Shortening is a solid oil or fat product made of refined animal and vegetable fats and oils, hydrogenated oils, or mixtures of the above oils and fats, sharply chilled and kneaded, or solid or fluidized without sharply chilling and kneading.

I. According to the source of oil can be divided into:

1, vegetable type shortening: composed of different degrees of hydrogenated vegetable oil.

2. Animal-type shortening: for example, pork fat.

3, mixed animal and vegetable shortening: composed of animal fat plus vegetable oil or lightly hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Second, according to the physical form can be divided into:

1, plastic shortening

2, fluid shortening

3, powdered shortening (the so-called "powdered grease")

In the beginning, shortening refers to good lard. Later, the consumption of shortening made from hydrogenated vegetable oils or a few other animal and vegetable fats greatly exceeded that of lard. There are many varieties of shortening on the foreign market, which can be further serialized according to the above classification. For example, the degree of hydrogenation of fats and oils, the size of plasticity, the rate of inflation, consistency or viscosity, the oil content of the powder, and so on.

Shortening usually contains hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are trans fats that are extremely harmful to the body. Shortening from the English "short (shorten)" word converted from the meaning of this kind of fat processing cookies, etc., can make the products very crispy, so the fat with this property is called "shortening".

Shortening and margarine are somewhat similar in appearance, but not as a class. Margarine generally contains about 20% water, it is table oil, that is, directly eaten, contains more additives (color, flavor, etc.).

Shortening has plasticity and emulsification and other processing properties, generally should not be directly consumed, but for the processing of pastries, bread or fried foods, so it must have good processing properties. The properties of shortening are different, and the production process is also different.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Shortening

Baidu Encyclopedia - Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil

Baidu Encyclopedia - Trans Fatty Acids (Unsaturated Fatty Acids that are not good for health)