Shortening

Shortening is a hard fat, and is so called because it prevents the formation of long gluten strands in wheat-based doughs, giving them a 'short' texture. This means that they produce a crumbly short crust and light, flaky pastry. The greater the proportion of fat to flour in the mixture, the greater the shortening effect.

Although all hard fats are shortenings, it is the white cooking fats that are neither pure lard nor dripping that have claimed the name. These white fats may be made of blended vegetable oils or a mixture of vegetable and animal fats or fish oils, which are hydrogenated to make them solid at room temperature. (For more information on hydrogenation, see Margarine). This process changes the chemical characteristics of the oils, transforming the relatively healthy unsaturated oils into less healthy fats containing trans-fatty acids and saturated fat.

White fat has a bland, virtually flavourless taste, although some varieties may have butter flavouring added to improve the taste and give the shortening a light golden colour. Shortening has a light and fluffy texture that makes creaming and rubbing in easy when making cakes and pastries. It also has a higher smoke point than butter and margarine, making it more suitable for high temperature cooking such as shallow-frying and sautéing.