Butter vs. Shortening Flourish. Pie crust gotta love it, right Flaky and tender when you nail it, tough as rawhide when you dont, pie crust divides all of us bakers into definitive categories those who succeed those who fail, but keep trying and those who buy Mrs. Smiths. Why is pie crust so tough often literally Well, its all about the fat, the water, and the flour. For a Buddhist, beginning the journey along the road to enlightenment commences with the first understanding of the possibility of realising our. Directions. Place flour, salt,and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and shortening to the flour mixture, and pulse until. Reduce timerelated when and while clauses contrast effect of putting clause before or after main clause practice restating when and while clauses. Three simple ingredients that, together, can create a masterpiece or mayhem. Flour does make a difference but not as much as you might think. A lower protein pastry flour, like our Perfect Pastry Blend, will inherently make a more tender crust and will also be a bit more fragile when youre rolling it out. Truthfully, I use our all purpose flour in my pie crust I have to be careful not to work it too hard once the water is added for fear of developing its gluten, but for me, it offers an ideal blend of good results, and ease of handling. Water make it ice water. Simple enough, rightWhat Can You Use In Place Of ShorteningAh, now comes the ingredient that arguably makes or breaks a pie crust, and also creates the most debate Fat. Butter vs. shortening in pie crust. Coconut Oil In Place Of ShorteningYour grandma used lard. Your mom used shortening. You use butter. Are all fats created equalSHORTENING Its Baking Function Selection of Proper Shortening Material and Its Use in Suitable Manner and Quantity of Highest Importance in Production of. This is a website all about vanity URL shorteners. Also known as a custom URL shorteners, custom link shortening services, link shorteners, private URL shorteners. It will now take a matter of days, not weeks. KPMG is shortening its recruitment process because millennials are getting frustrated. Dont offer, dont refuse Probably the most gentle active approach is dont offerdont refuse. This method involves not offering to nurse but also not refusing. Shortening-vs.-Butter-1-1-900x600.jpg' alt='What To Use In Place Of Shortening' title='What To Use In Place Of Shortening' />I decided to find out. First thing I did was rule out lard. NOT BECAUSE ITS NOT A PERFECTLY GOOD FAT AND CAPABLE OF MAKING WONDROUSLY TASTY PIE CRUST. After all, our ancestors made lard crust pies for centuries and, like lard fried doughnuts, they were delicious. Im ruling out lard simply because good, fresh lard isnt as universally available as shortening and butter. So if you love lard, and have a good supplier stick with it. But if butter and vegetable shortening are your choices, read on. For years, Ive alternated between two favorite recipes Classic Double Pie Crust, a crust made with both shortening and butter and All Butter Pie Crust. One Thanksgiving Id go with an all butter crust for my Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie the next, Id make my Apple Pie with the shorteningbutter clone. But never had I made both crusts in tandem, and done a side by side comparison. Which was flakier Which tasted better Butter makes a lighter crust. This was the year. Having signed up to do a pie demonstration at a local bookstore, I decided Id best practice both at the same time. And I made an amazing discovery amazing to me we pie geeks are easily amazed something Id always believed to be true was absolutely, categorically, without a doubt not true at all. Id always told people that a shorteningbutter pie crust would have better texture than an all butter crust, due to shortenings higher melting point. Why Fat keeps the layers of flourwater matrix separated as the pie bakes the longer fat is present in its solid form score one for shortening, with its high melting point, the more flakes will form, the more tenderflakier the crust will be. Now, that may be true. I didnt actually count the number of flaky layers in each crust. But one thing was abundantly clear the all butter crust above left made a much LIGHTER crust, with more defined flakes, than the buttershortening combination above right. I was totally puzzled, until it dawned on me butter contains more water than shortening. As the crust bakes, that water is converted to steam, puffing up the crust and its flakes like someone blowing up a balloon. Each fat adds its own distinct flavor. And flavor The all butter crust tasted well, buttery, of course. The buttershortening crust which was, by the way, just as tender and flaky as the butter crust, but without its light texture tasted a bit like butter, and a bit like pie crust that indefinable something that tells your taste buds, yes, Im eating a piece of pie. Both were good just different. Crock Pot Enchiladas. And one of the chief differences was looks the butter crust produced a very ill defined edge. My careful fluting basically went up in smoke er, steam. So if youre after looks, stick with the buttershortening combination or all shortening. If looks dont matter to you, Id go with the all butter crust. What about substituting vodka for water While I was at it, I decided to test the famous Cooks Illustrated secret to tender, flaky pie crust using vodka in place of half the water in the crust. The theory is that vodka, being alcohol rather than water, will develop flours gluten less than plain water, thus creating a more tender crust. Is that true In front, all butter vodka, and shorteningbutter vodka. Behind, butter and shortening without vodka. The verdict I couldnt discern any difference in the flakinesstenderness of the vodka vs. BUT the vodka crust rolled out more easily with its silken, smooth texture, it was a pleasure to work with. So would I add vodka to pie crust Sure. I think Ill even keep a little jar of it in the fridge, so its handy for pie crust or a gimlet whichever comes first OK, Ive given you a map. And here you stand at the crossroads, ready to make a decision on the butter vs. Which will it be Classic Double Pie Crust, or All Butter Pie Crust Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie, made with an all butter crust. May the best crust win Theres more to pie crust than ingredients technique plays a big hand in a successful crust, as well. For a wonderful pictorial on making pie crust, see our blog post Pie, Any Way You Slice It. And for more tips, check out Perfect Pie A Bakers Dozen Tips. Note This blog post focuses on the difference between shortening and butter in pie crust, without examining the relative health benefits of each. For health information concerning these fats, speak to a doctor or nutritionist.