Measure the cold water and add the vinegar to it.

Transfer the dry ingredients to the food processor. Add the butter/crisco, then pulse the machine 6-7 times, until the pieces of fat are roughly the size of small peas.

Pour the vinegar-water mixture through the feed tube in a 7-8 second stream, pulsing the machine as you add it. Stop pulsing when the mixtureis just starting to form larger clumps.

Turn the dough out onto your work surface and pack it into a ball. Put the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it into a ¾ inch thick disc. Wrap the disc and refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling.

Rock over the dough a few times with your rolling pin and begin rolling it from the center out. Give the dough a quarter turn, then repeat the rolling sequence and keep repeating. Roll the dough out into a 12-13 inch circle using medium pressure, not too hard and too little.

If there’s any lingering flour on the dough, once it’s rolled out, take a pastry brush and brush the excess flour off the dough quickly, as the longer the dough stays at room temperature, the more difficult it is to handle.

Simply run your hands under the dough, then lift into the pan without stretching and tearing. You can also rest the dough at the end of dough and roll the dough onto the pin. Posting the pin over one edge of the pan, then unroll the dough into the pan.

Place the shell into the freezer for 5-6 minutes to firm up the ridge. This helps the flutes to hold their shape easier.

If you need to prebake the shell, poke the bottom 7-8 times with a fork. When you poke, twist the fork slightly from side to side to enlarge the holes, as small homes tend to close up when prebaking to vent and allow trapped steam to escape when you remove pie weights or dry beans.

Blind baking refers to the process of prebaking the pie shell either partially or fully to set the crust to keep it crusty. Pies that benefit the most for partially prebaking include pumpkin, custard, pecan, chess and sweet potato, just to name a few. Certain pie shells need to be fully prebaked when no further baking is needed for pies, most notably cream pies, where the filling is cooked separately, then added to the shell.

The first step is to weigh down the crust so it doesn’t balloon up in the oven. If it puffs up, it may not brown properly and it becomes misshapened, so it may not hold the filling.

Line the shell with foil, very large coffee filters or parchment paper by nudging it evenly into the pan without disrupting the pie shell. Leave the overhang of the foil or parchment paper on opposite sides and fold it down like wings that you can grab and then place the pie pan onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add enough dried beans or pie weights about 2/3rds full, and level them out evenly, especially up and around the sides.

Before baking, adjust the racks in the oven. One rack should be in the bottom position and another in the middle. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and make sure you place your pie shell on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to soak up any leaking butter once it starts baking and to avoid any messes.

Continue baking but move to the center rack and lower the heat to 350 degrees. Set the timer for 10 minutes without opening the oven door. Pie should have dry-ish surface and the top edge should be starting to turn golden brown. If not, bake for 3-4 minutes longer.

For Fully Prebaked Pie Shells (cream pies) bake an additional 15-18 minutes after the initial bake, instead of 10 minutes until golden brown and crusty. Cool the pie shell on a cooling rack and cool thoroughly before filling.