- The butter or shortening should be very cold. Some people even freeze their butter before beginning to work it into the flour. This way, the heat of your hands will not melt the butter.
- Do not overwork the dough —it's preferable that there are small beads of butter (about the size of green peas) left in the pastry.
- When you go to add the water to the flour/butter mixture, make sure it's ice water, and add only enough to make the mixture come together into a ball.
- When following a recipe, always add the water a bit at a time, because many times you do not need all the water that a recipe will call for.
- Once your dough has come together, flatten it into a disk, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour before rolling it out. This allows the butter to firm up and will help ensure a flaky, tender crust.