Pan Cooking Oils

#1

Aside from lard, butter, meat fats, chicken fat, which of the following are recommended and which should be avoided:
Olive oil, sesame oil, almond oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, soybean oil, canola oil sunflower/safflower oil, toasted sesame oil, and red palm oil

(KM) #2

I have always been told that sesame oil should not be used for cooking, it loses its flavor at high heat. Put it on last as a seasoning. I don’t pan cook with any of the others, but if it were a necessity I’d stick with olive oil, as it’s an easily extracted fat. I believe avocado oil has the highest smoke point of plant oils and is the least likely to degrade at temperature, and ghee will hold up better than butter, but they’re not on your list.

#3

Obviously the real fats are best, although I’d leave out meat fats, fats from the meat itself isn’t the same as lard and tallow. I’d add Ghee and and Avacado as they’re both very heat tolerant though.

For lower temp cooking, olive, sesame, still mixed on safflower (that was a big one in the Atkins days). T

Here’s the problem, The reality is there’s a chance some of the seed oils could actually be better than using (good) oils that aren’t meant for the high temps, simply because they’re harder to damage and oxidize, which is when the real damage happens and they become more unhealthy. Starting off not great is one thing, but holding together and not oxidizing is better than an oil that started good, then became oxidized to hell in the process.

Also remember, it’s not just about temp, it’s about time there! If you’re frying, that tallow and sometimes lard all day long, but just sauteing something, Ghee and avacado and food depending, olive oil.

#4

Can I use sesame oil for cooking egg omelets and does it have a high temp threshold for cooking longer in the pan?

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #5

Only time I use oil is to treat my skillet

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are highly unstable when heated. The compounds created when they break down have not bee fully studied, so far as I know, but the research so far has shown them to be detrimental. See the work of the late Mary Enig, who was the first to raise the alarm.

So any oil that is high in polyunsaturates should be avoided. Here is a chart of some common oils, with the analysis of their fat content:

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As you can see, palm and olive oil are pretty low in polyunsaturates, but the other oils you mentioned are very high and should therefore be avoided.

Personally, I find that lard, bacon grease, and butter have the best flavour as cooking fats. Those are the fats we mostly cook with in our household.

#7

Thanks for the detailed analysis. Looks like most plant oils are high in the polyunsaturates. How do both sesame and toasted sesame oils, and avocado oil fare on this chart? High or low in polyunsaturated fat?

I’ve also heard that palm oil, used many prepared foods is an unhealthy oil. Any truth to that notion?

(Bob M) #8

The problem with palm oil is that some are cutting down forests and the like to plant palms.

Sesame and similar oils are probably best to add as flavor.

The one thin that I can’t figure out is what to put on my grill. It can get to 600F, and everything I’ve tried can catch fire. Tallow, liquid coconut oil, etc.

(B Creighton) #9

Sorry Bob, you really shouldn’t cook at that temperature. High temp cooking is generally detrimental. It just makes more harmful chemicals no matter what you do. I have a brother who likes to burn his toast, and then scrape off all the blackest parts. Still, he is getting all the consequences of the Maillard reaction which did the browning. Ok, I’ll shut up now.

(B Creighton) #10

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I don’t really care for this particular graph. What are “other fats?” There really are no other fats. All fats are saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. From the looks of it, they are calling MCT fats “other fats,” but they are saturated fats. But, I have to second guess that because in the palm oil line, they have other fats at a very small proportion, when I know they are fairly rich in MCTs.

However, your point is well taken, which is why I typically use coconut oil or butter for skillet “frying.”

(B Creighton) #11

As cooking fats, I generally use virgin[not refined] coconut oil or butter. Olive oil is sometimes used but only at 300 F. I just like its taste of it in some foods like my roasted lamb. However, coconut oil and butter have about the same temp limitations. Palm oil is also acceptable. Those others just really aren’t acceptable. Grape seed oil has a high smoke point, but I just don’t use it anymore. Those other oils just shouldn’t be used for cooking for multiple reasons. Soy and corn are fairly high in oxylates, which can get into the oil. Most of them are also GMO so they can be sprayed with glyphosate, and typically are in the states, which means it is becoming rather ubiquitous in the food supply. For these reasons the only other oil I will use is cold-pressed canola oil, if its non-GMO or organic. I use it quite sparingly in my cooking, because I enjoy butter and olive oil too much. Paul’s chart doesn’t really show it, but the polyunsaturated fats in canola are roughly broken down into equal amounts of omega 6 and omega 3 ALA fats, which I find to be an acceptable ratio. I now just stay away from the high omega 6 fats, because they compete for the same enzymes omega 3s need to be utilized by the body. I believe glyphosate is quite damaging to the gut microbiome, and even if that cheap oil has only trace amounts of it, the constant use of the stuff in the SAD ads up to lots of gut dysbiosis, which we are seeing in the US. Just steer clear.

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

Nina Teicholz covers this in her book. This canard was started by American producers of corn oil and soybean oil in order to prevent (cheaper, foreign-produced) palm oil from taking their market share. They simply played into the fear of saturated fat they had already been inculcating.