Shortening is 100% fat. Every gram is 9 kcal, and a heaped tablespoon is ~200 kcal. Portion errors on dense fats reach 50–200% (Almiron-Roig et al., Appetite 2013). Calibr8 tracks saturated fat and calorie density per gram across 14 nutrients.
How should I track Shortening, vegetable?
With calorie-dense foods like Shortening, vegetable, a kitchen scale is your best friend. Research shows that portion estimation errors reach 50–200% for fats and oils (Almiron-Roig et al., Appetite 2013) — even a tablespoon off can mean 40–120 extra calories. Weigh on a scale rather than eyeballing — this applies to both liquid oils and solid fats like butter. If you use cooking sprays, note that "0 calorie" labels are per fraction-of-a-second spray — a realistic burst is closer to 5–10 calories, and multiple sprays add up.