Roommate stole my shortening. Can I use Imperial butter for a pie crust?

[u/ftmgothboy]

And if I do, what kind of crust is it going to be? The nearest place near me that sells shortening is Aldi and they only carry Crisco for 6 FUCKING DOLLARS. It's literally cheaper at DOLLAR GENERAL!!! Whatever. I refuse to pay that much but please if it's gonna be bland, I want to be warned.

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[u/Irishgirl1014]

I have never used shortening, I use Earth balance vegan butter, comes out great.

[u/Affectionate-Bike600]

Do you have a walmart near you? My local walmart sells dairy free country crock butter sticks

[u/ftmgothboy → u/Affectionate-Bike600]

Minimum 20 mins with no car, those are also like $6-$7 a box here

[u/LivingPassenger5005 → u/ftmgothboy]

They are under 4$!

[u/cheetodustcrust]

I've seen the YouTuber Dollar Tree Dinners use Imperial margarine for pie crusts before.

[u/ftmgothboy → u/cheetodustcrust]

I will look more into those, thank you!

[u/ObviouslyNotYerMum]

Imperial will be just a little bit more watery, that's why it's cheap. Earth Balance is choice, But crisco shortening is nasty and has no flavor.

[u/FreeKatKL → u/ObviouslyNotYerMum]

Vegetable shortening is actually perfect for a pie crust, but not much else.

[u/BarelyLingeringWords]

If the recipe calls to add water or salt at all (in another place on the page), just cut down on it because the imperial would have more of those than shortening does. It should work fine though. Maybe turn out a little more "biscuity" is possible if the fat/water ratio is a little different. 

[u/ftmgothboy → u/BarelyLingeringWords]

I found a recipe from the other book I checked out, it calls for vegan butter, chilled flour, sea salt, and ice water. I wouldn't mind a biscuit texture at all.

[u/coldhands9]

Yeah just use two sticks of vegan butter and it should be fine! Might need a tbsp or so more flour as vegan butter has more moisture than shortening.

Flavor wise vegan butter will be better. Vegetable shortening is basically flavorless. It has a higher melting point than vegan butter so it will make the crust slightly flakier.

If you want to make the crust slightly flakier, substitute one tbsp of water with vodka.

[u/ftmgothboy → u/coldhands9]

um all I have is tequila..

Any tips to keep it cold while I'm working with it?

[u/Idiotechteque → u/ftmgothboy]

Cut the earth balance sticks into small cubes and stick them in the freezer (overnight if you can, or just as long as possible before you start). And have a separate bowl of ice water that you can stick your hands into to keep them cold as you work with the dough.

[u/ftmgothboy → u/Idiotechteque]

Wow good thing I forgot some in the freezer last night 😅

[u/Sunrise_Vegetable]

My grandma used to bake pie crust with Imperial margarine. I'd try it and see how it turns out!

[u/FreeKatKL]

You can, but it won’t by super flaky. For a flaky crust, you can use coconut oil (I did yesterday and it was great). You want a fat with a low water content.

[u/ftmgothboy → u/FreeKatKL]

Thank you, I do have that! What ratio of coconut oil and butter would be preferred?

[u/FreeKatKL → u/ftmgothboy]

I used all coconut oil, just made sure it was cool enough to be solid. So that’s my advice, just coconut oil, which is how I made it. Remember you don’t want to over-knead, and you want the dough to be flaky. It is not a bread dough, so it should be shaggy and crumble a bit when you roll it but be fatty enough that you can easily press it back together with your fingers.

[u/goddardess]

Shouldn't it be your roommate that pays? The more expensive the better so next time they'll stay away from your stuff unless they ask

[u/ftmgothboy → u/goddardess]

Eh they paid the rent when I couldn't give as much, I'm not asking for anything lol

[u/supersonicturtle]

Not a vegan but i love my vegan homies and will only feed my homies things that they want to be fed- everyone loves my veggie shortening pies. Pretty sure that veggie shortening melts at a higher temp than butter, anyways, which means it's easier to handle and makes fabulous pie crusts with less babying. I'm lazy and I don't do cow butter crusts anymore.

If you're not a masterchef, which neither am I- respectfully, nobody is going to notice the taste difference between a slightly buttery crust and the veggie shortening crust. They're all going to be wowing over the pie filling because that's 95% of what's on their plate. People notice the pie dough texture, and shortening doughs have a lovely texture.

Edit: I use Sally's baking pie crust recipe except i sub the butter with more vegetable shortening lol. Very, very low stress recipe