Skip to page navigation Skip to site menu

Major Fats and Oils Used in the Bakeshop

  

  • Lard
  • Butter
  • Margarine
  • Shortening
  • Hydrogenated vegetable shortening
  • Emulsified vegetable shortening
  • Roll-in pastry Shortening
  • Deep-frying fats

Lards

Lard is obtained from the fatty tissues of pigs, with a water content of 12% to 18%. Due to dietary concerns, lard has gradually lost much of its former popularity. It is used in the following applications:

  • Yeast dough additions
  • Pie pastry
  • Pan greasing

Lard has a good plastic range, which enables it to be worked in a pie dough at low temperatures. It has a fibrous texture and does not cream well. It is therefore not suitable for cake making. Some grades of lard also have a distinctive flavor, which is another reason why careful consideration should be used when deciding whether to use it.

US Butter Regulations

U.S. Grade AA.
Possesses a fine and highly pleasing butter flavor. May possess a slight feed and a definite cooked flavor. Made from sweet cream of low natural acid. A culture (starter) may or may not added.

U.S. Grade A.
Possesses a pleasing and desirable butter flavor. May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Acid, aged, bitter, coarse, flat, smothered, and storage. May possess feed flavor to a definite degree.

U.S. Grade B.
Possesses a pleasing butter flavor. May possess any of the following flavors to a slight degree: Malty, musty, neutralizer, scorched, utensil, weed, and whey. May possess any of the following flavors to a definite degree: Acid, aged, bitter, smothered storage, and old cream; feed flavor to a pronounced degree.

General.
Butter of all U.S. grades shall be free of foreign materials and visible mold. Butter is the most desirable fat used in baking. Its main drawback are relatively high cost, satisfactory shortening and creaming qualities and poor plastic range of 64°F to 68°F (18°C to 20°C ).

Margarine

Margarines are made primarily from vegetable oils (to some extent hydrogenated) with a small fraction of milk powder and bacterial culture to give a butter-like flavor. Margarine has a fat content ranging from 80% to 85%, with the balance approximately the same as butter.

Margarines are very versatile and include:

  • General purpose margarine with a low melting point, suitable for blending in dough and general baking
  • Cake margarine with excellent creaming qualities
  • Roll-in margarine, which is plastic and suitable for Danish pastries
  • Puff pastry roll-in, which is the most waxy and has the highest melting point

Shortening

Shortening has come almost exclusively to mean hydrogenated vegetable oil. Vegetable shortening shares many properties with lard: both are semi-solid fats with a higher smoke point than butter and margarine. They contain less water and are thus less prone to splattering, making them safer for frying. Lard and shortening have a higher fat content (close to 100%), compared to about 80% for butter and margarine. Cake margarines and shortenings tend to contain a bit higher percentage of mono-glycerides than margarines. Such “high-ratio shortenings” blend better with hydrophilic (attracts water) ingredients such as starches and sugar.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortenings

Hydrogenated shortenings are the biggest group of fats used in the commercial baking industry. They feature the following characteristics:

  • Made from much the same oils as margarine
  • Versatile fats with good creaming ability
  • Hydrogenation differs according to the specific use for which the fat is designed
  • 100% fat – no water
  • Keep well for six to nine months

Variations on these shortenings: emulsified vegetable shortenings roll-in pastry shortenings, and deep- frying fats.

Emulsified Vegetable Shortenings

Emulsified vegetable shortenings are also termed high-ratio fats. The added emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides) increase fat dispersion and give added fineness to the baked product. They are ideal for high- ratio cakes, where relatively large amounts of sugar and liquid are incorporated. The result is a cake resulting with the following characteristics:

  • Fine in texture
  • Light in weight and of excellent volume Superior in moisture retention (good shelf life)
  • Tender to eat

This is also the fat of choice for many white cake icings.

Roll-In Pastry Shortenings

Also called special pastry shortening (SPS). These fats have a semi-waxy consistency and offer large plastic range and excellent extensibility with excellent lifting ability. They are primarily used in puff pastry and Danish pastry products where lamination is required. They come in various specialized forms, with varying qualities and melting points. It is all a matter of compromise between cost, palatability, and leavening power.

Deep-Frying Fats

Deep-frying fats are special hydrogenated fats that have the following features, and contain anti-foaming agents.

  • High smoke point of up to 480°F (250°C )
  • High heat stability and resistance to fat breakdown
  • No undesirable flavor on finished products
  • No greasiness when cold