I also experimented before. I found the Vodka advice from CI not as good as my butter/ shortening crust I was already was using, but I don't use hydrogenated shortening I buy palm shortening from the health food store and like it much better, think it works better than the standard brands and healthier; it may be that it has higher water content it seems a lot less dense and creamier then hydrogenated. I did all butter crust and had the same issue of it not holding it's shape and did not work for trying to bake a pie shell; yikes a blob of dough in the center of the pie plate. I am careful not to overwork the dough and make sure everything is really cold and have great success every time.

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