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Friday, November 8, 2013

Shortening Powder

If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon of shortening powder yet you are seriously missing out.
This is one of the newer additions to my food storage and I Love Love Love it!

I should probably start by saying that I am not a huge baker.  I consider myself to be a decent cook, but rarely do I bake.  Shortening makes its appearance in my kitchen most often in biscuits.  We love biscuits.  But then the hubs decided it was better to make them with olive oil and the shortening container was left, unopened, for who knows how long.

Until one day when I needed some for a chicken pot pie crust recipe.  Any of you ever experienced the look or smell of rancid shortening?  Ew... to say the least.

Anyway, I was super annoyed; both at the thought of throwing food away (even if its bad - because I'm a freak like that), and because I had already made the filling for the pot pie.

Enter Thrive Shortening Powder:



I will admit that I was INCREDIBLY skeptical of how this would work out.  But I was in a pinch and it was on my shelf, so I figured it would be a great learning experience.

One of the many things I love about THRIVE products, is their packaging.
Each food group is color coded, there is a picture of the actual product contained inside the can, and they always have instructions and a recipe to try.

They also provide basic storage amounts, usage suggestions and a shelf life.
10 years, people!
Sign me up for that.  No more rotten shortening at my house.
1 year shelf life once it has been opened.  Even I can go through a can in 1 year.

I'm a big advocate for knowing what is in your food, so incase you cant see that ingredient list very well, here it is:
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, and mono & diglycerides.

The ingredients for Crisco shortening, courtesy of their website, are as follows:
Soybean oil, fully hydrogenated palm oil, partially hydrogenated palm and soybean oils, mono & diglicerides, TBHQ and citric acid.

They both have some evils in my opinion.

And of course Nutrition Facts

Here is the Nutrition Information from Crisco:

Serving Size 1 Tablespoon (12g)

  • Amount per Serving
  • Calories 110
    Calories from Fat 110
  • % Daily Value*
  • Total Fat 12g18%
    • Saturated Fat 3g16%
    • Trans Fat 0g
    • Polyunsaturated Fat 6g
    • Monounsaturated Fat 2.5g
  • Cholesterol 0mg0%
  • Sodium 0mg0%
  • Total Carbohydrate 0g0%
    • Protein 0g
    • Vitamin E15%
    Not a significant source of dietary fiber, sugars, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.
    Basically way less fat for the powdered alternative, but more cholesterol.

    The actual product is a fine off-white powder.  It smells like shortening.

    The rehydration instructions are really simple.  Use the same amount of powder as you would regular shortening, and then add water (1/4 c. water per 1 c. powder).


    Go ahead and give it a mix:

    You will be left with less than 1 cup of actual shortening once it has been reconstituted.  That is normal.  You do not need to add more.

    And can I just enter a side note about how AMAZING it is to NOT have to wash the measuring cup that once had real shortening in it?  It's pretty fabulous.  I think that is hands down the worst thing about shortening.  But anyway...

    I mixed that right into my pie crust ingredients, and it worked like a charm:

    If you've ever made pie crust you know this picture - it cut into the flour perfectly and it turned out just the way it was supposed to.

    I'm not sure why I was so surprised at how well it worked, but the next day I tried it in these cheddar cheese biscuits.  Hmmm, biscuits...

    And if you've never tried making your own Bisquik then you should.  It is really easy and this works great in that as well.

    And of course cookies.  It worked wonders in cookies.

    Basically the only thing it can't do is fry up some good ol' fashioned southern chicken.

    In all seriousness, this product has actually replaced all of the "Crisco" type shortening in my house.  I haven't used the "real stuff" for over 6 months and I don't think I ever will again.

    It is a great way to store longer term portions of fats/oil substitutes, and would make a great addition to any home food storage.  I personally love having it in mine.

    You can view the product, read reviews, and find pricing here. 

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