Victory Pie Crust
Submitted by uninvited-guest on January 24, 2011 at 4:52 pm

wingboy's persistence has paid off by getting this recipe from a little old lady from his church whom he dubbed "The Crust Queen."

Makes 6 single pie crusts or 3 double. You can halve the recipe or keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Yield: 3 double
Source: wingboy's "Pie Crust Queen"

6 c. flour
2 1/2 cups lard
2 tsp. salt
1 egg beaten
1 tsp. vinegar
10 T cold water

Mix together and divide into 6 single crust parts or 3 double crusts. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Use as needed.
I mix the flour and salt and add the lard. Mix well until small pea size particles form. Add the slightly beaten egg, vinegar and water. Form in crusts. (I often do the final mixing with my hands and knead it slightly until all is well mixed.)

comments

Submitted by ddoug on Mon, 2011-01-24 21:40.
You can use butter or a combination of butter and margarine; it is the vinegar that makes the crust so easy to roll and so forgiving. I'd use as much as a tablespoon for six cups of flour. You can also add a couple tablespoons of sugar for a sweet crust. Deanna

Submitted by Yolie on Tue, 2011-01-25 16:51.
THANK YOU!!!! just what I needed....perfect!

Submitted by Morgana on Thu, 2011-01-27 15:36. Can you use veg shortening for the lard?

Submitted by uninvited-guest on Fri, 2011-01-28 05:14.
Certainly, but it won't have the same "umph." Lard is just the old fashioned fat used in a pie crust. Now days most people use shortening and/or butter. Just remember that if using butter, it has about 20% water in it, so you won't need as much water to be added.

Submitted by candace1234 on Sun, 2011-02-06 19:31.
I have this recipe and use it all the time, I use Crisco for the lard.

Submitted by carolinorygun on Fri, 2011-01-28 20:00.
Leaf lard has a higher melting point, resulting in a flakier crust. The mouthfeel of shortening is different and it's bland compared to lard. That doesn't mean shortening is unsuitable, just that the results won't be quite the same. You can't duplicate the effect of really good fresh leaf lard (which can be hard to locate).
Carol

Submitted by wingboy on Sun, 2011-01-30 18:10.
I tried the crust. Made an apple pie last night. The crust is good, but not the same as the Crust Queen's. I probably over-mixed. It was a dream to roll out, however. I will try it again!

Submitted by emmaus on Mon, 2011-01-31 11:09.
What flour do you use? Is it King Arthur All Purpose? Thanks a lot for the recipe.

Submitted by wingboy on Mon, 2011-01-31 23:20.
I used KAF AP

Submitted by Julie T. on Thu, 2011-02-03 14:56.
From my mother's tattered 1949 mimeographed copy of Favorite Recipes of Hope Lutheran Church is a pie crust recipe she used to use that is much like the Pie Crust Queen's but with different proportions.

3 cups flour
1 cup lard
1 tsp salt
5 T. cold water
1 T. vinegar
1 egg, beaten

Makes 4 crusts

Haven't tried a comparison of the recipes; I'd be interested to know what others find.
JT

Submitted by nickvello on Fri, 2011-05-20 10:25.
Hi: I'm pie crust challenged !!! I try, but with very little success?? I can stand some helpful suggestions.
Thanks

Submitted by peghayes on Thu, 2011-07-14 09:37.
I tried this recipe and did not have good luck with it. (Most likely, human error!) I need a crust recipe that makes several, so I want this to work for me. So, a question: I used fresh lard from a farmers market vendor - would that make any difference? The crust turned out to have too much lard. Could you give a weight for the amount to be used, instead of in cups? I did have a difficult time measuring it out and maybe ended up with too much. Thanks for anyone's help!

Submitted by brenda5105 on Tue, 2011-08-30 12:47.
From Cook's Illustrated I found a recipe that adds vodka to the mixture. 1/4 cup in fact. Vodka doesn't create gluten so it helps with the dough. You also use 1/4 cup cold water so it is more liquid than I have seen before but it really works well. You obviously need to add more flour. Uses butter and shortening.