I’ve got a recipie for a pie crust that calls for lard. I’m wondering if vegetable shortening be substituted instead? Would it change the texture or the way the crust bakes?
Yes, shortening can be used instead. Buy why not use lard? Shortening really isn’;t much healither, actually. And if the thought of lard just icks you out well…don’t let it! Odds are you’ve eaten it before and will again. I mean…you’ve had bacon before, right? And unless you’ve always had super-crispy bacon with all the fat rendered out of it (which, BTW, is a sin) than you’ve hard lard.
And, yes, it would change the texture of the crust. You simply cannot get a crust that’s as flaky when you substitute shortening for lard. Same thing goes for biscuits!
Lard does make for crisp pastry, but vegetable fat, even margarine (shock, horror!) will be just fine in the vast majority of cases.
Butter would also works, but may result in a very rich flavour.
Yes, you can, and it’ll come out alright (though perhaps not as good.)
As for why you’d make the switch…well, this summer I was getting ready to make pies. I bought all the ingredients–flour, eggs, sugar, etc. Took me a while to get around to actually making them though. One day my roommate came into my room holding a box of lard.
“Is this for the pies?”
“Yeah.”
“You know I can’t eat this, right?”
“Why not?”
“It’s animal fat.”
And at that point it clicked that my roommate is vegetarian.
Consensus is good. I don’t really care how flaky it is, as long as it tastes ok. In fact, less flaky is better as it’s less mess.
I would use lard if I had it, but only vegetable shortening have I.
Um, forgive me for the dumb question, but where would people get lard for cooking? Do stores sell it, or do you have to save the stuff in the pan after the bacon is cooked? Wouldn’t the pastries have a meaty flavor?
Most grocery stores sell lard for cooking, at least around here. At the Wal-Mart Supercenter near me, you can buy it in quantities ranging from maybe a pound to 20 - 50 pound tubs! I think it’s used a lot in Mexican cooking, which gets done a lot here in Houston. 
If you don’t have a problem with lard, fine, use it. But do be sure to tell anyone who is vegetarian or keeps kosher that there is lard in the pie before we take a bite of it.
Yep, in the grocery store in the “Mexican” section, or sometimes in the baking section. It doesn’t have a meaty flavor, because all of the meat is processed out of it - it’s just the fat.
Butter is usually not a good lard substitute in pasteries because it has a higher water content, and so it reacts differently in flour (the flour absorbs the water and so you end up with a chewier crust.) Lots of people, like me, actually prefer chewy crusts to flakey, but a classic flakey pie crust is pretty impossible with butter.
Vegetable shortening is generally acceptable, but again, not as flakey. This time it’s because (if I remember my Alton correctly) the melting point of lard is higher than shortening, so with lard, the leavening has a chance to make the layers fluff up around the hard bits of lard, and to set by baking for a bit longer before the lard melts, leaving larger, flakier spaces between the bits of crust. The shortening melts sooner, leaving smaller spaces.
Thanks for the answers **cbawlmer **and Whynot. Thank goodness. I was imagining apple/bacon flavored pie :eek:
Like its cousin suet, high-quality lard is fat from around the kidneys of the animal. So, “meaty” flavor isn’t really an issue.
Damn, now I’m craving my Mom’s snickerdoodles made with real butter and lard. Those are some fine cookies.
Use the shortening, and just follow the rule of don’t over mix. The crusts taste fine and are flakey.
Lard is sold in a 1 pound block or by the bucket full in grocery stores.