Updated onMay 19, 2023
Yepbutter, margarine, shortening and lard should be your best friend while cooking.
Here’s how to use each fat the right way.
As a cook, you should know and love fat.
It shouldnt be a scary word, especially in the kitchen.
Learn which fat makes the flakiest, best pie crust.
What is butter?
Butter is a fat that is made from cream thats been churned into a solid state.
Its versatile, reliable and can pack a dish with flavor.
Typical butter is around 80 percent fatthe rest is water and milk solids.
Butter comes salted or unsalted.
Why do we love butter so much?
What is margarine?
Originallyinvented in the 1860s as an inexpensive butter substitute, margarine is a trickier beast to cook with.
Margarine is created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil.
Its often heavily dilutedespecially the kind found in tubs.
you could be working with something thats as low as 35 percent fat.
(Remember, fat = flavor.)
This means its not a very reliable option for baking but will still work fine in other cooking.
What is lard?
Julia Childonce said, If youre afraid of butter, use cream.
(Even if it has suffered from a not-so-favorable reputation.)
Though its made from raw or rendered pig fat, dont worry, it wont taste like pork.
For sweet treats, it will make for more shortbread-style cookies or tender, but less rich, cakes.
Extra tip:Lard will make for some of the bestMexican tamalesyouve ever had.
What is shortening?
We love what it adds to ourfavorite sugar cookies.
However, newer research has found it might be less healthy.
Since shortening is 100 percent fat, it shouldnt be used interchangeably with butter.
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