Anyone else here not eat pork?

[peaceful_mama]

And if so, what do you use instead of lard in a pie crust?

I absolutely staunchly have refused to buy and keep Crisco in my house since I learned how bad margarine and the like are.

I tried butter once as a sub in a recipe that actually called for Crisco. It didn't work at all.

Also, if you don't use veg. oil or lard, what do you fry your chicken in? Cause I've always heard you don't use olive oil for high-heat frying like that. (never actually tried it out, )

[cristeen]

You can use an all-butter recipe for the pie crust. You can't sub it into a shortening recipe, but there are recipes designed for butter.

For the chicken, I use refined CO for frying.

[witchygrrl]

My Dh won't eat pork, so we don't have it in the house. I do eat it on occasion when out though.

I agree with Cristeen though...use a different crust recipe that uses butter and CO for frying. I have also been known to use Earth Balance shortening, as it is expeller-pressed, but it does have soy and canola, which may be a deal breaker for you. But it's a heck of a lot better than Crisco.

[hjrowan]

Yep I (and DD) don't eat pork products

For pastry I use butter or very occasionally a mix of butter and non-hydrogenated shortening (can't remember the brand).

For frying we use olive oil (not high heat)/butter, CO or safflower oil but I don't fry too much - and I've never made fried chicken, I'm more of a roaster!

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

What about tallow? I think Cheeseslave had a post about tallow pie crust...

ETA: http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/07/0...et-ingredient/

[organicmidwestmama]

butter. good, high fat percentage butter. look on the package, standard butter only has to have 80-82% butter fat content, but better brands make it higher. i actually dont like the taste and texture of lard in pie crusts so i would use butter even though i do eat all kinds of pork.

for fried chicken i use either ghee, which is similar to clarified butter (water content removed by slowly heating and skimming) or expeller pressed coconut oil.

[Kelilah]

I don't eat pork either (I'm Jewish). For pie crust, I use butter, though I want to experiment with schmaltz and tallow. I keep meaning to swing by the butcher and get a few pounds of chicken fat to try rendering my own schmaltz. Our butcher also sells rendered duck fat, which I haven't tried yet but I hear is great for roasting veggies in and would probably make a decent pie crust too if you made sure it was frozen first. (The trick with a butter crust is freezing the butter and grating it - you want it to stay cold and solid for as long as possible so it doesn't melt into the flour.)

I don't deep-fry often but when I do, I use organic canola oil or peanut oil. A lot of canola is GMO but our co-op sells an organic, non-GMO kind in bulk for a reasonable price. Canola used to be our standby, but we recently discovered peanut oil when we were making chicken wings, and we fell in love with it - the flavor is much lighter and cleaner, and it doesn't make the whole house stink like deep-fry. If you're not allergic to peanuts then I recommend it.

[Magelet]

We don't eat pork (well DH does, just not in the house).

For pie crusts, you can't beat butter. use a butter crust recipe (and like a pp said, make sure to freeze your butter). I LOVE smitten kitchen's pie crust 102 recipe. It's easy and delicious. (I also want to try tallow but haven't gotten my hands on enough yet.)

for deep frying, we don't really deep fry much, because good fats are so expensive. however I want to make fried chicken soon, and I'm figureing on doing part tallow part coconut oil.

(I may have to try ghee for frying though. that sounds like a great option. no less expensive though, possibly much more)

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Kelilah

Our butcher also sells rendered duck fat, which I haven't tried yet but I hear is great for roasting veggies in and would probably make a decent pie crust too if you made sure it was frozen first. (The trick with a butter crust is freezing the butter and grating it - you want it to stay cold and solid for as long as possible so it doesn't melt into the flour.)

Duck fat is phenomenal on veggies, but I doubt it would work well in a pie crust. It is not solid unless it's stone cold. It is softer than butter, and at room temp is often liquid. It makes a great mayo, though.

[Kelilah]

Ohh, I didn't know it was softer than butter. Thank you.

[Koalamom]

Great thread and ideas!

We don't eat pork. I did years ago and I felt fine eating it, but after being a vegan for years, I have a hard time digesting any pork now that I eat meat again. Oh but the smell of frying bacon is what was the turning point in me eating meat again. I love the idea of duck fat, sounds good.

We use ghee as we are allergic to butter and other dairy.
If I am making a stir fry and want alot of oil, I use ghee and when the pan needs more, I use bone broth in its place to make a yummy sauce.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by Magelet

(I may have to try ghee for frying though. that sounds like a great option. no less expensive though, possibly much more)

That is what we use in place of butter and to save, we just make it. It is affordable that way.

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

That is what we use in place of butter and to save, we just make it. It is affordable that way.

i too make it myself. grass fed ghee is 20$/lb whereas i can make organic, not grassfed ghee if i get organic butter on sale for 4.50/lb (ghee loses a bit less then 1/4 of the original butter weight from water that is cooked off) so ghee ends up costing me about 6$/lb to make. its so yummy, the taste reminds me of a good croissant.

duck fat is fabulous for cooking veg as it doesnt really impart a strong flavor but has great mouth feel and can be cooked at high temps similar to coconut oil.

[laohaire]

Basic Pie Crust
=====
1 cup stoneground whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup water

Mix flour and salt. Add softened (I just leave it on the counter for a few hours ahead of time) butter. I think most people fold it in using a machine but I use my hands. After the butter is folded in, add 1/2 cup water and mix. Shape mixture into 2 balls. Cover balls with a damp cloth and place in refrigerator for a couple hours to set. Makes 2 crusts (top and bottom).

ETA: I think I'm not going to eat pork anymore too but I haven't totally decided yet. Haven't had any in a while anyway.

[425lisamarie]

Speaking of the duck fat OMG is it heavenly. A very little goes a long way. I make 2 roasted ducks about twice a year, and i get LOADS of fat from rendering. I always cook in a two stage process in which the first is to boil in chicken stock, then i chill and get the fat off and there is quite a bit of it.

I am not against eating pork but do rarely eat it. DH loves it but he grew up in Europe where it was the main meat, and of course it was farm raised and way different than the white dry stuff at the store. I can't get good pork right now so i haven't had any in a while besides a little ground

[MountainMamaGC]

For frying I use grapeseed oil. Its a high heat healthy oil with a clean taste. I dont know how TF it is but I like it.

[AJP]

For making a pie crust using butter, I find it works a lot better if everything is ice cold, the end result turns out a lot flakier and more tender and also doesn't stick as badly when rolling. I store flour in the freezer and I use very cold butter and ice water (I scoop it out from a cup of ice water a Tbsp. at a time to add to the dough, I don't add the ice to the dough). I also use a food processor instead of my hands, so it all stays very cold. Spelt flour also seems to result in a flakier crust than wheat, IME.

[Smokering]

I read some food blog once in which the blogger declared bison tallow made the best pie crust ever. It didn't really appeal to me, but hey. Would dripping (from beef) work?

I eat pork products, but not actual pork pork. It tastes suspicious to me, like chicken that isn't quite on the up and up.

[JElaineB]

When I want to make a vegetarian pie crust to bring to a potluck I use Spectrum shortening.

[Ammaarah]

Originally Posted by JElaineB

When I want to make a vegetarian pie crust to bring to a potluck I use Spectrum shortening.

Same here. It's cheap and it works well.