LESSON XXXV
FAT AS A FRYING MEDIUM—FOOD FATS
FOOD FATS.—Fats and oils are extracted from various materials and refined so as to make them suitable for food. Food fats are of both animal and vegetable origin. Fats separated from milk (butter), meat fats (suet, lard) are animal fats while those separated from seeds (cottonseed and peanut), cereal (corn), fruit (olive), nuts (coconuts) are vegetable fats. A discussion of various food fats follows:
(a) Butter is made by churning ripened cream so as to separate the fat from the other ingredients contained in milk. It is salted and usually colored before putting it on the market.
The popularity of butter is dependent upon its flavor, for its fuel value is not greater than any other fat. Indeed butter does not contain as much fat as do the vegetable oils and fats, and certain other animal fats. Butter contains 85 per cent of fat while many vegetable oils and fats and lard contain 100 per cent of fat. Butter contains, however, certain growth-producing substances called vitamines (see Division Seven). All fats do not contain vitamines. The latter are found in butter, but are not present in vegetable oils and fats and in pork fat.
Butter is one of the most expensive foods of a household. Its use, therefore, must be carefully considered. Because of its pleasing flavor, for some purposes no fat is as desirable as butter. If, however, fat is to be combined with foods of pronounced flavor, i.e. foods whose flavor is strong enough to cover up other food flavors, other fats may be substituted with satisfactory results.
(b) Oleomargarin is a combination of several different fats. It is usually made by churning soft beef fat (called oleo oil) and neutral (i.e. carefully rendered) lard with milk or cream. Sometimes butter and cottonseed and peanut oils are added. Because colored oleomargarin is highly taxed, this fat is usually not colored in its preparation for the market.
The term oleomargarin is used not only as the trade name for fat of the composition stated above, but as the legal name of any food fat prepared as a butter substitute. To comply with the law, solid fats found at market and containing no oleo oil are labeled oleomargarin.
(c) Nut Margarin is also a mixture of various fats. It usually consists of coconut oil combined with cottonseed or peanut oil.
(d) Meat Fats.—The fat of pork is commonly "tried out" or "rendered" to free it from connective tissue. That obtained from trying out the fat from around the kidneys is called leaf lard; ordinary lard is obtained from the fats of other parts of the animal. The former is considered of superior quality.