Why is shortening called shortening?

Question

Why did people name shortening..like the cooking stuff..why did they name it shortening?

Answer 1

Because "greasy crap to fry stuff in" wasn't a good marketing ploy.

Answer 2

Shortening is a semisolid fat used in food preparation, especially baked goods, and is so called because it inhibits the formation of long gluten strands in wheat-based doughs, giving them a "short" texture (as in shortbread).

Today the term "shortening" usually refers to a "vegetable shortening," a semisolid fatty food made entirely from refined edible vegetable oils, usually a blend of two or more partially hydrogenated oils. Shortenings are used in cooking and serve four basic functions: (1) to shorten baked goods (especially pastries, pie crusts, and breads) in order to make them tender and flaky. They do this by preventing the cohesion of wheat gluten strands during mixing, thus literally shortening them and making the gluten less elastic and sticky; (2) for frying, since they are hydrogenated to a lower iodine value and have a small percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, they are more resistant to oxidation and rancidification than typical vegetable oils; (3) to add flavor and richness to typical breads, and to extend their shelf life; and (4) for "creaming power" in making icings and fillings; when beaten, often with sugar, they incorporate large volumes of air bubbles and thus produce a fine, delicate structure. Lard does not cream well.

Answer 3

"Shortening... is so called because it inhibits the formation of long gluten strands in wheat-based doughs, giving them a "short" texture (as in shortbread)."