Olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, engine oil...
nestlingmagnet
Posts: 8 Member
I am a vegetarian who mainly cooks with olive oil (mostly for things like stir-frying veggies, making eggs, etc).
But I hear about a lot of different forms of oil that have their own advantages and I was wondering: Are there any other oils out there that you think are better?
And if you do, please state WHY they are better (lower calorie? lower fat? etc.), and if you would recommend using them for cooking, or for other things (like putting flax-seed oil on salad, for example).
But I hear about a lot of different forms of oil that have their own advantages and I was wondering: Are there any other oils out there that you think are better?
And if you do, please state WHY they are better (lower calorie? lower fat? etc.), and if you would recommend using them for cooking, or for other things (like putting flax-seed oil on salad, for example).
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Replies
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all oils are similar in calorie. olive and ground nut oils i think are the best. make sure your olive oil is in a dark bottle as UV light can damage it. another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
engine oil....lol0 -
I like coconut oil because it is yummy. And I believe it makes my skin nicer.0
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I use engine oil for its lovely smell. When making a stir fry, I pour it directly onto the propane stove. Seems to cook faster, and the clouds of smoke add a nice atmosphere to the house! Way easier than PAINTING the kitchen black!0
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Olive oil is great. I also use coconut oil and hemp oil sometimes. Lately, I have been using peanut oil for stir fry.0
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Like you, I mostly use olive oil (light for cooking, extra virgin when I want the flavor). I also use canola oil for high heat and when I want a completely neutral flavor. And I keep nut oils in the fridge to add sparingly to salad dressings and stir fries, not because they're bad for you, but because they are strong.
Oh, yeah, I also keep hot chili oil to coat salmon before searing in a cast iron skillet. Haven't thought of any other uses for it yet, but it would probably work with firm tofu if you don't do fish. Either one would be great with those stir fried veggies!0 -
Like you, I mostly use olive oil (light for cooking, extra virgin when I want the flavor). I also use canola oil for high heat and when I want a completely neutral flavor. And I keep nut oils in the fridge to add sparingly to salad dressings and stir fries, not because they're bad for you, but because they are strong.
Oh, yeah, I also keep hot chili oil to coat salmon before searing in a cast iron skillet. Haven't thought of any other uses for it yet, but it would probably work with firm tofu if you don't do fish. Either one would be great with those stir fried veggies!
Couldn't have said it any better myself...0 -
I am NO expert, but I have watched a lot of cooking shows.
Olive oil is great, but not for a stir fry. Olive Oil has a lower burn/smoke point than other oils.
If you are really getting the temps you need for a proper stir fry, olive oil will make it a messy affair. They suggest standard veggie oil for stir dry, like canola, sunflower, peanut, or my strong preference for a great flavor: sesame oil.
The oils I keep on hand are a good extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, and canola oil (which is rapeseed oil, but it was rebranded back in the day, for understandable reasons).
Sorry, no health benefits to tout. Just a little info.0 -
Like you, I mostly use olive oil (light for cooking, extra virgin when I want the flavor). I also use canola oil for high heat and when I want a completely neutral flavor. And I keep nut oils in the fridge to add sparingly to salad dressings and stir fries, not because they're bad for you, but because they are strong.
Oh, yeah, I also keep hot chili oil to coat salmon before searing in a cast iron skillet. Haven't thought of any other uses for it yet, but it would probably work with firm tofu if you don't do fish. Either one would be great with those stir fried veggies!
Hot chili oil is great on asian noodle dishes and stirfry. I make mine with 75% peanut oil and 25% sesame oil.
PS. Canola oil = rapeseed oil0 -
all oils are similar in calorie. olive and ground nut oils i think are the best. make sure your olive oil is in a dark bottle as UV light can damage it. another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
engine oil....lol
Rapeseed oil may be new to you, but it's not new at all...
As this commentor states though, all oils are pure fat, so they have more-or-less identical levels of fat an calories per gram. The types of fat involved however (saturated, unsaturated) do vary. The type of fat I use depends on what I am doing with it (cooking, baking, salad dressing, seasoning). My "go to" oil for salads is hemp seed oil. While I prefer the flavor of a nice olive oil to hemp seed oil, the hemp seed doesn't have a bad flavor, and it has a more favorable omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio. Flax seed oil is also very good for raw applications. However, you should never cook with hemp or flax seed oil, as the structure of the fats change, and lose their health benefits at relatively low temps. You should also store hemp and flax oil in the fridge, as they go rancid very easily--in fact, I store all oil in the fridge (I take coconut out a little before I plan to use it, or else it is rock hard though).
