The whole butter vs. shortening pie crust debate came back to me today

I was making a batch of pies for a farmers market stand near Portland last Saturday, and a older lady walked up and watched me roll out dough for a solid minute. She finally said "you know, your grandma would have used lard, not that yellow stick" and just walked away. It got me thinking about how much I defend butter because of the flavor (and the flake, you know?) but I have to admit shortening gives a way more reliable crust every single time. I grew up watching my mom use Crisco for everything, and her pies never failed. But then I switched to butter for taste and I've had some real disasters with shrinkage and sogginess. So which side do you fall on - are you team butter for the flavor or team shortening for the dependability? Or has anyone tried that half-and-half trick I keep reading about on blogs?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery2904h ago

Respectfully, I see it totally different. Half butter and half shortening is just hedging your bets and ends up with a crust that doesn't fully commit to either good flavor or good texture. Full butter gives you that incredible flake and taste but sure, you gotta work colder and handle it less or it shrinks like crazy. Shortening is almost idiot-proof but the flavor is just greasy nothing to me. I'd rather take the risk with butter and get a crust that actually tastes like something.

laura_chen414h ago

Have you tried half butter half shortening yet? That's what I use and it works great.