[Terri]

I use canola oil for all my baking and olive oil for cooking. Lard, butter crisco are all either saturated fats of hydrogenated fats. I have very good results with pie crusts with canola.

Foxpaw, when I tried an oil pie crust, the crust was so tough the family just ate the filling. Does it need to be handles differently than a more solid fat?

I HAVE had good luck making tortillas with oil. I don't know if this makes a difference, but I wrap them or put the, in a sealed container and let them soften for 10 minutes before I serve them. At that point the flavor and texture is good.

 

[Ravenlost]

Why use any of it when you can substitute applesauce for oil in your baking???

 

[bethlaf]

I thought I read somewhere that crisco isn't great for you but to use butter for baking can get VERY expensive fast. So, I was looking at lard at the store. It said it was made from lard and had preservatives, of course. Is lard "safe" to use in baking? Or am I better off sticking with butter? We do not eat margirine or any soy things.

Thanks!

make sure its really lard, and dont use it often , i find that the best cakes made from scratch use only oil, canola or soybean is what i use, need those omega 3's and dont want the hydrogenated,
margarine, well.... thats nothing good for you, same with crisco
what i have been using for cookies and the like is a blended crisco type shortening, its a mix of"animal and vegetable fats" it smells kind of like lard, its cheap( actually cheaper than plain vegetable oil shortening) , and since i dont use it often , its not a problem
BTW , it works GREAT for seasoning new cast iron!
butter is nice, but expensive

 

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you everyone for your responses. We will continue with the butter. We do use oil in breads and muffins etc but cookies is where I use the most butter. I made a triple batch sunday and it took a pound of butter and at $2.60 a pound.... :waa:

Anyhow, I appreciate the responses.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

You can always get a cow and make your own butter

(I know, I know - not all folks have the land to keep a milk cow.) You might be able to find a local dairy that will sell you a couple gallons of raw milk that you can get the cream off and make your own.

 

[whodunit]

We buy our butter from Costco cause its cheeper and very yuuumy. I use butter for baking havent had good success with oils.

Next spring our cow should freshen and I will be making our butter


Mrs Whodunit

 

[Quiver0f10]

We are thinking of getting a cow, with 12 of us , it sure wont hurt. We just are trying to get used to the idea of 2X a day 365 days a year of milking.

 

[Quiver0f10]

We are thinking of getting a cow, with 12 of us , it sure wont hurt. We just are trying to get used to the idea of 2X a day 365 days a year of milking.

I live 3 hours away from the nearest SAMS club. The last time I checked there, butter was MORE than my local wal-mart.

 

[seraphima]

Why don't people use corn oil? Canola oil is a registered insecticide!

 

[Cyngbaeld]

I won't use canola because it is what I had started using and then my cholesterol went up. It had always been low. Corn oil is great if you want to gain weight. It will really pack the fat on you. Soy oil is toxic to the thyroid. Olive oil is proven to reduce cholesterol as is coconut oil. Coconut oil will also stimulate the thyroid and help with wt loss. Coconut also will not go rancid like most other oils will.

 

[Ravenlost]

You can substitute APPLESAUCE for oil in baking muffins, cakes, etc. and it TASTES BETTER!

 

[marytx]

I just learned the applesauce trick. I tried it for the first time as a butter substitute in brownies, and they were just as good if not better.
Today I tried making zuccini cake just leaving out the oil, since it is already so moist, and didn't miss the oil at all.

 

[cloverfarm]

We are thinking of getting a cow, with 12 of us , it sure wont hurt. We just are trying to get used to the idea of 2X a day 365 days a year of milking.

Been there, done that! : The cow will only give milk for 10 months. you will have to dry her off for a couple of months before calving ("freshening") again. If there are 12 of you, you could probably divide up the milkings pretty well. We were able to before DH's folks retired and arthritis caught up with them. When it was just the two of us, it was definitely a drag.

Good luck in the butter search1

Ann

 

[Mommalee]

I used to use olive oil in almost all my baking, but less than the recipe called for - about 2/3 c per cup of butter or shortening. I never really noticed a different, even with cookies. We eat kosher so wouldn't think of using lard, but have tried various oils. I don't understand why canola oil is always used in "health" foods - there's no such thing as a canola plant! Coconut oil is great but expensive. We try to splurge and keep olive oil on hand but fall back to corn much of the time. Any of it's better than margarine/crisco!

 

[cloverfarm]

Canola oil comes from "rape" seed which presents a marketing problem. It's raised in Canada a lot ... so ... it's canola oil. A few people tried raising it around here but it seemed to fizzle. The seed was so small you had to plug up every possible hole in your machinery and the marketing infrastructure just didn't seem to gel some how. But that's where it comes from and why there is no "canola" plant.

Ann

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

We are thinking of getting a cow, with 12 of us , it sure wont hurt. We just are trying to get used to the idea of 2X a day 365 days a year of milking.

If you get her bred every year, it will only be about 300 days of milking 2X a day(you need to have her dry about 2 months prior to calving). If you leave the calf on her for 3 months, it will be only 209 days of milking 2X a day and 91 days of milking 1X a day. I've heard of some cow owners that only milk once a day (but you won't get the volume you might need).

Plus there is the bonus of having a yearly calf that can be sold or kept for the freezer.

 

[Quiver0f10]

If you get her bred every year, it will only be about 300 days of milking 2X a day(you need to have her dry about 2 months prior to calving). If you leave the calf on her for 3 months, it will be only 209 days of milking 2X a day and 91 days of milking 1X a day. I've heard of some cow owners that only milk once a day (but you won't get the volume you might need).

Plus there is the bonus of having a yearly calf that can be sold or kept for the freezer.

Thank you! I didn't know this about cows. We did hope to atleast raise a calve for beef so this would be a good solution for both milk and beef. We haven't researched it yet, obviously, but the above info does help towards our descision.

 

[foxpawz]

Terri: I replace 2/3 cups of solid shortening with 1/2 cups of canola oil and handle the crust the same way. My pie crust is very good. As a matter of fact, I think it is superior to solid shortening. It doesn't feel the same while making it but bakes up nice and flaky.