For cooking, I mostly use extra virgin olive oil. Coconut oil has better health properties (you can heat it to higher temps before the structure of the fats change), but, I don't like its flavor in all foods. For sautes I prefer olive oil. For anything with a lot of spices, like Indian food, or anything that has coconut milk in it, I definitely use coconut oil. For me its a trial and error process, coconut oil has never made anything gross, there are just some applications where I prefer olive oil. I suspect that if I were to keep using coconut oil in everything, eventually I'd get accustomed to the taste. For stir-fries and other higher temp cooking I move between coconut oil and canola/rapeseed oil--peanut oil is also a good alternative for high temp cooking.
I also sometimes bake with coconut oil, but I find that for some foods, you get a coconut taste. I made chocolate chip cookies with it once, and felt like I was eating hand-soap flavored cookies. But that is just me, other people love them. For anything with a strong taste (gingerbread, chocolate cookies) coconut oil works well.
Finally, because they are expensive, I tend to save nut oils for things where they really shine--like a salad dressing made with walnut oil, or a small dash of good sesame oil to finish a stir fry. Sesame oil especially can add a lot of flavor, for just a tiny bit of added fat, if you add it at the very end of a recipe.0 -
Coconut oil is said to raise the good number on your cholesterol, some people take it as a supplements. The only real bad guy i know of is trans fats everything else is fine.0
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I'm a fan of palm oil for high heat and longer shelf life. You have to do your homework and be careful where you purchase it from though, if you're concerned at all about the depletion of the rainforests.0
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I am NO expert, but I have watched a lot of cooking shows.
Olive oil is great, but not for a stir fry. Olive Oil has a lower burn/smoke point than other oils.
If you are really getting the temps you need for a proper stir fry, olive oil will make it a messy affair. They suggest standard veggie oil for stir dry, like canola, sunflower, peanut, or my strong preference for a great flavor: sesame oil.
The oils I keep on hand are a good extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, and canola oil (which is rapeseed oil, but it was rebranded back in the day, for understandable reasons).
Sorry, no health benefits to tout. Just a little info.
I have heard this as well. The same is true of hemp oil. It's good for low temps, but not high temps. Somewhere I heard that olive oil and hemp oil and high temps could cause a portion to turn to trans-fat as well. I haven't verified that though.0 -
I was recommended to use rice bran oil for cooking, but I can't remember why now! It has a high burn point so good for stir fries and had a list of other health benefits... Anyway I use that, and also keep extra virgin olive oil and some with flavour (avocado, walnut, toasted sesame and lemon are the ones I use most)0
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another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
Just to translate (LOL), we call rapeseed oil "canola oil" in the US.0 -
all oils are similar in calorie. olive and ground nut oils i think are the best. make sure your olive oil is in a dark bottle as UV light can damage it. another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
engine oil....lol
Rapeseed oil may be new to you, but it's not new at all...
As this commentor states though, all oils are pure fat, so they have more-or-less identical levels of fat an calories per gram. The types of fat involved however (saturated, unsaturated) do vary. The type of fat I use depends on what I am doing with it (cooking, baking, salad dressing, seasoning). My "go to" oil for salads is hemp seed oil. While I prefer the flavor of a nice olive oil to hemp seed oil, the hemp seed doesn't have a bad flavor, and it has a more favorable omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio. Flax seed oil is also very good for raw applications. However, you should never cook with hemp or flax seed oil, as the structure of the fats change, and lose their health benefits at relatively low temps. You should also store hemp and flax oil in the fridge, as they go rancid very easily--in fact, I store all oil in the fridge (I take coconut out a little before I plan to use it, or else it is rock hard though).
For cooking, I mostly use extra virgin olive oil. Coconut oil has better health properties (you can heat it to higher temps before the structure of the fats change), but, I don't like its flavor in all foods. For sautes I prefer olive oil. For anything with a lot of spices, like Indian food, or anything that has coconut milk in it, I definitely use coconut oil. For me its a trial and error process, coconut oil has never made anything gross, there are just some applications where I prefer olive oil. I suspect that if I were to keep using coconut oil in everything, eventually I'd get accustomed to the taste. For stir-fries and other higher temp cooking I move between coconut oil and canola/rapeseed oil--peanut oil is also a good alternative for high temp cooking.
I also sometimes bake with coconut oil, but I find that for some foods, you get a coconut taste. I made chocolate chip cookies with it once, and felt like I was eating hand-soap flavored cookies. But that is just me, other people love them. For anything with a strong taste (gingerbread, chocolate cookies) coconut oil works well.
Finally, because they are expensive, I tend to save nut oils for things where they really shine--like a salad dressing made with walnut oil, or a small dash of good sesame oil to finish a stir fry. Sesame oil especially can add a lot of flavor, for just a tiny bit of added fat, if you add it at the very end of a recipe.
