Margarine vs vegetable oil in baking
Since the ingredients of margarine tend to be vegetable oil hydrogenated to be firm, is there any point in using it over vegetable oil in baking where it will be melted into liquid anyway?
Same question for any other applications where it's not spread on toast
Best Answer
Yes, it certainly matters. Baking is not about what goes in, it is about the structure in which it goes in (and as a consequence, the structure in which it comes out). If you start using oil instead of margarine, the results will be anything between "different" and " a disaster". Flour soaked in liquid oil behaves very differently than flour in contact with margarine, and until the time the margarine melts, a lot of other interactions should have happened, which will prevent the flour (or the other ingredients) to behave as if they had been in contact with liquid oil from the beginning.
Simply "different" is something you will get in some forgiving batters such as muffin batter (when made by the mix-everything-at-once method, also aptly named "muffin method") and some types of cookie, which will show difference in spread behavior and variables such as chewiness. Yeast doughs, which usually use the fat simply as a form of enrichment, will likely be the least affected, in fact many of them may direct you to melt a solid fat for easy mixing.
You can expect a very bad result in any short or flaky dough (pie crusts and many types of cookie), in recipes which rely on creaming the margarine (many cakes and cupcakes for the batter, and all sorts of buttercream), and laminated doughs. Probably also others, these are the ones that come first to my mind.
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The good news is that butter, margarine, shortening and all types of oil can be used in place of the vegetable oil in SuperMoist package directions. There may be slight differences in texture and flavor, however all cakes will have good baking results.Can I swap margarine for oil?
As a liquid, pourable fat when melted, margarine can be substituted for vegetable or cooking oil in a cake mix using a 1-to-1 ratio, which means that you should use the same amount of melted margarine as the amount of oil called for in the baking directions.Is margarine the same as vegetable oil?
Margarine is made from vegetable oils. It contains unsaturated fats that serve as \u201cgood\u201d fats in the body. Margarine comes in many forms, and each one has its downsides.Is it better to cook with oil or with margarine?
Some guidelines for healthier cooking: Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or margarine. Choose soft margarine (tub or liquid) over harder stick forms. Choose margarines with liquid vegetable oil, such as olive oil, as the first ingredient.Is margarine better for baking?
But when you're baking, butter triumphs over margarine every time. For cakes, cookies, and pastries, butter (unsalted, that is) provides richer flavor. (It begins as cream, after all, and margarine is made from vegetable oil.) Butter's high fat content is also what gives baked goods their texture.Most Dangerous Cooking (Avoid these Completely) 2022
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Answer 2
Margarine is not hydrogenated in the EU & hasn't been in many years. (Almost nothing is hydrogenated, after health worries in the 90s).
Shortening works because it's solid at room temperature.
Using a liquid would produce different results - not that I've ever experimented outside a bit of oil in a pasta or chapatti mixture, but neither of those rely on shortening.
Pastry would be a whole different thing, though.
Pastry comes out 'poor' even if your hands are too warm when rubbing in.
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