Butter generally refers to various fats added in baked pasta to make the product taste crisp. For the convenience of operation, the ideal shortening should be semi-solid at room temperature. Before the development of modern industrial technology, shortening is generally animal fat, which often contains hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is trans fat and is very harmful to the body. You'd better not eat it! Its principle is to hinder the formation of long-chain gluten in dough and directly lubricate the dough interface. Shortening oil is transformed from the English word "short", which means that biscuits and so on can be processed with this oil, which can make the products very crisp.

Common shortening in life:

1. Butter (such as croissants) and lard are traditionally used in the West.

2. China Han people traditionally use lard, and occasionally use liquid vegetable oil (for example, in scallion cakes) when the amount is not large.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil has been used since the 20th century. However, trans fats caused by partial hydrogenation (complete hydrogenation makes the product too hard) are currently considered to cause cardiovascular diseases. So the scope of use is decreasing.

4. Use natural vegetable oil with high saturation, such as shortening mixed with palm oil and coconut oil, without trans fat.