Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Which oils are best to cook with?

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 104 posts

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#81

Post by gilrain »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #79

I'm disappointed that this article did not evaluate avocado oil or peanut oil. The latter is increasingly used in frying in the US due to its very high smoke point, and I've been personally using the former for that purpose.

The conclusion of the article was that you should avoid cooking at high temperatures (365F was the studied temperature) with oils which are composed of more than 20% polyunsaturated fats, as a guideline.

Avocado is 14%, so it should satisfy the article. Peanut is 33%, which is better than, say, corn, but worse than what the article recommends.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_oil#Types_of_oils_and_...

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#82

Post by baldfat »

gambiting wrote: post #62
jballanc wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Olive oil's smoke point is highly dependent on the variety. Refined olive oil is just as useful for high-heat frying as just about any other. Extra virgin, on the other hand, is not something you want to cook with. In Turkey we have a variety known as "naturel sizma", which is what comes off the olives before pressing even begins. In contrast to other olive oil varieties, it's appearance is cloudy, and you can barely…

Really? I only ever cook with extra virgin olive oil. I really can't tell the difference :P

You need this: http://www.oreilly.com/free/cooking-for-geeks-2ed.csp

Seriously your cooking can get a lot better aka will taste a ton better because your not cooking at the right temperature for most of your food.

PS My wife said the same thing when we got married. She would now slap out of any one's hands if they even tried to use Virgin Olive Oil on anything besides salad dressings and hummus.

PSS Food channel quick cooking shows are really poor.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#83

Post by logicallee »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #79

I'm disappointed that this article did not evaluate avocado oil or peanut oil. The latter is increasingly used in frying in the US due to its very high smoke point, and I've been personally using the former for that purpose.

how would you describe the taste? I googled and saw that it's kind of like olive oil - if so it's interesting because I can't normally cook with olive oil. (precisely because of its low smoke point - i like the flavor though.)

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#84

Post by skj »

Oletros wrote: post #72
Johnny_Brahms wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never rapeseed though. Wasn't there a huge scandal (with lots of deaths) in the eighties about rapeseed oil, that turned out to be something else?

Yes, in 1981. 1100 deaths because of ingestion of rapeseed oil not suitable for human consumption.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/aug/25/research.hi...

apparently not, according to this guy.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#85

Post by kom107 »

maxerickson wrote: post #57
kom107 wrote: post #49

Many years ago, worked as a line cook in a high-end restaurant. TL;DR version of what I learned there (and still my rules of thumb): -EVOO is best for salad dressings, oily dipping sauces. -Olive oil is best for raw emulsions (aioli, etc) -Canola for high heat stovetop -Vegetable for baking and deep frying -Sesame for Asian -Don't worry about flavored oils until a recipe calls for them or you're comfortable experimen…

Do you avoid canola for baking because the flavor tends to show up?

In short, yes. I think canola has an umami flavor that I don't usually want in baked goods (although sometimes I will change things depending on the flavors I want in the dish). If you're brave enough, take some time to actually TASTE a very small amount of each oil. You'll notice the differences. Don't do them all one after the other, otherwise they'll blend together, but each time you use one, taste it and see what you think. Here are some recipies I use regularly that I think highlight the different oils well and are easy enough for a beginner to execute. Enjoy!

EVOO: My French Vinegarette: Generous pinch sea salt Generous pinch pepper 1.5 tablespoons tarragon vinegar 1/2 shallot, peeled and chopped 1-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (I love garlic so I add a lot) 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 egg yolk 2 tbsp cream

Throw everything in a blender, and blend until liquid. Great easy salad dressing.

Olive Oil: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/07/aioli-garlic-mayonnaise...

Canola Oil: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/10/skillet-chicken-rec...

Vegetable Oil: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/01/pandan-chiffon-ca...

Sesame Oil:http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9558-takeout-style-sesame...

DISCLAIMER: I freaking love duck fat and swap it in anywhere I can. But cross that bridge when you come to it...and then never look back. ;-)

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#87

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #79

I'm disappointed that this article did not evaluate avocado oil or peanut oil. The latter is increasingly used in frying in the US due to its very high smoke point, and I've been personally using the former for that purpose.

Peanut oil is used a lot for frying fish in the south.

Another popular southern pastime is dunking a frozen turkey into a few gallons of boiling peanut oil, but it can be pretty bad for your health (ie: skin burns, house fire, etc.). Most people do this only once, and thereafter thaw the turkey before frying.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#88

Post by kom107 »

3minus1 wrote: post #60
kom107 wrote: post #49

Many years ago, worked as a line cook in a high-end restaurant. TL;DR version of what I learned there (and still my rules of thumb): -EVOO is best for salad dressings, oily dipping sauces. -Olive oil is best for raw emulsions (aioli, etc) -Canola for high heat stovetop -Vegetable for baking and deep frying -Sesame for Asian -Don't worry about flavored oils until a recipe calls for them or you're comfortable experimen…

just be careful not to overdo it with sesame oil, because it can overwhelm a dish.

This is definitely true. Hence why you should ALWAYS be tasting your food as you are cooking it...not just at the end, but during the process, adjusting your seasonings. Again, Harold McGee does a better job than I, but the points at which one adds, say, salt to a dish, actually make a difference in the outcome of the final flavor.

And remember: you can always add more flavor, but you can never take away when cooking. That's another good rule of thumb.

So a lot of us here are tech inclined and, I think, startup inclined. Think of cooking and learning to cook this way: it is an experiment. You are learning. The fastest way to learn is to talk with people who have done it before (follow the recipe). If you're smart and want to learn really fast, each time you make a recipe, you'll make little notes to yourself about what you learned or noticed about the different ingredients. Then, next time you make the dish, you can tweak it (pivot your idea). If it works, you've learned something that will probably stick with you for a long time.

Have fun in the kitchen guys.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#89

Post by stdbrouw »

logicallee wrote: post #83
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #79

I'm disappointed that this article did not evaluate avocado oil or peanut oil. The latter is increasingly used in frying in the US due to its very high smoke point, and I've been personally using the former for that purpose.

how would you describe the taste? I googled and saw that it's kind of like olive oil - if so it's interesting because I can't normally cook with olive oil. (precisely because of its low smoke point - i like the flavor though.)

Peanut oil can be somewhat nutty, but it's a very, very mild tasting oil. Precisely on that account, peanut oil is actually great on salads too, because it's not as overpowering as olive oil can be. No idea about avocado oil.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#90

Post by scythe »

forgetsusername wrote: post #47
jwr wrote: post #22

Over the years I've learned to take advice like this with a large grain of salt. Every couple of years this sort of advice seems to get reversed. I still remember reading about olive oil being bad for frying because it was supposedly less resistant to high temperatures and decomposed into something not too healthy. It's been the same with eggs, coffee, and many other things.

> I still remember reading about olive oil being bad for frying because it was supposedly less resistant to high temperatures and decomposed into something not too healthy. This hasn't changed. Olive oil has one of the lowest smoke points of all cooking oils. Once it's burning, you're eating all kinds of things, some of which aren't good for you. [ http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/cooking-fats-101-whats-a-... ]

This is true if you're heating oil in a pan, but once there's food in the pan, the temperature stays close to the boiling point of water, and almost no oils will smoke at that temperature.
Post reply on HN