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Salt Fat: Production, Application And Composition

Salt fat, what is that? If you are asking yourself this question, you are certainly not alone. Because vegetable fat is one of the lesser-known types. We bring light into the darkness and summarize the most important information about the palm oil alternative.

Substitute for palm oil: salt fat

Sal fat is obtained from the seeds of the sal tree, which grows primarily in the natural rainforest of northern India. It is therefore one of the purely vegetable fats, which makes sal fat vegan. The food, also known as sal butter, consists of about 90 percent of the saturated fatty acid stearic acid and the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid. This means that it does not come close to high-quality oils with a fatty acid pattern that is considered to be healthier. Regardless of whether sal fat is healthy or unhealthy, it is recommended for environmental and sustainability reasons and specifically promoted as a good substitute for palm oil. The latter is obtained from the fruits of the oil palm grown in plantations. It has come under criticism because the rainforest is cut down for cultivation. This is not the case with the naturally grown sal trees, where the Indian product has the edge in the debate between sal fat and palm fat.

Salt fat – vegetable fat with a wide range of uses

In the food and cosmetics industry, the application of sal fat extends to many products. In particular, chocolate creams, nut nougat spreads, margarine, chocolate fillings, and cocoa glazes contain the fat. Since it has properties similar to cocoa butter, it is used in the manufacture of cocoa and chocolate-based sweets. Some producers are replacing the palm oil in their confectionery with sal butter and explicitly advertise on the labels that they are now taking a more sustainable approach. The higher health value compared to hardened palm fat is also emphasized.

Cooking and baking with salt and fat? None!

If you want to use sal fat in your kitchen and cook and bake with it, you will face the problem of not being able to buy it anywhere. So far, its use has been limited to the food industry. So you can only make sure that the oil is in the list of ingredients of finished products or your cosmetics. It is unclear whether and when Salbutter will be available as an individual product in Germany. As with MCT fats, for example, there are plenty of inexpensive and healthy alternatives that you can use.

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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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