What is Butter, Margarine and Shortening?
Butter, Margarine and Shortening are all forms of Fat used extensively while baking and making icings. Although they are used for similar purposes, they are infact quite different. Lets find out more…
Butter: Butter is a solid dairy product obtained by churning cream. It is a highly concentrated form of milk.
Margarine: Margarine is a non-dairy product made by hydrogenating vegetable oils. It is high in saturated fats but does not have cholesterol as in butter.
Shortening: Very similar to Margarine, Shortening is also made by hydrogenating vegetable oils. The main difference being it is 100% hydrogenated vegetable oil with no saturated fats and has a higher melting temperature.
Butter | Margarine | Shortening |
Dairy Product obtained from milk | Hydrogenated Vegetable oils | Hydrogenated Vegetable oils |
Contains Saturated Fats | Contains Saturated Fats | Very Less Saturated fats |
Around 15% water content present | Around 15% water content present | No Water Content. |
Lower melting point than shortening and Margarine. | Lower melting point than shortening, higher than butter. | Higher melting point than butter and margarine. |
Rich and creamy in Flavour | No flavour | No flavour |
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