Shortening Substitute?
I was never much of a baker but I love it and have recently started collecting and trying out recipes. My question is: Can you substitute butter for shortening or vice versa, what exactly is shortening, or can you substitute anything else (like oil)?
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8 Comments:
Depends on the recipe. Shortening is the vegetable version of lard, so in some recipes you could use that.
Butter...maybe, maybe not. In baking, you're dealing with textures and melting points. In some cases it will work but be different (softer, harder, chewier, fluffier, flatter...etc) and in some cases it may not work at all. And sometimes it might work.
I think that if I wasn't going to use shortening, I might opt for margarine, if I had do, since margarine is the vegetable substitution for butter. But I'm not a fan of margarine. I'd just use the shortening.
A liquid oil probably wouldn't work, most of the time.
Baking is a bit of a science, and some substitutions don't work well. If you're trying to avoid shortening, you might want to find similar recipes that use whatever ingredient you want to use, so someone else has already done the experimenting for you.
dbcurrie at 8:32PM on 01/17/09
You can substitute butter if you adjust the proportions. Butter is not 100% fat, as shortening is, so you may find you need to adjust the liquids in your recipe too. And shortening has a different melting point than butter so your baked goods will behave differently in the oven. And of course, there is the flavor difference.
If your objection to shortening is transfat, Crisco now makes a version of its shortening which it claims is transfat free.
Since it behaves differently, I wouldn't make the substitution unless you had to.
See the Cook's Thesarus entry for shortening
kjgibson at 11:44PM on 01/17/09
Any sort of solid fat will due. Butter is my first choice, especially if you have a soy allergy - shortening is out of the question. Lard is the next go-to, but I don't recommend the stuff at the grocery store next to the Crisco. Buy what is called "leaf lard." It can be purchased online, or stores such as Fresh Market or Whole Foods may have it.
WickedGoodDinner at 11:49PM on 01/17/09
Dbcurrie was right on that it depends. If I'm making older/family recipes I'll sub pretty freely, but a lot of modern recipes are designed more like chemistry equations where you have to use specific input to get desired result.
As far as "what is shortening?" the quick answer is solid vegetable oil. There's the whole chemical answer about how the oil all gets whipped around to break up carbon bonds while hydrogen is pumped in to saturate or fill up any spaces. That's where hydrogen-ation and saturated fat come in. They do this because it "acts" differently and has properties like extended shelf life (due to other stuff not being able to get in a/all the hydrogen there).
BTW margarine usually DOES still contain some dairy, and acts more like butter than shortening. Butter and margarine both are usually 80% fat & 20% water, while shortening/lard are 100% fat.
Smart balance also makes a trans-fat free shortening. Any hydrogenating is not good, but fully hydrogenated usually lacks the trans-fat (anyone chemically inclined know if that means that what's trans in the middle converts back to cis at the end?)
MaresyDotes at 1:08AM on 01/18/09
For flavor, butter is my pick. Here's the thing - shortening has a different affect on baking recipes than butter. For example: If you want a crisp chocolate chip cooky, use shortening. If you want a chewy cooky, use butter.
I'd sample the Smart Balance trans-fat free shortening because I've had good results with other products by the brand. It might be the lesser of two evils - the other being to keep some part of the original shortening requirement of the recipe and subbing butter for the remainder. SB TFF shortening might afford you flavor and texturally produce the desired end result in your recipe.
therealchiffonade at 8:51AM on 01/18/09
A word of caution - in some applications, the transfat free Crisco does NOT work as well as the "regular" Crisco. I find biscuits are not near as light and fluffy with the transfat free stuff.
Maureen at 9:05AM on 01/18/09
The short answer = yes. But it depends on the recipe, and if you use oil instead of butter/shortening, you will have to adjust the liquid.
I like to use Earth Balance margarine (tastes like butter, there's no trans fats) and trans fat-free shortening. But mostly I use oil, because hey, it's cheaper. But that's for things like cookies and blondies - you need shortening or margarine in pie crusts, for example.
KarynMC at 9:16AM on 01/18/09
Thanks so much for the information! I think I'll give each recommendation a try!
Rhiannon at 11:39AM on 01/18/09