1.6 Fats
Description
This article is from the Cooking and Conversions FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Victor Sack cooking.faq@mac.com others.
1.6 Fats
Shortening is solid, white fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil. (A
popular brand name is Crisco, and many people call all shortening
Crisco.) It is common in the US, tougher to find in some other parts of
the globe. In my experience, you can usually but not always substitute
butter or margarine for shortening. The result will have a slightly
different texture and a more buttery taste (which in the case of, say,
chocolate chip cookies seems to be an advantage!). Sometimes this
doesn't work too well. Not to sound like a broken record but - try it
out before an important occasion.
Copha is a solid fat derived from coconuts, it is fairly saturated and
used in recipes where it is melted, combined with other ingredients and
left to set.
Lard can be successfully substituted in some recipes, for example it
makes very flaky pastry.
Deep frying requires fats/oils with heat-tolerant properties. Butter
and margarine, for example, are right out, as are lard and olive oil.
Corn and peanut oils are both good.
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