Know How To Use A Palm Shortening Substitute

I am on a Paleo diet and every now and then, my friends are often somewhat surprised when I recommend using palm shortening substitute to their usual shortening. Just to give you a brief background, harvesting palm tree products are frowned upon by paleo dieters like myself.

However, living on a paleo diet is a lot trickier than most. Avoiding palm tree products altogether is very difficult, not to mention, bordering insanity since there are so many nutritious benefits that one can get from these products. The trick here is finding the right products that abide by the paleo way of life.

Before we can go into in-depth analysis of palm shortening substitutes for your baking, it is important to understand to what shortening actually is. Shortening is a solid fat made of vegetable oils, like soybean and vegetable oil that are modified to form a solid.

This method creates Trans fatty acids that turns multiple unsaturated fats into saturated fats. Vegetable shortening is nearly tasteless, and is employed to create breads, pastries and cakes lightweight and flaky.

Crisco is one of the preferred go to brands of vegetable shortening. Without a shortening is your baking recipe, you will not be able to achieve the right texture you want for any of your baking needs.

Why Palm Shortening Was Originally Believed To Be Non-Paleo

The standard practice observed by most traditional farmers for gathering palm trees for oil and other products destroys tropical forests and habitats of animals, as well as other plants, therefore it’s undoubtedly a crucial concern! I purchase Tropical Traditions palm shortening that comes from “small scale family farms in South America.

These farmers are certified by ProForest that ensures that they meet strict social, environmental and technical criteria. With reference to environmental criteria, the assessments are meted out at the landscape and operational level at both the farms and process facilities. These assessments cover all impacts to the environment including impacts to the soil, water, air, as well as the biodiversity and the local communities in the area.

Why Palm Shortening Can Now Be Considered Paleo

Of course, once you have decided to follow a paleo diet, you would to follow it religiously. In order to justify adding palm shortening to your own pale diet, you need to know that the lands being used by the farmers for these products were not deforested lands, unlike the traditionally farmed palm trees.

The lands used to grow the palm fruits by these manufacturers are lands previously used for agricultural purposes such as cattle farms, rice farms, and banana farms. Palm shortening is extremely helpful in paleo baking owing to its distinctive chemistry.

I usually use it to substitute for of butter in baking or once the shortage of flavor is vital in my recipe. It may be used to create some terribly delicious swish and smooth frostings and is, as a matter of fact, conjointly a good fat for deep cooking.

Knowing What Palm Shortening Is

Palm shortening is a product that is derived by processing from palm. In its natural and unprocessed state, this oil is may be a mixture of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.

Note that most of the unsaturated fats found in palm shortenings are monounsaturated fats. To understand it better, palm shortening is basically an oil that has a number of its unsaturated fats removed, giving it a really firm texture, and a high freezing point.

The freezing point of our Palm Shortening is roughly around 97’F, which makes it very stable in terms of storage and has a really long shelf life and is not prone to rancidity.

Palm Shortening And Palm Oil Does Not Contain Any Trans-Fat

Palm shortening and palm oil are not hydrogenized and it does not contain any trans-fat which makes it favored by most people who are concerned with their fat consumption, as most people should be, anyway.

Since palm shortening has already been separated from the unsaturated portion of the oil, it is both colorless and odourless, and will definitely not have any effect on the taste of foods the same way Virgin palm oil would.

If you find it necessary to add some oil flavors to your recipe, then using either a virgin coconut or an extra virgin olive as a supplementary ingredient can make your baked and fried recipes taste superbly good.

Use Palm Oil Substitutes For Your Baking And Cooking

By finding the best paleo acceptable produced palm oil and palm shortening, you can now use it in your favorite recipes! It is all in the way it was made and what it contains.

You don’t have to suffer through lousy foods if you can get your ingredients well and good so keep on finding paleo dishes and alternatives and I promise, paleo life gets better and better, every day. Happy, healthy paleo eating!