Choosing the Perfect Cooking Oil
Looking to make your dishes a bit more hearty or healthy by adding or substituting your normal cooking oil? Perhaps you’re cooking with particularly high or low heat, and don’t want to have a dangerous kitchen mishap! This guide will teach you which oils are best to cook and dress various types of dishes, as well as which to use in many different temperatures. Keep your cooking masterpieces safe, healthy, and tasty!
Choosing By Smoke Point
The decision of which oil to use for your meal should first be based on your desired oil’s smoke point. Cooking oils have different temperatures at which they overheat or splatter, and you don’t want to damage your kitchen appliances – or worse, cause a fire! Not only does overheated oil become dangerous, but it adds unpleasant qualities to your food, like bad tastes and severely decreased nutritional value.
The oils that are usually safe for cooking are those with a high smoke point. Soybean oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, and corn oil have a high smoke point, and are most often used to cook food which requires a medium to large amount of oil in the pot or pan. Next on the smoke point scale are oils with a slightly lower tolerance to heat, like canola oil, grapeseed oil, and many olive oils , which are mainly used in sauteing and light frying. There are many oils that have low smoke points as well, like most nut-based oils and flaxseed oil, which are mainly used in dips and dressings.
Choosing By Taste
When choosing an oil to cater to a specific taste, it’s usually a good bet to go with the type of oil commonly found and made in the same region as the type of food you’re preparing. For example, if you’re sauteing Mediterranean style chicken and vegetables, you’ll want a lighter tasting olive oil – whereas if you’re cooking an Asian-style dish in a deep pan or wok, you’ll want an oil that suites those tastes as well as one with a high smoke point, like peanut oil.
As far as dressings are concerned, taste is of far greater importance, as the oil goes directly from the plate to your mouth. For both fresh and hearty salads, extra virgin olive oil is usually a good choice. For a very green, fresh taste to your salads, try making a dressing using avocado oil , or a few splashes of sesame oil in with some ginger for a salad with a zingy Asian flair! Adding nuts, seeds, and fruits to a salad or dish tends to bring out the taste in uncooked nut and seed based oils, so give it a try!
Choosing By Diet
Taking the nutritional value of your meal into consideration is very important. Many common oils are overlooked, despite the fact that they might be healthier for you than you think! Canola oil is relatively low in saturated fats, and is commonly used in both frying and baking for mostly that reason. More recently, the health benefits of coconut oil, sunflower oil, and extra virgin olive oil have been noted among the more health-conscious culinary community. Most of this is possibly due to the fact that in most brands of all three of those varieties of oils, there is more limited processing done from fruit-to-shelf. Sunflower oil also boasts a high amount of Vitamin E, and though coconut oil is high in saturated fats, it’s a big winner when it comes to a cholesterol-free diet ! No matter which oil you choose, always check it’s nutritional facts. If the label doesn’t have them, you can find most nutritional information for entrees, oils, and more at http://nutritiondata.self.com/.
