Which cooking oil is best to use and why?
I am hoping to use today's post to clear the confusion around something most of us probably use everyday: cooking oils. I use oils when cooking vegetables, baking, in salad dressings, the list goes on. But have you ever thought about the nutritional value of these oils, and how it affects or benefits our health?
Cooking oils are fats, fats that are essential to overall health. Fat can also add incredible flavour, help the absorption of nutrients and are used to create a heat-conducting medium so that food can be heated and cooked without sticking to your pan. Every oil has a “smoke point”, which is the temperature at which an oil starts to smoke continuously–no need to worry if you see a little bit of smoke, but if it is continuous while cooking your oil has probably reached this point. If an oil has reached its smoke point, it has been heated to the point where the minerals in the oil have started to break down and oxidize (meaning bond with oxygen), creating potentially harmful free radicals that you don’t want to be consuming. At this point, oils will also produce acrolein, the chemical that gives burnt food a bitter, unpleasant flavor and smell.
There are two main types of oils: refined (or processed) and unrefined (typically cold-pressed). Refined oils are heated during production and often processed with chemicals, which increases their shelf lives and their smoke points but also eliminates many of the healthful vitamins and nutrients. Unrefined oils are not processed and are typically bottled immediately after pressing. Technically, any oil can not be heated past 120°F to be considered truly cold-pressed. Unrefined oils have strong, robust flavours and are higher in nutrients and minerals, but they also have a lower average smoke point and a shorter shelf life than their refined counterparts.
In a nutshell, refined oils have a higher smoke point and are better for cooking, while unrefined or cold-pressed oils are more nutrient dense but break down at a lower temperature.
Below is a list of some of the oils that I use and their health benefits:
1) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Let’s start with olive oil since it is one of my favourites and also the most popular and widely used oils. Extra virgin olive oil is unrefined, cold-pressed olive oil. It is high in Vitamin E and antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, and improves the HDL: LDL ratio of cholesterol to keep a healthy heart. It also has amazing flavours, which is why it is so prevalent in the cooking community. Extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of 325-375°F, so it is much better used for salad dressings, dips, and low-temperature recipes. That being said, I do cook with extra virgin olive oil sometimes because it tastes so good! If you choose to use this oil, keep an eye on the stove top and keep the temperatures as low as possible.
For those who uses light olive oil instead, be mindful that this type of oil is refined and processed to neutralize flavour, increase the shelf life, and bring up that smoke point to about 465°F. This process also strips the product of its antioxidants, vitamins, and other benefits from using the cold-pressed version. This type of olive oil won’t break down as quickly as extra virgin olive oil when heated, so it’s best for high-temperature cooking.
2) Avocado Oil
You all know my love for avocados so this shouldn't come as a surprise that I use avocado oil as a cooking oil in my household. This cold-pressed oil is incredibly versatile, with a smoke point of 375-400°F and a neutral flavor that carries other, stronger flavors very well. One of the downsides to this oil is that it is much more expensive than other unrefined options, but it is a great healthy option nonetheless!
3) Coconut Oil
Another staple in my pantry is coconut oil. Coconut oil is the edible oil extracted or pressed from the mature coconut meat. This oil will be solid at room temperature and melts around 76 degrees F, with a smoke point of 350°F. I love using coconut oil for baking as it has an incredibly sweet, tropical flavour.
4) Sesame Oil
Sesame oil has an incredibly strong flavour and I love it in a stir fry or typically more so in Asian dishes. Cold-pressed sesame oil has a high smoke point, so it’s great for frying up some flavorful veggies on the stovetop!
Which oils do you use for cooking? I'd love to know so please share them with us in the comments below!
With love,
Most of the ingredients can be found on iHerb. If you are using iHerb for the first time, feel free to use my discount code, it's MON7935. Or you can just simply click on this link.
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