Vegetable Shortening?!
Vegetable Shortening?
Can anyone tell me what this is and how I can get it in England please? there are a lot of US recipes that say vegetable shortening that I would like to try out, but I have to find out what this stuff is first! :)
Answers:
vegetable shortening is a solid fat made from vegetable oil; used as a vegetarian alternative to lard.
Try Suet...can be found in every supermarket
It's another way of saying margarine. Beware - often this chemical mishmash is stuffed full of hydrogenated fat which can make you ill.
Much better to use butter.
Vegetable shortening, as I have ever known it, is hydrogenated vegetable oil commonly called Margarine in the U.S. In decades past it has been referred to as 'Oleo', also. The stuff is semi solid until melted whereupon it returns to its oil state.. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is a source of " trans fats " which have recently been revealed to contribute significantly to quite a few major health concerns including heart ailments and obesity.
Some states, restaurants and schools in the US are eliminating the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil completely in their dishes, and this is a broadening concern. The current trend in the US is NOT to use the stuff.
If this is indeed the product you are referring to you would do well just to steer clear of it. I once heard that even flies wont eat the stuff..it is so far removed from actual food. I tried that as an experiment and it was true.
In a recipe, usually real butter will suffice as a substitiute, although butter will burn more quickly in the pan. Also, butter re-solidifies when cool, vegetable shortening does not.
Any mention of margarine, or vegetable shortening in recipes is bound to be a marketing ploy. Sometimes it will be called by an actual name brand. Perhaps find a good cooking/recipe website and ask around about substituting butter or more healthful oils for this dubious product. All the best..
you can get it at Tesco. also, try vegetarian suet which i believe is available at the same place, or used to be, by Atora. it works just as well as the meat version..
I found this hard to answer when I moved from Canada to Australia and now that I have been here awhile I know that quite a few British items are like Australian. If you have Copha over there, that's what it is. You can usually find it in the refrigerator section near the butter and stuff. It's really just solidified oil.
Margarine and Vegetable shortening are two completely different things here in the US- don't substitute!
margarine is a butter substitue, comes in sticks or in tubs to spread on toast, cook in a pan, pat on veggies etc. It is a similar substance as shortening, but different.
Suet is not shortening either- suet in the US is raw beef fat, similar to lard. Vegetarian Suet may be the same.
Vegetable shortning is white and comes in large tubs, youuse it typically for baking, but you can also heat it, it melts, and fry foods in it. Crisco is the major US brand. So substitution would depend on the recipe- baked goods, cookies, cakes, etc- you can substitute margarine, but add a tablespoon of flour for each stick of margarine ( shortening is less moist than margarine) If you are frying, use corn or vegetable oil for the same results. Good luck!
I have a few American recipe books that say the same thing i use vegetable oil instead, and the recipes work out just fine