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 until a 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.


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.

After years of study, a process was discovered which made possible the
ideal fat.