Alternative to Olive/Canola oil?

tigersword

When it comes to oil and cooking, i'd be worried about which oil is ok to heat and which ones are not. While canola (rapeseed) oil and coconut oil are ok to heat up, grapeseed and olive oil should not be heated. They deteriorate into all kinds of 'nasty oxidized stuff' that's bad for the health.
Grapeseed oil is greatin vinaigrette, because it has little flavor on its own and will take the flavor of the spices you use.
I've turned to coconut oil for light frying of tofu ( the only food i ever 'fry') and always use the bare minium in the pan.

Uhhh, both grapeseed and olive oil can take much higher temperatures than coconut oil. Coconut oil oxidizes at 350F, while olive oil (extra virgin) can be heated to 405F, and grapeseed can handle 420F. Refined coconut oil can be heated to 450, but the refining process pretty much adds in all the same compounds you'd get from overheating virgin coconut oil anyway, so it's not even an option. For everyday pan frying or sauteing, olive or canola oil all the way. Virgin coconut oil is good for baking, or low heat cooking.

Zebusz

Try an oil mister, a good one.

Depending on how you cook things you can use a lot less oil. I tend to mist things, stir fry at a high heat, then turn back down to let cook, mist one more time to carmelize things a bit.

I do the same thing! I use a lot less oil than I normally used to and I still get the great flavor .

SadFaerie

I've started to cook veggies a lot and I usually cook it in a tablespoon of olive oil and seasonings. Unfortunately that 125cals and 14g of fat right there. Does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives?

Steam your veggies, you save more of their nutrients this way and don't need to add any grease. Even seasoning isn't necessary, steaming help to save natural taste.

kellyskitties

When it comes to oil and cooking, i'd be worried about which oil is ok to heat and which ones are not. While canola (rapeseed) oil and coconut oil are ok to heat up, grapeseed and olive oil should not be heated. They deteriorate into all kinds of 'nasty oxidized stuff' that's bad for the health.
Grapeseed oil is greatin vinaigrette, because it has little flavor on its own and will take the flavor of the spices you use.
I've turned to coconut oil for light frying of tofu ( the only food i ever 'fry') and always use the bare minium in the pan.

Uhhh, both grapeseed and olive oil can take much higher temperatures than coconut oil. Coconut oil oxidizes at 350F, while olive oil (extra virgin) can be heated to 405F, and grapeseed can handle 420F. Refined coconut oil can be heated to 450, but the refining process pretty much adds in all the same compounds you'd get from overheating virgin coconut oil anyway, so it's not even an option. For everyday pan frying or sauteing, olive or canola oil all the way. Virgin coconut oil is good for baking, or low heat cooking.

Are you sure? I went looking around for evidence after your post because I eat coconut, butter and olive oils mostly. Please cite your source. Here's a bit of what I found -
http://authoritynutrition.com/healthy-cooking-oils/

ewrob

I just add water in the pan with my veggies, it has about the same effect and tastes just as good to me without the added calories and fat.

laele75

Butter. I only use butter and coconut oil for cooking. I hate olive oil and after doing research on canola and soybeans, I will NEVER use them again.

There's nothing wrong with butter, it has less calories per tablespoon than oil and tastes awesome.

HeidiCooksSupper

Since most oils have pretty much the same calories per tablespoon, get an oil mister/spray bottle. You can use much less oil to coat a pan and unlike Pam, etc., there no extra chemicals or residue. I've had the same old hand-pump olive oil mister from Pampered Chef for years but they are also available pretty cheap on Amazon.

hookilau

I discovered the other day that when I replaced olive oil with lard I saved calories because I needed much much less than I did olive oil. I think you will find the same with other solid fats like butter and coconut oil, the stability of them is good for cooking and you don't need to use as much

I agree. I've noticed this also with ghee. I use much less of the solid fats (by volume) than oils when cooking. That said, I use butter, coconut oil, and ghee for all my cooking.

jenilla1

Use less?

Debbe2

I steam veggies usually-- like it best.

FrankieTrailBlazer

The best alternative is to steam the veggies with zero oil !!

