CI's vodka pie crust recipe: Did I make the mistake that I think I made?

[Kim Shook]

I tried to make a pie crust last week.  It was the CI Vodka crust that I’ve made in the past with no problems.  It has been some time, though.  Here’s the recipe:

http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/PASTRIES/CIs_Vodka_Pie_Crust.html

I made it EXACTLY as instructed and ended up with a gooey mess – even after refrigerating for a couple of hours.  I’ve read reviews online that talk about how wet it is and that they sometimes have to press it into the pan instead of truly rolling it out.  Mine seemed even wetter than that.  After mixing in the water and vodka there was SO much liquid in the bottom of the bowl that I resorted to working it in with my hands. 

 

So my question here is: even though there is nothing that says that you may not need all of the liquid amounts, should I have stirred half in and then proceeded to add more a trickle at a time?  

[Lisa Shock]

Many recipes do give a range for the liquid amount and tell you to add it gradually until the dough feels right. And, I'd add the vodka first. Water isn't really necessary, as vodka is about 50% water anyway. This recipe also has a really high fat ratio and it would help for the fat to be very cold or even frozen. I personally prefer mixing small amounts of pie crust in a bowl with a pastry cutter. IMO, a machine makes the fat bits too small for a really flaky crust. Also, my favorite recipe has an egg in it, but, that's a whole other issue.

[Mjx]

The link goes to a half recipe version of the original (which I'm looking at now, for comparison), and it occurred to me that if you measured the flour by volume instead of weight, you may have ended up with less than you actually need, and since this is a half recipe, the smaller starting amount would have less tolerance for error.

 

As Lisa Shock suggested, I've always added the vodka first, then cautiously added water as needed. Also, since I don't have a food processor, or a huge amount of patience, I don't get the smallest fat-saturated-flour bits as small, even though I go for the described consistency, so I think there is more free flour to take up the liquid.

[Kim Shook]

Thank you both!  I'm adding those suggestions to my recipe for next time.  And, Mjx, I do measure by weight - so that was ok.