Frying in olive oil

#1

I thought this article was interesting, especially since I love frying in olive oil. I’ve always wondered about the claims that it’s bad for you even though Italians have been cooking this way since forever.

Here’s one of the studies cited:“Food Fried in Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Improves Postprandial Insulin Response in Obese, Insulin-Resistant Women”

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2009.0264

And finally, this (although I found the suggestion that butter is less healthy than olive oil troubling):

#2

I use olive oil for frying…but for low temperature quick fry. Like saute beef or pork strips, or wilting spinach.

I find olive oil is unstable at high temperature and makes food bitter. Which I then use lard or tallow usually.

#3

I go to medium-high heat, but I don’t ever let it get to smoking. And yeah, lard for the high-heat stuff!

#4

My mum used to reuse olive oil she’d already used for frying, i.e. she’d tip it out of the pan and into a jar for next time. It visibly cracked and separated into layers. That atrocity aside, there have been several occasions where I’ve felt sick after eating something fried in lots of olive oil, as far as I’m concerned from my body’s reaction cooking with it is little better than cooking with any other vegetable oil. It’s with a great sense of relief that I now use butter and goose fat for everything.

(John) #5

I cook too hot for olive oil, gets nasty and sets off alarms. I like peanut oil for most things, ghee is even better.

(betsy.rome) #6

I don’t remember where online I read it, but IIRC it’s better to use the lighter, non-virgin olive oil for sauteeing, as it has a higher smoke point. I keep green EVOO for adding at the end of a dish for taste, or raw, and ordinary pale-yellow olive oil (the cheaper stuff) for sauteeing. I never use it for deep frying.

(Dustin Cade) #7

the best oil for high temp frying is avocado oil, has a smoke point of over 500F

(Jo Lo) #8

Yes, in fact my bottle of avocado oil has a list on label saying:

"Temperature oils can safely be heated to:

(this brand of oil; Chosen Foods, from Costco) Avocaco oil 500 F
Canola oil 435 F
virgin avocado oil 400 F
Extra virgin olive oil 375 F
virgin coconut oil 375 F"

You can reach 375 pretty easily with moderate heat. There are cheap IR thermometers available to measure the temp of your cooking, even in a fry pan.

(Dustin Cade) #9

most stove top frying should be 350, most healthy oils can handle this…

(Jo Lo) #10

380 in my fry pan tonight! Frying steak in butter. Burner only on 5 on a scale of 8.