Cut the butter into cubes about 2cm in size and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Add a few ice cubes to a 1 cup measure and top up with cold water and give it a stir.
Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add the cold butter to the flour and using a pastry cutter cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse sand with a few pea size pieces of butter remaining. You can also do this in a food processor but keep a careful eye on it that you don't process it too much.
Add 1 tablespoon of ice cold water at a time and using a wooden spoon, keep mixing it starts to form a ball. Again, if using a food processor add 1 tablespoon of water and pulse a couple of times. As soon as it starts to come together, stop adding water.
Using your hands, form the pastry into a flat disc* (about 10cm across and flatten it down), wrap in glad wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour until ready to use. ²
When ready to use, remove from the fridge and unwrap and on a lightly floured surface roll out the crust until it is about 5mm thick and the right size to fit your pie dish. Be gentle and take your time when you are rolling it out.
Using the rolling pin, carefully transfer the crust to the pie dish and tidy up the edges using a knife.
Fill with your favourite fillings and bake as per recipe directions.
If you need to blind bake the crust, place a piece of tinfoil over the pie crust and weigh it down with baking beads or dried beans and bake for 10-12 minutes (or as specified by the recipe) before filling it and baking again.
If the crust will be baked and filled and left to set, bake for approx 30 minutes until it is golden brown or again, as specified by the recipe.
* Forming a disc at this stage makes it easier to roll out once the dough is chilled. You can just shape it into a ball and refrigerate but this step is easy and saves time later.)
² Pie crust can be frozen at this stage and thawed overnight in the fridge once you are ready to use it