No-fail pie crust

I took a pie class many moons ago at a Stake Relief Society fair that they used to have.  These two women that taught the class had won first place at the state fair for their pies many years in a row.  This has always been my go to crust for eons.  I've tried butter instead and even 1/2 butter 1/2 Crisco, but in my opinion, I think it made for a tougher crust .  I've now upped the recipe even more just recently.  I've played around and found a few changes that make this the ultimate pie crust.  I'll put my little changes in paranthesis.


2cups flour (pastry, if you can find it)
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Crisco (use lard instead)
10-14 Tblp. Ice water, sometimes more sometimes less.  Depends on the humidity.  When we lived in IL, I only used about 8 Tblsp.

Put the flour and salt (& sugar) in a bowl and mix together. Add the Crisco and cut it in with a pastry blender or use 2 butter knives. Do this till it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the ice water and stir around trying to collect all the dry stuff. Sometimes you’ll need a little more water depending on the humidity, but don’t use too much or your crust will fall off the sides of the pan. Form into discs and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. When you make a fruit pie, make sure you dot with lots of butter (that's one of their special secrets).