Article: Stir the sifted flour and salt together thoroughly, preferably in a sizable heat-resistant mixing bowl. Because maintaining a cool temperature is essential to keeping the gluten strands from forming a strong bond, using chilled flour and a chilled bowl is recommended. While you're preparing the dough, it's a good idea to chill your butter thoroughly before you attempt to work it in, if you're using butter. Anytime the mixture gets overworked, you can stop, put the mixing bowl into the fridge, and let it chill back down to a workable temperature. There are many different methods of cutting the fat into the flour, but all are equally effective with the right amount of elbow grease. The most important thing is to keep the butter cool, if you use it, so keep it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or so, cutting it into large chunks before integrating it more thoroughly. You want to mix in the fat until you have small and uniform pea-sized chunks. Use a food processor. The easiest way to cut the butter is to use a food processor, pulsing the flour mixture for a minute or two, until the butter is chopped up to the appropriate size. Use a pastry cutter for butter or shortening. A pastry cutter is a great way of chopping up the butter in a good uniform mixture, quickly and without much effort. Roll the pastry cutter through the flour mixture, clearing out the butter from behind the tines after you make each pass around the bowl, if necessary. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Use a fork or two knives. If you don't have a pastry cutter or a food processor, don't fret. It's possible, but takes slightly more hand strength and effort, to cut up the butter with the flat side of a table fork, using two knives to slice the butter in opposite directions, or even just using the end of a metal spatula. Just use your fingers with shortening. Shortening won't be greatly affected by the heat from your hands or from the room temperature, making it easy to get your hands in and crumble up the shortening into the flour using your fingers. You can also do this with butter. Letting it get warm makes the mixture too glutenous and it won't be flakey. Use a wooden spoon and gently stir the flour as you pour a small amount of ice water into the bowl. Pour a tablespoon or two at a time, integrating it gently by agitating the flour. The mixture should just barely come together and form a loose ball, and shouldn't be at all damp or wet looking. Be very gentle. The key to a flaky crust is to make sure you don't overwork the dough. Pie crust is not bread dough, and if you overwork the dough, the crust will become quite tough and difficult to handle. Be a minimalist when it comes to mixing the water into the flour. Less touching means more tender dough. If you're struggling to get the flour to come together, or if everything has become too warm, don't be afraid to pop the bowl into the freezer for a couple of minutes to chill it back down to a more workable temperature. Cold dough is easier to work with. Very gently, pull the flour into a ball, touching it as little as possible, and then split ball in two equal portions. The recipe should make two portions, which you could use for one bottom crust and one top crust, or bottom crusts for two different pies. Cut the dough ball in half with a kitchen knife and separate the halves gently. It's usually a good idea to chill the dough in the refrigerator until you're ready to roll it out and bake with it. If you've already got the oven pre-heated and you're anxious to get started, putting it in the freezer can be a good way to get the temperature down quickly. If you want to save the dough for a longer period of time, freeze it in a self-sealing freezer bag. When you're ready to use it, let it defrost in the fridge overnight and roll it out normally.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Mix flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter or shortening into the flour. Mix in ice-cold water into the flour mixture. Chill the flour any time the mixture becomes overworked. Use your hands to form dough into ball.