How to Choose a Cooking Oil
Type of Oil
The market of cooking oils had been saturated well, but how do you choose one? This post should help with those difficulties. When creating a dish, look at the use of the oil and flavor.
There are different types of oil with distinct flavors. Some are: coconut, cotton seed, olive, safflower, and sesame. I recommend tasting and figuring out what tastes the best for specific dishes.
Keep in mind that the content of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats differ from oil to oil.
The different types of oil have different smoking points, where they burn and create smoke. This will add bad flavors.
Common oil smoking temps:
| Oil or Fat | % Saturated | % Monounsaturated | % Polyunsaturated | Smoke Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butter | 66% | 30% | 4% | 302 °F)/150 °C |
| Canola | 6% | 62% | 32% | 468 °F/242 °C |
| Corn | 13% | 25% | 62% | 457 °F/36 °C |
| Extra Virgin Olive | 14% | 73% | 11% | 374 °F/190 °C |
| Olive | 14% | 73% | 11% | 437 °F/225 °C |
| Peanut | 18% | 49% | 33% | 448 °F/231 °C |
| Sesame | 14% | 43% | 43% | 450 °F/232 °C |
| Soybean | 15% | 24% | 61% | 466 °F/241 °C |
| Sunflower | 11% | 20% | 69% | 475 °F/246 °C |
Quality of oil
Age of the oil is important, as an oil ages it loses flavors. Storing in cool dry places will slow this process. You can store oils in the refrigerator. If it separates, return to room temperature. Less refined oils, such as cold pressed olive oil, do not recommend refrigeration because debris can solidify into small particles.
The way the oil was made will determine flavor. First cold pressed is a term referring to direct washing of ingredient (usually olives) than stone pressing to extract oil. Refined oils filter better reducing some flavors and increasing smoking temperatures.
Extra virgin olive oil has less than .8% acidity, while olive oil has 1-5%.
The US Government does not require bottles of oil to state the bottling date or how they were refined, so trust your manufacturer… The Department of Agriculture does have a seal for organic products that requires 95% of content to be organic. The Italian seal requires 100% of content to be organic.
Using Oil
Try using more flavorful unrefined oils, such as extra virgin olive oils, on cooked foods, salad dressings or mashed potatoes. These foods will allow easier tasting of the oil. A fresh mozzarella and tomato salad works well, where the tomato will provide the acidity for the dish.
Using stronger refined oils to cook meat will enhance flavor. Sesame oil works well for Asian inspired dishes.
Find the oils that taste the best to you. This guide will help with choosing an oil and what to use it for, although it is up to you to use it correctly.
