Dr. Edward Warren wrote:
> My experience with pie dough is that over processing it produces a tough pie
> crust. I usually add a little more shortening than is called for to make it
> tender. I hand cut it with a pastry blender (it has 8 stiff curled wires
> mounted on a handle). The shortening is cut in until much of it is fine,
> but a substantial amount is the size of small peas. I use butter flavored
> Crisco and keep it cold. It must be handled deftly and not overworked. It
> is then kneaded 3 times and rolled out paper thin. The crust sometimes a 2
> crust traditional, but occasionally woven strips. To prevent burining, I
> have learned to prepare the edge and shove it all in toward the middle and
> down into the pie plate rather than to have it out on the rim.
> Sincerely yours,
> Edward Warren
>


I've found that if you overwork your pie dough, you can often rescue it
by freezing it after you roll it out. (Freeze/thaw it before you roll
it out if you got it so tough it won't roll)

Best regards,
Bob