Corn Oil Pastry Crust

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/perfect-oil-pastry-171806
READY IN: 15mins SERVES: 6-8
YIELD: 2 crusts UNITS: US
Ingredients
Nutrition

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 dash salt
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil (corn is the tastiest)
5 tablespoons cold tap water (EXACTLY 5!)

Directions

Measure the flour carefully and put it in a medium-sized bowl. Add the dash of salt and stir it with a fork.
Pour the oil in and stir and "cut" it with a fork until you've got clumps varying between pea-sized and lima bean-sized.
Distribute the cold water over the mixture and stir and mash with the fork just until it all balls together.
Wipe your countertop with a damp cloth and spread a piece of wax paper on it. The paper should not slide -- if it does, dampen the counter a LITTLE more.
Form a little more than half of the dough into a disk and place it on the wax paper. Cover it with another piece of wax paper.
Roll the dough with a rolling pin from the center out in all directions, keeping it as circular as possible.
Periodically do the following:
peel off the top piece of wax paper, then lay it gently back on top of the crust.
using the bottom piece to lift it, turn the crust over, peel off that piece of wax paper, lay it back down again and continue rolling.
Continue the peel-replace-flip-peel-replace technique until your crust is about two inches bigger than your pie pan. IMPORTANT: Peel-replace-flip-peel -- then use the bottom piece of paper to lift the crust and place it over your pie pan. Gently peel off the wax paper.
Use the same technique to roll the top crust.
As you prefer, you can leave the top crust whole, cut it into strips for lattice, or whatever.
OPTIONAL: Brush the top crust with milk and/or sprinkle it with sugar.
Bake according to your pie directions.
BON APPETIT!

review by holly_ann_hodges
5/6/2016

This is a great recipe I've been using for years, but I want to say the 'exactness' of it doesn't matter for me. Maybe in the UK the flour I'm using is a bit different than others, but these proportions are far too wet. I usually leave out some oil and water (reserving maybe a fifth of the oil and a tbsp of water), mix and add more if needed. Alternatively you can just mix it and add more flour as needed, but using this exact recipe is far, far too wet, like paste. If you keep the oil/water proportions about the same but just use less liquid, it still works like a dream. I've even subbed some melted butter if I'm in the mood. Usually I'm a stickler for butter-rich baking recipes but this crust is fabulous in taste, texture and ease of use.

(from another review:)
I also chilled the oil, and chilled the pastry before rolling. Keeping everything cold keeps the gluten in the flour "short" which is necessary for tender pastry. Unlike bread where you want your gluten stretched out.