Butter vs shortening for pie crust?

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Cindercat

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Is there a significant difference in taste/texture/workability to justify the expense of using butter instead of shortening to make pie crust? I want my special ed class to have the experience and measuring practice from making apple pie totally from scratch but I am on a budget for the year. I'm trying to do more "from scratch" cooking with them this year since we have a "real" stove instead of a hot plate & toaster oven.
 
My mother always used shortening for her pastry and I have yet to find anyone who can make pastry like hers.

I must admit I seem to use butter in the pastry for desserts but shortening for meat/savoury pastry dishes. I don't know why though:wacko:
 
To Me (personally), butter makes a very Strongly flavoerd crust that is best for fruit tarts or pot pies..

for usual pies, I like shortning..

it works well for technich.. here in Tx. we also often use Lard as it is very inexpensive..

Eric, Austin Tx.
 
I use my grandmother's recipe--1/4 c lard, 1/4 c Crisco, 1-1/2 c AP flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 4-5 T ice water, 1 T vinegar and I've started to add 1 tsp vodka. I've made it with wholewheat flour--since adding the vodka to the recipe, even the ww crust is light and flaky. Who knew--picked up this tip from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine. Anyway, my crust is always light, flaky, and easy to roll. An easy-peasy recipe, works every time for me.

The above makes 2 crusts. You cut the flour and salt into the shortening until it looks like "peas." Then you add the water (I usually start with 4 T--I put the water in the freezer 30 min before I make the crust with ice cubes in the glass), add the vinegar and vodka.
 
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CWS4322 said:
I use my grandmother's recipe--1/4 c lard, 1/4 c Crisco, 1-1/2 c AP flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 4-5 T ice water, 1 T vinegar and I've started to add 1 tsp vodka. I've made it with wholewheat flour--since adding the vodka to the recipe, even the ww crust is light and flaky. Who knew--picked up this tip from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine. Anyway, my crust is always light, flaky, and easy to roll. An easy-peasy recipe, works every time for me.

The above makes 2 crusts. You cut the flour and salt into the shortening until it looks like "peas." Then you add the water (I usually start with 4 T--I put the water in the freezer 30 min before I make the crust with ice cubes in the glass), add the vinegar and vodka.

Sounds like a good recipe, especially the ww, but I might get in trouble with the vodka at school.
 
I'm a crisco fan for pie crust, But just this past weekend went to make a couple of apple pie and realize I didn't get a new can of crisco when I got groceries, I only had a little left in the can so I did 1/2 and 1/2. The results were not as flaky as just using crisco but the flavor was a little richer tasting but not a big taste difference. I will still use my crisco, but at least in a pinch I could use butter. I read in american test kitchen site that if you put alittle vodka in your pie crust your crust will be flaky. I haven't tried that yet.
 
Either will make a nice crust.

Butter results in a more flaky crust while shortening results in a more tender crust.
 
What Andy said! Butter has more water therefore a slightly less tender crust. I have no issues using all shortening, that's what my mom always did. Myself, I usually use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening.
 
I'm a crisco fan for pie crust, But just this past weekend went to make a couple of apple pie and realize I didn't get a new can of crisco when I got groceries, I only had a little left in the can so I did 1/2 and 1/2. The results were not as flaky as just using crisco but the flavor was a little richer tasting but not a big taste difference. I will still use my crisco, but at least in a pinch I could use butter. I read in american test kitchen site that if you put alittle vodka in your pie crust your crust will be flaky. I haven't tried that yet.

The vodka is there to replace some water. Alcohol doesn't activate gluten so with a water/vodka mixture you can add a lot more liquid to your dough to make it easy to roll without creating much gluten. Vodka is used because it has no real flavor. In an apple pie, you could use Applejack or something similar, I think Alton Brown has a recipe like that.

I have started going with a mixture of vodka and water in my crusts and it works well, I have the cookbook with the Cook's Illustrated recipe, but I like my adapted recipe better.
 
Are you teaching the kids to make pie crust or just letting them see how it's done and letting them try doing it?

Do you have access to a food processor and can the kids use one safely? A food processor will do the mixing of the flour and fat far more easily and quickly. It will do it quickly enough that you don't risk the fat melting and not incorporating properly into the flour. If you can't use a food processor, make sure that the flour, butter/shortening, water, bowl, and pastry cutter are straight out of fridge cold.

