Way back in old-timey times, there was a song sung by the ancients. And it went a little something like this: “Mama’s little baby loves short’nin’, short’nin’,
Mama’s little baby loves short’nin’ bread.” No one knows where it comes from. Probably. I didn’t look it up. But one thing is for sure, the song refers to shortening. What is shortening? What is vegetable shortening? Is lard the same as shortening? What is shortening made of? Let’s sing that song a few more times then find out the facts about shortening!
What is shortening?
This should be a relatively simple explanation, but there is a little twist. Technically, shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and is used to make delicious crumbly pastries. Chewy baked goods like bread have long strands of gluten in their makeup. When a fat is introduced to the flour, it breaks up the gluten strands and makes them short, and you end up with a flaky or crumbly texture like pie crust or shortbread cookies. So, shortening “shortens” those gluten strands.
Technically butter, lard, and margarine can be shortenings. But these days, when someone refers to shortening, they are probably referring to vegetable shortening. The most popular vegetable shortening that’s been used by home bakers for decades is Crisco—you may even hear people refer to all vegetable shortening as Crisco. Crisco fell out of popularity due to issues with trans fats. But back when nobody was worried about trans fats, I would buy Crisco by the boatload. There is no better way to grease yourself up to slide through a building’s air conditioning vents than with Crisco.
What is vegetable shortening?
Vegetable shortening is made from a vegetable oil, like soybean, cottonseed, or palm oil. That oil starts off as a liquid but then goes through a process called hydrogenation that allows it to be solid at room temperature.
Is lard the same as shortening?
Lard used to be super prevalent in pastry recipes, but as people move away from animal products and heavy fats, vegetable shortening has become the go-to. So, while lard is technically a shortening, it is not the same as vegetable shortening.
What is shortening made of?
Shortening is made of fat. It can be made of animal fat or vegetable fat. Butter and margarine contain about 20 percent water, but lard and vegetable shortening are 100 percent fat. In a shocking turn of events, vegetable shortening is made from vegetable fat! Liquid vegetable oil is hydrogenated so that it is a solid at room temperature.
These days, the oil is fully hydrogenated. In the past, the oil could be partially hydrogenated which is a type of trans fat. The USDA banned trans fat usage in the US back in January of 2020. When those oils go through the hydrogenation process, they change from unsaturated fats to saturated fats. So you can take that information and decide for yourself whether or not vegetable shortening is healthy. Personally, I’m not really thinking about my health when I’m eating pie crust.