Thanks for the awesome response! Very informative, exactly what I was looking for.0 -
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best for no or low heat foods, they suggest canola oil for medium to high heat foods, but this is controversial since it is a genetically modified food. I've just been learning the benefits of coconut oil, which is fine for high temp cooking, and I'm surprised it doesn't get more recognition. It is incredible and has so many uses in and on the body. Do a search about it, a good place to start is reading the article by Dr. Mercola in the Huffington Post. It needs to be raw and organic, though. The one I like is Nutiva, and I get it on Amazon or at Wegman's -- some cheaper brands I've bought don't even resemble, smell, or taste the same.
Hope that helps!0 -
I like to cook with safflower oil as well as olive oil. I read that it is good because when heated it doesn't burn or turn into a trans fat like others do0
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I suggest Canola/rapeseed oil in place of olive oil as it's probably what's in the bottle anyways and you're just paying more for dyes and flavorings and the ability to think you're actually using olive oil.
otherwise, I like sunflower oil, it has a slight nutty flavor, I use it in a lot of asian marinades and sauces/dressings. Peanut oil for high heat cooking, real olive oil for dressings and other cold applications, vegetable for greasing my cake pans and motor for the ole car.0 -
I use engine oil for its lovely smell. When making a stir fry, I pour it directly onto the propane stove. Seems to cook faster, and the clouds of smoke add a nice atmosphere to the house! Way easier than PAINTING the kitchen black!
^^^ I love this!!0 -
I use grapeseed oil, coconut oil, sesame oil for stir fry and palm shortening for deep frying I only use oilve oil for salad dressing0
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I am boring and use Frylight due to it being 1 cal per spray!0
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all oils are similar in calorie. olive and ground nut oils i think are the best. make sure your olive oil is in a dark bottle as UV light can damage it. another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
engine oil....lol
Umm, rapeseed oil (aka canola oil) is not healthy. None of those vegetable oils (canola, corn, etc) are good for you. They are very high in Omega 6 and upset the balance of Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio which will lead to inflammation.
These oils are also very highly processed and are rancid before they hit the grocery store shelves...........all the while your government (just like ours) tries to tout that they are healthy when they are NOT.
I stick with Coconut oil and home rendered beef tallow and bacon fat. I also cook a bit with butter. I use olive oil, hemp seed oil, sesame oil, walnut oil and pumpkin seed oil for salad dressings and such.0 -
Baking / Meat rubs - coconut oil
Stir-fry - sesame oil
Everything else - butter0 -
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best for no or low heat foods, they suggest canola oil for medium to high heat foods, but this is controversial since it is a genetically modified food. I've just been learning the benefits of coconut oil, which is fine for high temp cooking, and I'm surprised it doesn't get more recognition. It is incredible and has so many uses in and on the body. Do a search about it, a good place to start is reading the article by Dr. Mercola in the Huffington Post. It needs to be raw and organic, though. The one I like is Nutiva, and I get it on Amazon or at Wegman's -- some cheaper brands I've bought don't even resemble, smell, or taste the same.
Hope that helps!
Coconut oil will not be popular due to the fact that if they starting speaking of the healthfulness and benefits of coconut oil, they (supposed experts) would have to ADMIT that Saturated Fats are NOT unhealthy.
They will never admit to being wrong, so coconut oil sits in the wing for those of us that appreciate eating for good health.0 -
I rotate my oils --they all have aspects that I like. One of the best things I did was buy an oil mister (you can just use a spray bottle filled with oil and a little water). This has really cut down on the amount of oil I cook with. This way I don't really worry about the fat in these oils.
ETA: I'm a vegetarian too if you want to add me
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I used to use Olive Oil for most of my cooking but recently have started using Coconut Oil. I bought it on sale at Whole Foods, it's organic and a little goes a long way! It is said to be great for baking and good for you with "good" fat. The kind I bought is a neutral flavor so everything I make with it does not taste like coconut. I like it and plan on using it more. You can use for many other things as well.0
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hahaha you had me laughing outloud in class :x0
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all oils are similar in calorie. olive and ground nut oils i think are the best. make sure your olive oil is in a dark bottle as UV light can damage it. another new oil is rapeseed, it doesn't burn as easily as olive oil and is better for you, it's becoming popular in the UK now, a lot of the stuff is produced here.
engine oil....lol
hahaha you had me laughing outloud in class :x0 -
I switch between Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Coconut Oil. I read from a trusted nutritionist that coconut oil is the best for cooking on high heat. Something about it being healthy and saturated fat and it helping you to lose weight...0
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I only use coconut oil for cooking because it can tolerate high heat. I used to use olive back in the day but me no likey free radicals. LOL I still use olive (rarely) but not in heated dishes. I won't touch canola, genetically modified is not my thing either.
The organic nutiva extra virgin unrefined coconut oil is cheap on Amazon if you get it in the big double packs on their "subscribe and save." You can cancel the subscription at any time or set it for 6 months. I do that with tons of stuff to save some moola!0
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