We wanted to find out whether it made a difference if you cooked with lard versus Crisco - it seems as if Crisco has become the "accepted" replacement for lard in the kitchen, so we wanted to test it out.

Well, we were surprised - it does make a difference. A big difference.

We made the biscuits pictured on page 4C at the same time, measuring out the ingredients in side-by-side bowls. We chilled the Crisco and lard for the same amount of time and used the same method of cutting the fat into the flour mixture.

The result? When the recipe told us to stop mixing the milk at the point where the batter is "just moistened," the lard mixture was much more forgiving. We were able to pull the dough together into a ball and dump it out onto our work surface without any trouble, then roll it out.

But our Crisco mixture was much more unwieldy. As soon as the milk started to moisten the batter, it got too wet - there was almost no time to pull the dough together before it become a wet mushy mess.

We had to scrape the dough out of the bowl and pat it into a ball with well-floured hands instead.

When it came time to bake the biscuits, they both rose about the same, but the lard-based ones turned out flaky, with almost a crusty outside and a soft inside that pulled apart in smaller sections.

Our Crisco-based biscuits, however, came out fluffy, almost like little pillows of dough, with a chewy outside and soft bread-like inside.

Both were good, although we have to admit, the lard-based biscuits had a more unique flavor and texture overall - and perhaps that's why grandma wouldn't make biscuits with anything else.