I make pie crust for pasties which have steak, potatoes, rutabaga, carrots and onions in them. Years ago I did an experiment with shortening and lard. My Mom used shortening and my Father-in-law, who was a chef, used lard in pie crust. Comparing their labels they have the same amount of fat and calories. Since my husband and I are both chemists we did a double blind experiment. I made a batch of each pie crust and made a tray of pasties with each. The lard dough was easier to work with than the shortening one. The lard pasties browned better and were flakier. We had 6 people with us for dinner, and I was the only one who knew which type of crust each person had received. The results was that everyone preferred the pasties made with lard. In more recent time I was making pasties at my daughter's, we ran out of lard when we needed to make more dough. We couldn't find any lard at the nearby store. So I made the next batch of dough with shortening and butter, and they were as good as the ones with lard.

• Reply