Difference Between Margarine and Shortening

Margarine vs Shortening

Margarine and shortening are both ingredients used for baking. In the world of cakes and other pastries, they are very much needed in order to make the perfect baking creation. They seem interchangeable but in reality, they are not.

Margarine

Margarine is hydrogenated oil and saturated fat which is known to be the approximation of butter. It is comprised of flavoring, water, oil and milk ingredients. The creation of margarine is basically inspired by butter, sans the cholesterol that is usually present in real butter. So yes, we can call margarine as a butter substitute based on health reasons alone.

Shortening

Shortening is basically 100% hydrogenated oil to make it solid instead of being liquid especially in room temperature. Hence, it is non saturated fat. For the ones in the know, shortening is like lard and fat but is vegetable-based in nature. In addition to that, shortening can be a great replacement to lard. When defined in the simplest way, it is any fat or oil utilized to make crust or dough.

Difference between Margarine and Shortening

Margarine is apparently a kind of hydrogenated oil; Shortening is hydrogenated to make it solid (in room temperature) in lieu of having a liquid consistency. While margarine is saturated fat, shortening is non-saturated in nature. Flavoring, oil, whey and water comprised the very composition of margarine; shortening is the kind of fat or oil that is used to make crust or dough. While Margarine is meant as a replacement for real butter, shortening is known to be basically vegetable based that is meant to replace hard animal fat or lard.

While these two ingredients might seem confusing to separate from each other but if you do have discerning eyes, you will easily know that they are very distinctive. If you are fond of baking, the information that is presented will definitely be of great help to you.