Is olive oil good for frying meat in?

(Alex) #1

I have quite a good amount of extra virgin olive oil that a friend gave me, it’s from a good area of Southern Italy.
I use it as my primary oil to fry steaks, sausages, and bacon and eggs. Is it good for that or should I use it only to pour some on veggies?

(Bob M) #2

How does it taste? Usually the stuff that tastes good is expensive, so I only use it for pouring.

For frying, I usually use things like ghee, tallow, duck fat, etc.

(Alex) #3

It tastes really good. Maybe a little heavy, but the taste is amazing. To get that taste you need extra virgin olive oil, not virgin olive oil.

(Joey) #4

I’m guessing part of @ctviggen’s question stems from the fact that a lot of supposedly real olive oil is cut with other oils (like cheaper seed oils). The problem with that is that at higher temperatures, these seed oils (canola, corn, vegetable oil, soy bean oil, etc.) create compounds thought to be dangerous.

Real, pure olive oil isn’t bad for light frying, but even better would be avocado oil or coconut oil, which have higher temperature tolerances. (And of course lard and tallow.)

If I had really flavorful real olive oil, I wouldn’t waste it on frying. But unless you get super high temperatures where you’re scalding it, it certainly wouldn’t be unhealthy.

Others on this forum have stronger views on this stuff, so I’ll wait for them to weigh in.

(Bob M) #5

It’s hard to find olive oil with good taste. I like the ones with a peppery aftertaste. Too delicate to fry with.

#6

Up to you, Olive Oil doesn’t have a very high smoke point and usually burns if you try to actually fry something with it, but if it’s working and you like the taste go for it.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

If you do a forum search on “smoke point,” a number of useful threads come up.

(Robert J.) #8

Personally I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, I was on a pretty frustrating search for the perfect “frying liquid”. I tried butter, whipped butter, regular olive oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, and even peanut oil then I finally stumbled upon extra virgin olive oil and it is perfect for me. Extra virgin olive oil contains antioxidants (other oils do not) so it is quite resistant to oxidation and there will be a less chance of the formation of harmful substances while cooking compared to other oils.

(Joey) #9

Might be of interest…

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(Doug) #10

I use avocado oil and the light, refined olive oil - both work very well for frying, IMO.

(David Cooke) #11

I can’t see why anyone would want to use anything else but coconut oil.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

I prefer the taste of butter and bacon grease.

#13

It’s not carnivore (okay, it’s not important, I rarely do proper carnivore anyway but I make some attempt) and it’s tasteless… But I am fine with it, actually. I rarely use it (I try use exactly zero added fat to begin with and I have a huge lard fan. good lard is super tasty!) but it’s fine :slight_smile:

(Robin) #14

Welcome Robert. Thanks for your input!

(Marianne) #15

I haven’t read through the thread and I’m sure someone has already offered this, but I use ghee - which is clarified butter without the milk solids. It has a higher sear point than olive oil and has a great flavor, I think. I get a 32 oz. jar at the international food store for like $17. It lasts me a long time. When we eat lean meat (pork chops or round steak, etc.), I use it as a condiment for added fat and taste - with salt, of course. Yum!

(Alex) #16

This article is interesting. It says extra virgin olive oil is super for frying.

(B Creighton) #17

I believe it is good to fry with, although a saturated fat is going to be even more stable, and take higher temperatures in general - with the exception of coconut oil. Sometimes, I just want the taste of it. I make an herbed mix with olive oil to baste my roasted lamb in. It just hits the spot. I roast it at 350 F, and it is done after about 45 min. It just has the right flavor. One thing coconut oil has though is MCTs, and now I try to get as much of those as possible, so I’ll fry eggs up in it, etc. Also I don’t care for the mix of olive oil flavor and eggs. In any case EVOO is much more preferable than “vegetable oils,” which are very prone to oxidizing. You want to avoid those. They are also all GMO, and probably have glyphosate residues.