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Which oils are best to cook with?

bbc.co.uk

51–60 of 104 posts

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#51
Extra virgin olive oil isn't good to cook with at high temperatures. I like to put it on food after it's cooked, such as drizzling it over pasta or salad. Light olive oil has a higher smoke point, I think.

I usually cook with sesame oil, ghee (clarified butter), and butter. Sometimes coconut oil too.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#52
post #48

Some practical lessons about cooking oils for amateur chefs: - Learn to understand what's meant by "neutral oils". They are the most versatile, and best for amateurs. - Extra-virgin olive oil has a strong, complex taste. It's difficult to use. Get normal olive oil instead for dishes that need it. (NEVER make mayonnaise or cook eggs with "EVOO". Try it once and you'll understand.) - Different oils will combust at diff…

You shouldn't really cook anything with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Not the good quality stuff, anyway. It's for dipping your bread in, salads, drizzling on soups or pastas, etc.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#54
post #30
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Frying" does not necessarily mean "Deep Frying". Olive oil is absolutely fine when stir frying at medium/low temperatures, it is the basis of Mediterranean cuisine (Spanish, Greek, Italian...) that is not exactly known for its rancid taste. In the case of "Deep" frying, then you are absolutely right, and I would say that in this case seed (Sunflower, Peanut) oil is used for this purpose even in heavy Olive Oil consu…

Yap, usually sunflower oil here in Spain

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?

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#55
post #32

It would have been nice if the study included sesame oil. It has a high smoke point and it's used in many Asian diets. Frying in olive oil can be done if it's a low temperature fry, I've only done it for pan frying potato slices or cubes, with generous amounts of dried herbs. But I consider that an edge case of using olive oil. The smoke point is just too low to do much frying.

In Japanese, Chinese and Korean cooking, sesame oil is typically used in tiny amounts for the flavor and is typically added after/at the very end of cooking. It's never used as the sole cooking oil, you'd use peanut oil or something for that.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#56
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.

That's because "olive oil" is not a monolithic substance, it is a category of substances. Extra light olive oil, which is clearer and lacking most of the flavour compounds and solids of extra virgin olive oil, is just fine for frying and sautéing.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#57
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?

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#58
post #5

This is very frustrating... I've always known lard is healthy, but I also thought I'd always known you shouldn't heat olive oil (low smoking point).

This rule mostly applies to Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Refined olive oil (Which is what you'll get if you buy something just labeled as "Olive Oil") has a smoke point that isn't much different to most other oils.

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#59
post #7

has he already tried frying with olive oil? this is literally one of the shittiest oils to fry in. First the olive flavor dissapear even before it becomes frying temperature, second it is being replaced by a rancid taste that is totally awful due to the low heat resistance of olive oil. I don't care the study it is quite obvious that Olive OIl breaks down much before Sunflower oil and as such produce nocive substance…

> The best oil ever for frying is coconut oil.

Came here to post this. Olive oil is only for salads or dipping bread, or low-temp cooking like sauteeing veggies, even then butter is better. For deep frying potatoes, coconut oil is totally superior to anything...

Re: Which oils are best to cook with?

#60
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.
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