When I first started baking pies I was often disappointed after putting a beautiful full pie in the oven and pulling out a pie whose crust had dramatically shrunk from the edges of the pan. You want the baked pie crust to shrink as little as possible, as in these pics. This is the same pie before and after baking. Notice how minimal the difference. In order to keep the crust from shrinking you must relax the dough. After I make my crust, I always refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes to relax the gluten. Then after I put the pie together, I refrigerate it again for another 30 minutes. Agitating the dough while rolling it out promotes gluten formation, so it is important to let the dough chill out before baking. Cutting corners and rushing the process will show in the final product, and we all want that “wow” factor when we present our goody!