press the tines of a fork against dough to flatten it against rim of pie plate. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes.
5. Remove pie pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil, and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes additional minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp.
I used lard instead of Crisco type shortening and the flavor was so good.

When I saw my grandmother bake, she used Crisco. But she may well have used lard when she was younger. It is funny, but lard sounds so much worse than Crisco. LOL

maybe this is why crisco is used over old fashion lard...

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative image; however, many contemporary cooks and bakers favor it over other fats for select uses.

i do know the liquid should be as cold as possible, but tried several times and gave up, lol...

for a fruit pie filling that I've started to prefer is a shortbread crust.

The recipe is pretty simple:

1/ cup butter
1 cup sifted flour
1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

Mix with a pastry cutter until it looks very very small peas. Pat into a non-stick (sprayed or otherwise) 9x9 baking pan (prefer pyrex-type), bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes until it sets & gets lightly brown. Then pour the prepared fruit (sugared berries, apples, pears, etc. with a little cornstarch thickener & spice if desired) onto the semi-baked shortbread crust &bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. After it cools, I like to sift additional powered sugar on top.

I have some home-picked & prepared wild blackberries (& have the scratches to prove it) in the refrigerator now ready to go.

Used to always use lard. It makes the flakiest, tastiest pie crust ever! Also makes the best fried chicken!

I've heard of the vodka in the pie crust! Never tried it but I saw the recipe in the Cook's cookbook. Thanks for posting it here.

BeeOhio, I've never heard of using vegetable oil. Wow, couldn't be easier. All of these recipes sound so good!

I have used this recipe for a couple of years now and it is the best I have ever tried. It truly is a NO FAIL crust. And I can't cook!
AuntCarol's Pie Crust  Never-Fail Type

This pie crust recipe is one thatÂs SUPER easy to roll out  one that never gets soggy  leaving that last piece of pie as good as the first  itÂs the ONLY pie crust recipe IÂll ever use  itÂs the BEST Â

Ingredients

 1 egg
 3/4 teaspoon salt
 1 tablespoon WHITE vinegar
 7 tablespoons water
 1 cup shortening (CRISCO)
 3 cups flour

BEAT egg.

ADD salt, vinegar, and water.

ADD shortening. BLEND with fork, while ADDING flour about a cup at a time.

FORM into one big dough ball. THEN DIVIDE into 3 equal-sized dough balls (or you can divide it into 2 equal-sized dough balls like I do sometimes).

ROLL OUT thin on a lightly floured surface and then PLACE into pie pan of your choice.

Note: Prepared pie shell should be put into the refrigerator 30 minutes before filling  and REMEMBER all fruit pies should be baked on the lowest rack in your oven Â

ENJOY Â

Trish in SC

I used to make the Never Fail pie crust and I can tell you the one using vodka is a lot easier......very forgiving when you roll it out and a lot better tasting. And the amount of lard really isn't all that high.
I bought lard today and plan on making a strawberry-rhubarb pie and a rhubarb pie over the weekend.

Thanks again for the replies. I am sure you are all good pie makers so I'll just have to decide and go with it.I also bought a box of groundcherries at the Farmers Market so I could make a apple-groundcherry pie but I think I'll make one of each.
Lois

Everyone raves about my pastry- it's the best thing I do. The main thing is to use chilled ingredients, and to cut the shortening/lard/fat into pea sized pieces. I always put my pie in the freezer for a good while before baking. The hot oven temp on the cold pastry melts those fat bits quickly, and that's what makes the flakey layers. Oh, and for a sweet crust, I add a bit of icing sugar. I also put vinegar in the egg/water mixture.

Work quickly and do not over-work the dough.

Some of the more popular chefs, are back to using lard, if they really stopped.LOL I have used the vodka recipe, and it is very easy as Carol said, and equally as tender.

I second trishaw recipe, used it for years and it never has failed me yet!

for some differnt pie crusts check the link

Here is a link that might be useful: Pie Crust Variations