Animal Lard vs. Vegetable Shortening
What is Difference between Animal Lard and Vegetable Shortening? When you review different cookbooks, surely the terms “shortening” and “animal butter” appear in those books. Due to the fact that vegetable shortening and animal lard seem almost the same in terms of consistency, many people consider them to be the same. After all, both shortenings are known for their extreme fat content. But in reality, there are many differences between the two apart from just the name.
Difference between Animal Lard and Vegetable Shortening
For starters, animal lard is made from the fat of some animal, commonly pork fat. There are also a number of different animal butters made from the fat of other animals such as duck or goose. On the other hand, shortening is made from a variety of different oils. Most of these oils are extracted from the plants and vegetables from which the cooking oil is extracted.
Vegetable shortening is often used for baking. The high fat content allows baking to create a crispy crust for pie and bread that cannot be reached with the use of butter or margarine. While animal lard is used for baking, it is also used in a variety of different ways. Animal lard is used in many kitchens for its ability to provide a distinctive flavor.
In some cases, animal butter is used as a replacement for butter in bread. The animal fat contained in animal lard makes it a vital component in the manufacture of different beauty products such as soaps and other cosmetics. It is also known that it is used to create biofuels that serves as an alternative to petroleum products to help save the environment.
In Summary
- Animal lard is made from animal fat. Vegetable shortening is made from a variety of different oils that are derived from plants and vegetables in the same way as oil is made.
- Vegetable shortening is commonly used for cooking and baking. On the other hand, butter of animal origin is used for different things such as the manufacture of soap, cosmetics and even biofuels for motor vehicles.
- Between the two, vegetable shortening is used to bake gluten-free products instead of lard of animal origin. This is because, compared to lard of animal origin, it has the ability to inhibit the development of gluten in wheat products, which develops long proteins that are considered to be allergic to many men and women.