Shortening and lard are 100% fat, while butter is only 80% fat. I would go with what it says in your recipe or substitute up to 1/3 butter for shortening/lard. I use a different recipes for lard and butter. Like acerbicacid, I use the lard crust with savoury and the butter crust with fruit. Yes, I think the improvement of flavour is worth using butter.

I use a Danish recipe for my butter pie crust that adds sugar to the flour. It has always worked well for me. I don't know if that is because it is an easier recipe or because I was already pretty good at lard pie crust before I tried making it. The recipe for the butter dough is here: http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f40/pear-tarte-77329.html#post1096293. Apples work really well with this recipe too. I like the fact that I don't have to cook the fruit, cut it up much, or add anything to it.
 
Thanks everyone! I decided to use the regular Crisco recipe and save my butter for something else - or another pie later in the year if we have the ingredients. I couldn't test the vodka theory because, um, . . . I like my job. The kids with good enough hygiene that I trust to handle food did all the measuring. The other kids are our go-fers. They go get whatever we need from the fridge and put dirty dishes in the sink. They also watch everything we do and participate in the discussion of which kind of measuring cup to use, how to measure flour without packing it, but then they have to pack shortening. I showed them how to cut the shortening and flour together and they mixed the water and flour mixture. We wrapped the dough in plastic and put it in the fridge for tomorrow morning when we will prepare the rest of the pie. They will peel & slice apples, measure and mix the seasonings, roll the pie dough and fill the pie. I'll show them how to seal the edges and they can try doing a little of it. We'll have to bake in the morning so we have time to bake before we leave for lunch/P.E. Our afternoon work periods are shorter, at least they seem to fly by faster.
 
I use water + vinegar + vodka. I find that the combo makes for a tender, flaky crust (but that could be the lard and Crisco)!. Okay, I guess you can't use the vodka with the kids. I use cider vinegar when I make a crust for a savory tart. I use the same amount of ice water whether I add the vinegar and vodka or not. And, being of Scandinavian descent, of course I keep vodka in the freezer. I just assume everyone else does as well.
 
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I use water + vinegar + vodka. I find that the combo makes for a tender, flaky crust (but that could be the lard and Crisco)!. Okay, I guess you can't use the vodka with the kids. I use cider vinegar when I make a crust for a savory tart. I use the same amount of ice water whether I add the vinegar and vodka or not. And, being of Scandinavian descent, of course I keep vodka in the freezer. I just assume everyone else does as well.
The vodka in my freezer is right next to the akvavit. :LOL:
 
The lard you buy in the grocery store is hydrogenated so it's processed. If you would go to the meat market & ask for the fat then go home & cook it down & strain it, let it set up (rendering your own lard) using that in your pie crust would be very inexspensive & you would be a tender flakey crust. Once the lard is very cold use a cheese grater to grate the lard into the flour, salt, baking powder & a slight amount of brown sugar. Add this to a mixture of very cold water, egg & vinegar.
 
One of the advantages of living in the "pork belt" is the availability of lard in the grocery store that is not hydrogenated. We have a brand here Lundy's that's pretty widely available, and not expensive. Haven't tried it though.
 
We finished our apple pie yesterday. It turned out really good. The top crust surprised me by staying in the same position it was before it was baked. I expected it to fall as the apples cooked down but it didn't. It was nice and flaky. The bottom crust was a bit soggy because the juices bubbled and must have found a thin spot to get between the crust and the pie pan - plus the apples in the crust were juicy. We ate it warm with vanilla ice cream and shared the extra two pieces with the superintendent (who told the kids it tasted like it came from a local restaurant known for its pies) and the gym teacher. It did taste good.
 

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Cindercat said:
We finished our apple pie yesterday. It turned out really good. The top crust surprised me by staying in the same position it was before it was baked. I expected it to fall as the apples cooked down but it didn't. It was nice and flaky. The bottom crust was a bit soggy because the juices bubbled and must have found a thin spot to get between the crust and the pie pan - plus the apples in the crust were juicy. We ate it warm with vanilla ice cream and shared the extra two pieces with the superintendent (who told the kids it tasted like it came from a local restaurant known for its pies) and the gym teacher. It did taste good.

Very nice, Cindercat! Kudos to you and your kids! A number of my schools have had restaurants, where our disabled kids cook and serve food from various recipes. They shop, prep, cook, serve, and sell. Wonderful programs!
 
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