SC - OT-OOP Trex

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Christina Nevin wrote:
> 
> Having said that, I am quite happy to change my mind if given enough
> incentive - what are the pluses for this vegetable shortening stuff (apart
> from the obvious anti-cholesterol benefits)?

I think Crisco is designed as an all-purpose cooking fat for baking and
frying, probably more or less as an artificial lard. Whether it was
viewed as cheaper than lard I don't know; I doubt religious views enter
into it. In any case, it has a high burning point, which makes it ideal
for frying, so I guess if what you do with fats in cooking is either fry
or use it for shortening, you're all set. It also has a longer
shelf-life than lard, and becomes rancid less easily.

Now, as for the health benefits, while it contains no cholesterol, I
should point out that Crisco (Trex, FryMax, etc.) and most margarine
products as well are made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil,
enabling them to be semi-or-completely solid at room temperature. As I
understand it, not being a chemist myself, this means that either
hydrogen ions are added or some of the hydrogen in the fats are ionized
in some way. How this is done I have no idea, but the upshot of it is
that all this wonderfully healthful polyunsaturated fat is now
less-than-polyunsaturated. It wouldn't really be too far off to say
that, in the act of turning vegetable oil into a lard substitute, the
manufacturers of the product turn the vegetable oil into lard, from a
chemist's perspective, with all the inherent health risks. Well, some of
them, perhaps; the stuff is _partially_ hydrogenated. I guess it's still
better for you than lard or butterfat, but not something that can be
eaten in quantity with impunity. 
 
> And when you say 'canned' are we talking tin-can or squish-can?

Um, if I understand what a squish-can is, I think the latter. Normally
it used to come in a cardboard tube with metal ends, and the cardboard
is lined with a layer of silvery-looking paper. In size and shape it
looked more or less like a coffee can. Like a coffee can, you would
remove one end with a can-opener, or possibly pull it off via the
finger-ring-tab attached to it, and reseal it with the handy plastic lid
that snaps over the opening...it's amazing how describing this in simple
detail makes it sound so bizarre!

Recently, however, some Crisco has come to be packed in an all-plastic
container, I believe, still with the pull-off ring-tab thingy and the
snap-on plastic lid. But the container itself is now plastic too, in
some cases.

> PS Margarine gives you premature wrinkles. (OK, maybe that's an urban
> myth...)

Um, how about, since it doesn't taste as good as butter (a matter of
opinion, I guess), generally isn't as healthy a food as most people
think, burns at a really low temperature, and really only has price
going for it, you're probably better off buying butter and eating it in
reasonable quantities, which also helps balance the price aspect? Now
eggplant, on the other hand, spreads herpes, and frozen lima beans cause
demonic possession in lab animals. Yeah, dat's it! Dat's da ticket!

Adamantius
Østgardr, East
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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