Savor Vegetable Shortening: Long Story Short
Jan 7, 2026
A lively dive into what vegetable shortening is and how it changes baking texture. They explore how manufacturers turn liquid oils solid and the chemistry behind crystallization. The conversation tracks the product’s rise through marketing, wartime shifts in oil sources, and how reformulations and health rules reshaped the industry. Sustainability and market trends also come into play.
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Hosts Share Childhood Crisco Stories
- Anney recalls eating a fingerful of Crisco as a child and finding it disgusting, illustrating how shortening's texture invites curiosity but not pleasure.
- Lauren notes her family kept tubs of Crisco; the product evokes strong personal memories tied to home baking.
What Vegetable Shortening Actually Is
- Vegetable shortening is an industrial, shelf-stable, neutral-flavored fat made from plant oils and designed to be solid at room temperature for baking and frying.
- It’s formulated to be ~100% fat (no water/protein), often white and plastic-textured, and keeps baked goods tender by preventing gluten formation.
How Liquid Oils Become Solid Shortening
- Shortenings start from liquid seed oils that must be made solid by changing their molecular structure via hydrogenation or interesterification.
- Hydrogenation adds hydrogen to raise melting point; interesterification rearranges fatty acids to achieve similar firmness without creating trans fats.