For The Absolute Best Pie Crust, Stick To The 3-2-1 Rule

No matter how mouthwatering your fillings are, the beauty of a pie hinges largely on its crust. A good pie crust is buttery, flaky, and crisp yet moist and toothsome. While there are several different types of pie you can learn and choose from in specific scenarios — like hot water crust pastry for meat pies — it's incredibly handy to have one versatile crust down pat, so you can turn to it repeatedly and know you're going to make your best pie. Pâte brisée, which is shorter and crumblier than regular pie crust, is a popular choice. However, the most classic route is that regular pie crust and it boasts an irresistibly easy way to nail the recipe every time: The 3-2-1 rule.

The 3-2-1 rule refers to three parts flour, two parts fat, and one part water. To understand the difference this ratio results in, compare regular pie crust with this ratio to pâte brisée. The latter employs a 4:2:1 ratio, along with eggs. Not only is regular crust with its foolproof 3-2-1 rule a bit easier without the egg step, but the extra fat melts during baking, which creates pockets of air that enhance flakiness. The 3-2-1 method crucially keeps fat content in check, so you don't have too much compared to the flour, which could give you greasy pie, or too little, which could end up dry and tough.

Once you've incorporated the 3-2-1 rule into your baking skill set, all that's left is to decide what exact ingredients you're utilizing for each of those flour, fat, and water components. There's some wiggle room, especially when making crusts for different pies and aiming for sweet versus savory results, but some factors are pretty set in stone, like the flour. All-purpose flour is best, and pastry flour is also a good go-to when used in combination with that all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour gives your crust a bit of elasticity that something like cake flour won't, and it's also lower in protein — high-protein flours create stronger textures and are better suited for bread, while low-protein flours create a bit more softness. 

For the fat, good-quality butter is a standard pick. But for added richness and flakiness in your pie crust, use duck fat — you can split the fat content between butter and duck or animal fat. Keep it cold so it doesn't melt until the crust is baked, at which point the fat will start creating a tender, flaky texture with a hint of mostly neutral but subtly savory complexity. Finally, for your water, you can swap out a portion of the total for ice-cold vodka, a key hack for a flaky pie crust recipe. Unlike water, vodka provides necessary liquid that won't form gluten with the crust's solids, which ensures the crust is flaky and tender, never tough.