Why is it that bacon grease gets hard after it cools down, yet you have stuff like vegetable oil that remains?

in a liquid from reguardless of it's temp. Aren't all oils %26amp; grease basicly the same??Why is it that bacon grease gets hard after it cools down, yet you have stuff like vegetable oil that remains?
Fats and oils chemically are basically the same, a tweek here and there causes a different in state (liquid, solid).





Bacon fat gets hard because it was hard to start with, which also means it hard in your blood vessels as well.





A few things can effect this, the most notable is ';hydrogenating';, which is what they do to veggie oil to make margarine. In animals, we need our fat to be solid to stay in place and serve its function, like protection and insulation.Why is it that bacon grease gets hard after it cools down, yet you have stuff like vegetable oil that remains?
';a tweek here or there'; describes the differences pretty well.





If you'd like a more technical explanation, this site is good - with diagrams:


http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Courses/bio104鈥?/a>





It explains that the ';tweek'; is the bonds in the hydrocarbon tails. When there are double bonds, the tail is kinked so the molecules can't pack as tightly (oils). No double bond allows the molecules to pack tightly (fats).
Fat that says harder at warmer temperatures contain more saturated fats- a good guidleline if you are worried about these things. It should also tell you something about 'margarine'.