Keep all ingredients and tools cold to ensure flakiness., Do not overwork or knead dough to prevent toughness and shrinkage., Use a spray bottle to add water carefully and avoid overhydration., Be gentle when fitting dough into pie plate; stretching causes shrinkage., Blind bake at low heat and use weights to prevent bubbling and shrinking., Chill dough if it shrinks during rolling for 20 minutes before continuing., Pie plates typically 9-10 inches diameter with 1-2 inch depth; this recipe covers a 2-inch deep pie plate including top crust for double crust pies., Store raw dough wrapped well in fridge up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months; thaw in fridge overnight before use., Baked crust lasts about 3 days at room temp or 5 days in fridge but may get soggy; reheat to refresh., To make vegan, substitute butter with solid vegan butter chilled well., Vodka is optional but helps limit gluten development, improving tenderness., Butter pieces size affects texture: larger pieces yield flakier crust; smaller pieces more crumbly., Avoid stretching dough in pie plate and overworking dough to prevent shrinkage., Use baking tray under pie plate even when using pizza stone to catch drips and prevent smoke.