Fat contains more than twice the amount of energy-
yielding power or calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates.
One half our physical energy is from the fat we eat in different
forms. The excellent book, “food and Cookery for the
Sick and Convalescent,’ by Fannie Merritt Farmer, states,
“In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat cannot
10
The Story of Crisco
be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems
to play some part in the formation of young tissues which can-
not be undertaken by any other constituent of food........
The book entitled “The Chemistry of Cooking and
Cleaning,” by the two authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S.
Mania Elliott, states that the diet of school children should
be regulated carefully with the fat supply in view. Girls,
especially, show at times a dislike for fat. It therefore is
necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with
energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and
should be one that their digestions welcome, rather than repel.
The first step in the digestion of
fat is its melting. Crisco melts at a
lower degree of heat than body tem-
perature. Because of its low melt-
ing point, thus allowing the digestive
juices to mix with it, and because
of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest
of all cooking fats to digest.
When a fat smokes in frying, it “breaks down,” that is,
its chemical composition is changed; part of its altered com-
position becomes a non-digestible and irritating substance.
The best fat for digestion is one which does not decompose
or break down at frying temperature. Crisco does not break
down untila degree of heat is reached above the frying
point. In other words, Crisco does not break down at all in
normal frying, because it is not necessary to have it “‘smok-
ing hot” for frying. No part of it, therefore, has been trans-
formed in cooking into an irritant. That is one reason why
the stomach welcomes Crisco and carries forward its digestion
with ease.
epee
eee
Working Towards an Ideal
~ A part of the preliminary work done in connection with
the development of Crisco, described in these pages, consisted
of the study of the older cooking fats. ‘The objectionable
features of each were considered. The good was weighed
against the bad. ‘The strength and weakness: of each was
determined. ‘Thus was found what the ideal fat should
possess, and what it should not possess. It must have every
good quality and no bad one.
11
The Story of Crisco
After years of study, a process was discovered which
made possible the ideal fat.
The process involved the changing of the composition
of vegetable food oils and the making of the richest fat or
solid cream.
The Crisco Process at the first stage of its development
gave, at least, the basis of the ideal fat; namely, a pure vegetable
product, differing from all others in that absolutely no animal
fat had to be added to the vegetable oil to produce the proper
stiffness. ‘This was butone of the many distinctive advantages
sought and found. |
Not Marketed Until Perfect
It also solved the problem of eliminating certain objection-
able features of fats in general, such as rancidity, color,
odor, smoking properties when heated. These weaknesses,
therefore, were not a part of this new fat, which it would
seem was the parent of the Ideal.
Then after four years of severe tests, after each weakness
was replaced with strength the Government was given this
fat to analyze and classify. The report was that it answered
to none of the tests for fats already existing.
A Primary Fat
It was neither a butter, a ““compound” nor a “‘substitute,”
but an entirely new product. A primary fat.
In 1911 it was named Crisco and placed upon the market.
Page 5
Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Fat contains more than twice the amount of energyyielding power or calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates. One half our physical energy is from the fat we eat in different forms. The excellent book, “food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent,’ by Fannie Merritt Farmer, states, “In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat cannot
The Story of Crisco
be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems to play some part in the formation of young tissues which cannot be undertaken by any other constituent of food........
The book entitled “The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning,” by the two authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S. Mania Elliott, states that the diet of school children should be regulated carefully with the fat supply in view. Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat. It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and should be one that their digestions welcome, rather than repel.
The first step in the digestion of fat is its melting. Crisco melts at a lower degree of heat than body temperature. Because of its low melting point, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it, and because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest of all cooking fats to digest.
When a fat smokes in frying, it “breaks down,” that is, its chemical composition is changed; part of its altered composition becomes a non-digestible and irritating substance. The best fat for digestion is one which does not decompose or break down at frying temperature. Crisco does not break down untila degree of heat is reached above the frying point. In other words, Crisco does not break down at all in normal frying, because it is not necessary to have it “‘smoking hot” for frying. No part of it, therefore, has been transformed in cooking into an irritant. That is one reason why the stomach welcomes Crisco and carries forward its digestion with ease.
epee eee
Working Towards an Ideal
~ A part of the preliminary work done in connection with the development of Crisco, described in these pages, consisted of the study of the older cooking fats. The objectionable features of each were considered. The good was weighed against the bad. The strength and weakness of each was determined. ‘Thus was found what the ideal fat should possess, and what it should not possess. It must have every good quality and no bad one.
The Story of Crisco
After years of study, a process was discovered which made possible the ideal fat.
The process involved the changing of the composition of vegetable food oils and the making of the richest fat or solid cream.
The Crisco Process at the first stage of its development gave, at least, the basis of the ideal fat; namely, a pure vegetable product, differing from all others in that absolutely no animal fat had to be added to the vegetable oil to produce the proper stiffness. ‘This was butone of the many distinctive advantages sought and found. |
Not Marketed Until Perfect
It also solved the problem of eliminating certain objectionable features of fats in general, such as rancidity, color, odor, smoking properties when heated. These weaknesses, therefore, were not a part of this new fat, which it would seem was the parent of the Ideal.
Then after four years of severe tests, after each weakness was replaced with strength the Government was given this fat to analyze and classify. The report was that it answered to none of the tests for fats already existing.
A Primary Fat
It was neither a butter, a ““compound” nor a “‘substitute,” but an entirely new product. A primary fat.
In 1911 it was named Crisco and placed upon the market.