How do you choose butter or lard for cooking?!
How do you choose butter or lard for cooking?
what differences would you consider
Answers:
Which fat you choose to use in a particular recipe will determine how your finished product comes out, both flavor and texture.
Most cake recipes call for butter, though there are a couple of very old recipes that specify lard. Lots of cakes, though, contain no fat at all.
Biscuits usually contain either lard or a solid shortening. If the recipe uses butter instead, then they are scones - more luxurious and nowhere near as sturdy. But then biscuits are supposed to be quick, easy, cheap to make and filling.
Pie crust is usually made with either all lard (or solid shortening) or half lard/half butter. Making pie pastry with all butter results in a product that isn't quite as flaky and is a little too tender.
Tortillas are made with lard. Even solid shortening is not a particularly good substitute and butter will not do at all.
Many cookies use butter, but there are some where only lard will do. If you like that sandy texture that is a part of really good Chinese Almond Cookies or Pecan Sandies, you can only get that with lard or baker's ammonia.
One thing that I take into consideration when choosing a fat to use is whether or not it has been "hydrogenated." This is a chemical process that adds extra hydrogen atoms to fat molecules to produce a solid "shortening" from a fat that is by nature liquid. This has been proven over many years to release "free radicals" when it is digested, which can lead to heart & artery disease. I try very hard to avoid any product that has been hydrogenated, which means no margarine (even the "heart smart" kind), no solid shortening like Crisco and very few commercial baked goods.
Sometimes what I choose to use depends on what I happen to have on hand. Sometimes my choice is determined by whether I want a particular traditional flavor. And sometimes it depends on what my favorite recipe calls for. Most of the quick bread recipes that I really like call for oil rather than a solid fat.