SJVZEE

I used to use butter but I'm cutting out dairy, so I've started using a bit of water with some different spices and it's working out great for my veggies/mushrooms

jc31388

With most vegetables i use cooking spray for the pan. I do also bake and steam them depending on the vegatable.

electrokinetic

I just add water in the pan with my veggies, it has about the same effect and tastes just as good to me without the added calories and fat.

This is the closest response to what I was looking for. For example I sometimes use soy sauce. Does anyone have any other suggestions that work well?

Steamed vegetables suck IMO. It's bland and reminds me of a school cafeteria.

I also encourage that the facts be presented about how olive oil releases bad chemicals or becomes oxidated at high temps. I personally buy olive oil spray in a can. It's marketed as an alternative to pam. It also has a far superior spray pattern than the misto. I find that the Misto is more of a stream than a mist.

For those of you who stated that olive oil has some fantastic benefits, please enlighten us

43932452

I think grape seed oil isn't supposed to be heated.I'm not sure
about walnut or sunflower seed oils. I know Thai recipes call
for coconut oil so it can stand higher temps.

FrankieTrailBlazer

Here is a reasonably handy chart which gives a good visualization of just how complicated the matrix of available oils vs. health has become.

The Oil Comparison Chart
http://www.eatingrules.com/Cooking-Oil-Comparison-Chart_02-22-12.pdf

I think this is where "KISS Principle" applies. If one is eating lots of healthy non-processed foods (fruits veggies, legumes), there is little need to add refined oils to ones diet at all.

Shesaid_destroy

From Dr. Joseph Mercola :
'There is only one oil that is stable enough to withstand the heat of cooking, and that's coconut oil. So, do yourself a favor and ditch all those "healthy oil wannabes," and replace them with a large jar of fresh, organic, heart-supporting coconut oil.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/coconut-oil-benefits_b_821453.html



Alternatively, when i do the usual onion and garlic little 'fry' to flavor something, i now 'fry' them in a little bit of really hot broth. That releases the flavor and contains a lot less fat.

RobTheGourmet

Another vote for butter. Real butter - not that fake stuff.

what are you sweating your vegetables? unless your also making clarified ( ghee ) you cannot saute with butter its burning point is very low, in which case your not saute your steaming and do not need oil/butter for that anyways.. O.o

tigersword

When it comes to oil and cooking, i'd be worried about which oil is ok to heat and which ones are not. While canola (rapeseed) oil and coconut oil are ok to heat up, grapeseed and olive oil should not be heated. They deteriorate into all kinds of 'nasty oxidized stuff' that's bad for the health.
Grapeseed oil is greatin vinaigrette, because it has little flavor on its own and will take the flavor of the spices you use.
I've turned to coconut oil for light frying of tofu ( the only food i ever 'fry') and always use the bare minium in the pan.

Uhhh, both grapeseed and olive oil can take much higher temperatures than coconut oil. Coconut oil oxidizes at 350F, while olive oil (extra virgin) can be heated to 405F, and grapeseed can handle 420F. Refined coconut oil can be heated to 450, but the refining process pretty much adds in all the same compounds you'd get from overheating virgin coconut oil anyway, so it's not even an option. For everyday pan frying or sauteing, olive or canola oil all the way. Virgin coconut oil is good for baking, or low heat cooking.

Are you sure? I went looking around for evidence after your post because I eat coconut, butter and olive oils mostly. Please cite your source. Here's a bit of what I found -
http://authoritynutrition.com/healthy-cooking-oils/

http://nutiva.com/the-nutiva-kitchen/coconut-oil-recipes/

Coconut oil manufacturer lists the smoke point of oil as 350. I'd go with their opinion, especially as the link you posted listed butter as their second example, and butter is not at all good for high heat cooking, it has a very low smoke point.

tigersword

From Dr. Joseph Mercola :
'There is only one oil that is stable enough to withstand the heat of cooking, and that's coconut oil. So, do yourself a favor and ditch all those "healthy oil wannabes," and replace them with a large jar of fresh, organic, heart-supporting coconut oil.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/coconut-oil-benefits_b_821453.html



Alternatively, when i do the usual onion and garlic little 'fry' to flavor something, i now 'fry' them in a little bit of really hot broth. That releases the flavor and contains a lot less fat.

Mercola has zero credibility. If he said it, you can pretty much guarantee it isn't true.