Pie crust with butter, butter/shortening, or shortening?

[BAPyessir6]

I usually make my pie crust with all butter (I hydrate the dough with a squirt bottle or just bits of super cold water, then let it rest in the fridge 1 hour before rolling out. I love it!). But I'm wondering if other wonderful bakers out there use butter/shortening/lard or a combination. Is one superior to the other? I've heard lard makes the crust more tender, butter makes it flakier (steam from water in butter) plus better flavor.

Basically, what do you guys use for a homemade pie crust? I grew up with all shortening crust, then switched to all butter as as adult. Workability aside, I just wonder if half/half would create a possibly superior product than all butter or all shortening/lard.

 

[medtran49]

I started using 1/2 and 1/2 years ago.

I have used all lard, as we had bought some leaf lard for something, in a savory pastry dough. My DH told me it was the best pastry dough I'd ever made. So, I'll use lard when we have it for something like a pot pie. You can use it for dessert pies, as there's just the very faintest lard taste that would probably be covered up by sugar, but I never have.

Oh, if you freeze your butter or shortening, you can grate it into the flour and it requires less mixing, which can make tough dough. I've never tried to freeze lard.

 

[BAPyessir6]

So just to clarify, you use 1/2 lard, and 1/2 butter?

Basically I'm thinking shortening is the worst pick.

 

[pepperhead212]

I'm another that uses all butter, allowing for the water in it. I just like the flavor more.

 

[medtran49]

So just to clarify, you use 1/2 lard, and 1/2 butter?

Basically I'm thinking shortening is the worst pick.

Either. Nothing wrong with using shortening in a crust. My mother and grandmother used all Crisco for their pies and their pie crusts were fantastic, tender and flaky. Sadly, I have never been quite able to duplicate their crusts.

 

[Andy M.]

I make the crusts in the FP and use half butter/half shortening. I use just enough water to make it easy to roll out.

 

[taxlady]

I make whole wheat pie crusts. It took me a while to get the pie crusts the I wanted them. At first they were downright tough. With lots of advice and a bit of experimentation, I eventually made a pie crust I was happy with. I used it for tourtière, a French Canadian savoury meat pie. It was made with lard, so I have a fondness for lard for pie crusts. Nowadays, I would most likely only use a lard crust for a savoury pie. I have had good success with just butter and the flavour is really nice. I haven't tried 50%/50% butter and lard yet. Before I do that, I will need to find a source of pure lard as opposed to the stuff at grocery store, which has BHA and BHT in it and I would rather not have those.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Pie is just a pleasant memory!

I used all Crisco.

It really depends on what you are looking for. Some of the old recipes for hot water pie crust made with lard or crusts that include vinegar and an egg can be very good.

 

[dragnlaw]

Pie is just a pleasant memory!

I used all Crisco.

It really depends on what you are looking for. Some of the old recipes for hot water pie crust made with lard or crusts that include vinegar and an egg can be very good.

That's a recipe I used to do when using the entire box of lard. Recipe was in the lid.
Now I almost always use butter for the few times I make crusts.

 

[Aunt Bea]

That's a recipe I used to do when using the entire box of lard. Recipe was in the lid.
Now I almost always use butter for the few times I make crusts.

Now I almost always use frozen or refrigerated crusts.