Pastry rolls best when it is cool but pliable. Very cold dough can crack, while warm dough sticks and loses its defined fat pieces. Roll to the recipe’s thickness with light flouring and occasional turns rather than forcing the dough into shape.
Step by step
Check the chilled dough
Let a very hard dough soften just enough to bend under gentle pressure. If it is already soft and sticky, chill it briefly. Begin with a flattened disc or rectangle close to the final shape.
Roll outward from the centre
Lightly flour the worktop and rolling pin as needed. Roll from the centre towards the edges with even pressure, lifting the pin before it runs off the edge and makes that area too thin.
Turn and check underneath
Rotate the dough regularly and lift it gently to check for sticking. Add only a light dusting of flour where needed. Compare thickness across the sheet instead of concentrating on the centre alone.
Move it without stretching
Support the pastry over the rolling pin or between sheets of suitable baking paper, then lower it into the tin. Ease it into corners rather than pulling it tight. Trim and chill again if the recipe calls for it.
Cracks, sticking and shrinking
If cracks appear immediately, the dough may be too cold; pause briefly and press small cracks together. If it smears or sticks heavily, chill rather than adding lots of flour. Stretched pastry can shrink back in the tin. Raw pastry is not ready to taste, even when it contains no egg.
