Rub the shortening pieces through your fingers, breaking them into smaller pieces. Repeat step 6 until the mixture is loose and crumbly and resembles coarse meal. Different-sized pieces of shortening, plus a small amount of loose flour, create the ideal texture, especially for piecrust. Continue with your recipe. These tools work well, but the human touch yields better results.
Most people use butter, lard or solid vegetable shortening, but shortening can be any edible fat.
When moistened and mixed, flour develops gluten, strands of protein that give baked goods their structure. When fat is cut in, it shortens the gluten strands, making the food more crumbly, hence the name. Inc. How things get done. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy .