When Recipe Calls For Shortening What Does That Mean

The different kinds of solid shortening work differently because of the sizes of their fat globules how they melt and when they release water.

When recipe calls for shortening what does that mean. It is asking for regular solid crisco shortening in the can. Baked goods made with shortening are typically softer and more tender than those made with butter. How does it impact taste. Shortening is a fat that s solid at room temperature like crisco or other hydrogenated vegetable oils.

It seems that today s recipes use mostly butter or margarine. If the recipe needed butter flavor shortening it would specify butter flavored shortening. Can these be substituted for shortening. Making this substitution may slightly alter the texture of your baked goods.

Why recipes call for shortening over oils or fats shortening is used in baking for short doughs ones where a stretchy dough that forms gluten is not desired. Many of my older recipes for cakes and cookies call for shortening. This actually includes a few things that you may have thought were definitely not shortening before like lard and margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils for instance. If you want a flaky pie crust you don t want the gluten forming in the dough or the crust won t have the right texture.

They also tend to be taller as it has a higher melting point and doesn t spread as much. Shortening can sometimes also mean butter or lard since both of these ingredients serve the same purpose in a baking recipe. How does it impact texture. Shortening by definition is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used in baking.

There is no magic shortening to butter conversion generally you can use butter or margarine in place of shortening as a one to one swap. Experienced mother login to. Shortening seems to get its name from the fact that it shortens gluten strands in wheat by adding fat. There s no water in shortening so there s no gluten producing steam.

R m wyoming michigan yes butter or stick margarine can be substituted for shortening in equal proportions in cake and. Shortening is a type of solid fat that is made from vegetable oils such as soybean and cottonseed oil. If the recipe says shortening it means solid shortening as linda enumerated. Since it is 100 as opposed to the 80 fat content of butter or lard it results in a very tender baked good.

There are conversions for using liquid oil in cakes and quick breads but it won t work for anything that will spread. What changes will i notice in taste and texture.