AMAZING. I have tried every combination of butter, shortening, and flour there is, and nothing compares to this crust. Flaky, tender, it just melts in your mouth. There is a slight meaty aroma in the raw dough but not in the baked crust. I will never go back to butter or shortening. THIS is the crust to use for pie!

You'll need to update your estimation of animal fats, at least where lard is concerned. It is no longer considered unhealthy to use lard. It is well known as making the flakiest pie crust - although a friend of mine insists that chicken fat was the best!

Great recipe. Thank you. I use leaf lard -- it's getting easier to find from quality butchers and stores. Leaf lard, from the fat around the pig's organs, is the highest grade lard there is, as far as I know, and has a good clean taste to it.

I plan on making this for a "from scratch" apple pie tomorrow. I KNOW it will be good, as my grandma made the best pies, and she lived into her 90's! (I am 71)

This is the recipe my mom and her mom used too. I love Lard crusts. So much easier to make flakey than butter or Crisco or oil! I've misplaced my cookbook in my move so I was happy to see this recipe here. Thanks!

I make this recipe and it is by far the best of many pie crust recipes tried. The trick is to find Leaf Lard. Leaf Lard has to be frozen or refrigerated. If the store has lard on the shelf in a green and white -- or any other color container -- it isn't leaf lard. I had to order it and have it shipped. I bought 10 pounds because the shipping cost for that amount was the same as for 1 pound. I keep it in the freezer and put it in the refrigerator overnight when I want to make a pie. (It came in 1 lb. containers). Leaf Lard is the kind that is comparatively healthy. The kind that doesn't have to be refrigerated has that porky taste and it is not healthy. No meaty taste with leaf lard. At all. Did an online search for a supplier.

I use this exact recipe from my grandmother. Has been gone for many years but would be in her 80's now. This crust is the best part of any pie. I add a tsp of vinegar though. Makes it flaky great recipe!

I'm sure this crust will be great because I've used home rendered lard before that came from the backfat off a bear. I'm having trouble finding "unadulturated" lard. If it's not in the dairy case, they've done some thing to it. Try brushing a bit of Half & Half or cream and sprinkling a bit of sugar on your top crust before baking it. Makes it look so professional !

Loved it! Best pie crust I've made - light, flaky, delicious. (And I've tried all kinds made with a variety of ingredients such as butter, walnut oil, vodka, or almond meal, etc.) This is a keeper!

I have used the exact recipe above (Out of a 1950s era Betty Crocker Cookbook) for years. It never fails to impress, but this year I cannot find my favorite Smithfield Brand Lard. I have tried 4 times to make crust using "Brand X" and it is always so gooey that it is impossible to work the dough. I know I must be doing something wrong!? I keep the lard cold/very cold until use, cut in the lard and add the water a bit at a time. No matter- it just isn't working. Any thoughts that may help would be greatly appreciated.

Some friends and family were just talking about the ole fashioned pie crust our mothers and grandmothers made. The dicussion came up because our children said the pies don't taste the way they use to. We told them they never will if you are afraid of lard. Thank you for authenticating that discussion.

I've noticed in my local stores the packaging of the lard has changed recently. Previously it was packed in cardboard blocks, like butter. Now they are using round plastic tubs, similar to margarine. Also the packaging is 50/50 English/Spanish, so that may also make it more difficult to spot. The colors are still green and white though.

Be careful with grocery store lard in tubs. It has a high water content. I get mine at our local growers market from a pig farmer. Best pie crust ever!

I agree that lard (especially organic lard) is a healthier choice than hydrogenated vegetable shortening. There is good evidence that our bodies need saturated fats to protect us against disease. I look forward to trying your recipe but I have been having a hard time finding lard in the stores. I am wondering if I will have to find out how to make the lard myself. Hopefully the food industry will catch up and start to supply organic lard soon, since they seem to be more aware of the public wanting to avoid trans fats/hydrogenated fats, and are marketing accordingly.

This is an excellent recipe and very fast and easy to make. Lard is actually healthy compared to Crisco or any vegetable shortening because, vegetable - even canola oil is hydrogenated (its true - Canola Oil is actually very bad for you - not healthy like we're lead to believe) whereas Lard if you buy the right kind has no hydrogenated oils or processes therefore no trans fat. And it's a lot cheaper than butter. Also, If you buy the right kind there will be no "pig" taste. You have to buy it from either a butcher or a whole food store or any "Farm" market, because grocery stores usually carry brands that have some hydrogenated vegetable oils therefore trans fat. You can even make your own by rendering it and that's even healthier. It's easy to do but a long process so it's time consuming.

Try this recipe it's great and makes a nice flaky - tasty crust!

It's not true that people shouldn't eat animal fat/lard. It turns out that the newly invented (1909) vegetable oils are heavily omega-6 and inflammatory. Imagine my surprise after a lifetime of eating vegetable oils and organic foods when I received a cancer diagnosis. I sought out a doctor famous for keeping cancer-diagnosed people alive, and he said that the invention of corn, soy, safflower, canola, sunflower, etc. oils were the beginning of the end for American health. All are so heavily omega-6 that you an't balance them. He gives out medical research to prove it, and we, his patients, use the Cornell University's Website on omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids to balance the omega-6 to omega-3, and believe me, you can't take enough fish oil to balance those vegetable oils. Use butter or lard. Your grandma lived to be 100 BECAUSE of the way she ate, not in spite of it.