In the first of a series of baking tips for the holidays, Alton Brown, host of The Food Network show Good Eats and author of I'm Just Here for More Food, shares the secrets behind a perfect pie crust.

I made sweet-potato pies using recipes from chefs Trisha Yearwood, Carla Hall, and Alton Brown. Yearwood's pie was simple yet a bit watery and Brown's fell apart as I ate it. Hall had the best ...