Which cooking oil has fewest calories per unit?

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wellthenwhat
wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Including butter, bacon grease, lard and so on. I'm not super picky about flavor, I tend to use whatever I have, and it works, lol.

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    They are mostly just oil (fat) so any differences will be small.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I think all oils and fats are right around 120 calories per Tbsp.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Since calories are pretty much the same, just use what suites your particular dish best. Frying? Use oil with a high smoke point. If your dish would benefit from a slight coconutty taste (shrimp, eggs, pancakes are nice), then use coconut oil! Drizzle EVOO on cold dishes and salads to get the most nutrient bang for your buck. And butter... well, butter is awesome for pretty much anything but high-heat frying. Bacon grease is great for sauteing veggies.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
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    toxikon wrote: »
    Since calories are pretty much the same, just use what suites your particular dish best. Frying? Use oil with a high smoke point. If your dish would benefit from a slight coconutty taste (shrimp, eggs, pancakes are nice), then use coconut oil! Drizzle EVOO on cold dishes and salads to get the most nutrient bang for your buck. And butter... well, butter is awesome for pretty much anything but frying.

    Like I said, I use whatever is handy, lol. My mom always used butter for fried eggs. I usually use canola or vegetable because it's what I have. I also use bacon grease a lot (in small quantities) because it's reducing waste, and I don't have to buy something new.
  • bobtater1
    bobtater1 Posts: 172 Member
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    When baking with flours I always try to substitute unsweetened apple sauce tablespoon for tablespoon of oil. Seems to work on a lot of recipies and WAY lower on calories.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    wellthenwhat wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    Since calories are pretty much the same, just use what suites your particular dish best. Frying? Use oil with a high smoke point. If your dish would benefit from a slight coconutty taste (shrimp, eggs, pancakes are nice), then use coconut oil! Drizzle EVOO on cold dishes and salads to get the most nutrient bang for your buck. And butter... well, butter is awesome for pretty much anything but frying.

    Like I said, I use whatever is handy, lol. My mom always used butter for fried eggs. I usually use canola or vegetable because it's what I have. I also use bacon grease a lot (in small quantities) because it's reducing waste, and I don't have to buy something new.

    Same, I have a mason jar in my fridge with cheese cloth spread across the ring so it filters out some of the little bacon chunks. Whenever I need some "bacon butter" I just grab it from the jar!
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    I think they're all similar but using an oil based cooking spray can help eliminate the extra, perhaps unneeded calories, if you're just using it to cook.
  • nickhinds88
    nickhinds88 Posts: 44 Member
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    Fats are 9 calories per gram
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
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    The sprays are very efficient, only a few calories per spray.

    Another 'trick' I discovered was using water for some things. A package of lean (turkey or chicken) sausage meat told me to cover the sausages with water while I cooked them in a frying pan. Then when the water had all been cooked, they were ready. I've used it for a few other meats and it's worked well. Obviously doesn't work for most things.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
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    Rusty740 wrote: »
    The sprays are very efficient, only a few calories per spray.

    Another 'trick' I discovered was using water for some things. A package of lean (turkey or chicken) sausage meat told me to cover the sausages with water while I cooked them in a frying pan. Then when the water had all been cooked, they were ready. I've used it for a few other meats and it's worked well. Obviously doesn't work for most things.

    I do that when i fry out ground meat.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
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    bobtater1 wrote: »
    When baking with flours I always try to substitute unsweetened apple sauce tablespoon for tablespoon of oil. Seems to work on a lot of recipies and WAY lower on calories.

    Warn people if you are feeding others. I'm allergic to apples and have had minor reactions not knowing before I ate that applesauce was used to sub for oil.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    Yup, as oils are pure fat, they're 9 calories per gram across the board. Use whichever takes your fancy and tastes best with your dish.

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