Crisco: An industry revolution

Crisco was first produced in 1911. A few months after the first package was marketed, practically every grocer of the better class in the United States was supplying women with the new product.

This was largely because four classes of people -- housewives, chefs, doctors and dietitians -- were glad to be shown a product that would make for more digestible foods, more economical foods and better tasting foods.

Cooking methods had undergone a marked change during the years. The nation's food was becoming more and more wholesome as a result of different discoveries, new sources of supply and the intelligent weighing of values. Domestic Science was being understood and appreciated more.

It seemed strange to many that there could be anything better than butter for cooking or of greater utility than lard, and the advent of Crisco has been a shock to the older generation, born in an age of being content that the old fashioned things were good enough.

But with this new creation, grandmothers were glad to stop cooking with expensive butter, animal lard and inadequate substitutes, just as they had been happy to leave the spinning wheel.

What a revolution this was! The cookbooks of the nation were being hauled out, and they were revised. Upon thousands of pages, the words "lard" and "butter" were crossed out and the word "Crisco" written in their place.

Great foresight was shown in the making of Crisco. The quality as well as the quantity of lard was diminishing steadily in the face of a growing population. "The high-cost-of-living" was an often repeated phrase, the country was outgrowing its supply of butter. What was needed was not a substitute but something better than these fats, some product that not only would accomplish as much in cookery but a great deal more.

Crisco has to be thought of as a primary cooking fat or shortening with even more individuality, because it does greater things than all others. No other food supplies the body with the drive and the vigor that fat gives.

Crisco steps up to the plate in its importance to the digestion process. Crisco melts at a lower degree of heat than body temperature, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it. And because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest of all cooking fats to digest.

Much study and research was done to develop Crisco. The good was weighed against the bad. The strength and weakness of every feature was determined. Thus was found what the ideal fat should possess and what it should not possess. After years of study, a process was discovered that made possible the ideal fat. The process involved the changing of compositions of vegetable food oils and the making of the richest fat or solid cream.

There is more to the story but at this point most cooks are ready to stop the reading, get the Crisco and let Crisco do what it does like no other -- make pie crusts and make a few pies.

CLASSIC CRISCO CRUST

8 or 9-inch Single Crust

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Crisco Shortening

3 tablespoons cold water

8 or 9-inch Double Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Crisco Shortening

5 tablespoons cold water

10-inch Double Crust

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup Crisco Shortening

7 to 8 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Cut in Crisco using pastry blender(or 2 knives) until all flour is blended in to form pea-size chunks. Sprinkle water, one tablespoon at a time. Toss lightly with fork until dough will form a ball.

PEACH PIE

1 pie shell, baked

1 quart fresh peaches

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cup up 1 cup peaches small. Add water; cook until soft. Add sugar, cornstarch and cook until thick and clear. Add lemon juice. Fill shell with remainer of peaches. Add cooked mixture on top of this and let set. Spread with Cool Whip for topping.

PECAN PIE

Crust

Unbaked 9-inch Classic single crust

Filling

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons Butter Flavor Crisco, melted

1 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup pecan halves

Heat oven to 325 degrees. For filling, beat eggs in large bowl. Add sugara and flour. Stir well. Add corn syrup, vanilla, melted Butter Flavor Crisco and chopped pecans. Spoon into unbaked pie shell. Top with pecan halves, rounded side up.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and center is set. Cool to room temperature before serving.