Best Oil

[margypops]

Okay Okay but I havent had my quoto for the day ..yet , I have always wondered why we all use differant oils and there is so much controversy over which is better ,,I use EVOO nearly all the time whatever I cook but also read about canola, my daughter swears by peanut oil, and light olive oil, apparently the heat is something to do with it also, so anyone got feed back for me.... some health information about oils..in general would be good..

[Paxiled]

You're very confused about oil.  Extra virgin olive oil is the very first pressing of the olive, not the addition of anything.  It's the richest in nutrients and the least processed and uses the least heat.  Virgin is the second pressing, and then there's a third pressing which is plain olive oil.  Any olive oil can be organic; that just means the olive trees are grown organically, so organic olive oil can be extra virgin, virgin, or later pressings.  If your olive oil has not taste, either your taste buds aren't that strong or you're buying bad olive oil, because it's supposed to have a rich taste of olives.  Extra virgin has the most taste, because it's the first pressing.  Different oils have different tastes -- Greek olives taste different from Italian which are different from Spanish.  And any high heat cooking, such as frying, in olive oil produces carcinogens.  Olive also doesn't break down the saturated fats in our arteries.  Olive oil actually is full of saturated fats.  It is, however, considered a good fat because rather than oxidizing quickly, causing fats to stick to the artery walls, it helps fat, in the form of cholesterol, which is necessary to the production of hormones and carrying fat soluble nutrients to where they need to go, keep moving.  That's the fat story -- it either sticks, or it moves.  Fish oil, which is very good for you, is all saturated fat.  Those terms are advertising terms.  The medical terms are triglycerides,  most prevalent in hydrogenated oils, which is the worst factor.  The second is LDL, low density lipoproteins, which is the second worst, and HDL, which includes olive oil and fish oil and many other oils.  Most oils combine different fats in them, and olive oil is one of them.  It has some omega 3, some omega 6, some omega 9 fats.  But if you do high heat cooking, it can't be your only oil.  Some highly saturated oils, such as coconut and red palm, are quite good for you because they're also very high in antioxidants.  

Now, an interesting point.  Everyone keeps talking about vegetable oils.  There are no vegetable oils.  That's an advertising term, to differentiate animal from plant fats.  Canola oil and safflower oil are closest to vegetable oils, since rape is a vegetable and safflower is a flower, but the oil is made from the seed.  Corn oil is made from a cereal grain, olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil,  hazelnut oil, coconut oil, red palm oil, etc, are made from fruits.  Peanut oil is made from a legume.  See?  Not really vegetables, are they?  Isn't that fascinating?

[Kaydey]

As long as your a not allergic to nuts :(

[Kaydey]

extra virgin olive oil has many of the natural nutrients taken out of it to reduce the flavor of hte olive.  

I use organic olive oil. It is high in antioxidents and has no saturated fats. If you haven't tried it, you should be able to get a sample at most Health Food Stores.  It really doesn't add any taste to foods, and it cooks at low heat.  I don't do much 'frying"  like chicken for fries, but the oil is great for no stick cooking and as a replacement for vegetable oil in baking (don't need as much and does an excellent job for moisture).

Each to his own.  I just prefere the oil I use.   I gave up all other oils yrs ago after I was first intrduced to organic olive oil.  Not virginated.  

Dr's are now researching the effects of organic olive oil and heart disease. So far many studies have shown that it breaks down the saturated fats that build up in our arteries and reduces the narrowing of those arteries.  Talk to your DR about it.

[peggy64]

French fries are terrific cooked in peanut oil.....

[twehner5]

I use canola for cooking and olive oil for salads and for dipping bread into for eating.  YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SassyLassie]

I use Canola oil, I have tried Virgin Olive oil, and I just can not stand the taste.

[margypops]

I usually use the' regular' oil for cooking french fries, the husband loves big chunky English' chips' and I cook them once a week as a treat for him with a bit of battered cod.So oliveoil  is out for deep frying,.I guess high heat for deep fat frying, how about sunflower oil?

[Paxiled]

Extra virgin olive is extra virgin olive oil, doesn't matter which one you use, but I prefer organic.  Each one has a different taste, depending on which country's olives you use, so if you're really into cooking different olive oils give you a different taste.  Personally, I use canola for tasteless oil and olive for non high-heat and sesame for stir fry.  I buy it all organic.  

[laura1967]

I use only light extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil.....I stay away from all the vegetable oils, etc.

[margypops]

Rachel Ray formed it first its 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil' So what oil apart from EVOO shall I use , I have thrown the Canola in the trash,

[Paxiled]

The controversy over canola oil is that it comes from a plant, rapeseed, that has some toxicity if you eat the leaves prepared improperly, and partly economic, because canola oil is largely from Canada.  They even created the name canola because they didn't think anyone would buy rape oil!  I use it, but I think BM believed it to be harmful.  It's a good high heat cooking oil, particularly the higher oleic containing versions.  It's also tasteless, so it's good if you're not trying to add the taste of oil to what you're cooking.  Olive oil is a superb oil, but is carcinogenic at high heat.  It's good for baking and for salad, but not for frying.  Safflower and sunflower are also good for high heat cooking.  Peanut oil is excellent for high heat, but has a strong flavor, and is higher in saturated fat.  Avocado oil is excellent for all
purposes, but again has a strong flavor, as does olive oil.  Red palm oil is great for high heat cooking, great for frying, and is high is tocotrienols, but of course they're destroyed largely in the cooking process.  Some people fear red palm oil and coconut oil and other tropical oils because they're high in saturated fat, but they're also very high in the antioxidants that protect cholesterol from oxidizing, and they are good substitutes for hydrogenated vegetable oils because they're stable at room temperature without being loaded with triglycerides.  Sesame oil is another oil with a strong taste that is very good at high heat; it's used for stir frying, usually along with soy or canola or high oleic safflower oil.  Some people don't like soy oil, thinking it's not so good for you, but billions of Asians use it and it doesn't seem to be hurting them any, so whatever.  The most important thing to avoid is hydrogenated cooking oils (like Crisco and most grocery shelf oils) and causing any oil to smoke too much, at which point carcinogens form.  That's why when frying, high heat oils are best, but if you're just sauteing or slow baking, you might get by with olive oil, just make sure it doesn't get so hot as to start smoking.  

There are a lot of oils out there!  Avoid cottonseed oil and palm kernel oil; very high in saturated fats.  Red palm oil is not the same as palm kernel oil.  And where's BM when you need him to argue with me.  By the way, what's EVOO?