Had to choose between butter and shortening for my pie crusts last weekend

I've been making pies for about 3 years now and always used butter because everyone says it tastes better. But I was making 5 pies for a family gathering in Tacoma and the store was out of my usual brand. Grabbed shortening instead and figured I'd give it a shot. The crust came out WAY flakier than my butter ones do and held together better for the lattice top. Nobody at dinner even noticed the taste difference. Now I'm wondering if I should switch for good. Anyone else gone back and forth on this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_faith1d ago

Double down on that half and half swap Thomas mentioned. I started doing 60% shortening to 40% butter and honestly I get the best of both worlds now - the flake from the shortening and just enough butter taste to keep people like caleb happy. Took me a couple tries to get the water ratio right though since shortening absorbs differently. The real game changer for me was using ice cold vodka instead of water in the dough, it evaporates cleaner during baking so you get even more layers without that soggy bottom problem.

caleb_bell52d ago

Whoa wait, five pies for a family thing in Tacoma and nobody noticed the swap? That's wild to me. I always figured the butter flavor was the whole point of a homemade crust versus a store-bought one. Now you got me second guessing my whole pie game honestly.

thomas.river1d ago

Three weeks in a row at the Shop'n Save in Federal Way and I've yet to meet a single person who could tell the difference in a blind taste test. I swapped half the butter for shortening in my last batch and my Aunt Carol said it was the best crust I've ever made. The store crusts have more preservatives but nobody's complaining about butter flavor when you load them with cinnamon and sugar. Honestly, I think the secret is just not overcooking the crust and making sure your filling isn't watery.