Though it's nice to have two oils (one for cooking, such as canola oil, and one for finishing, such as extra-virgin olive oil), here's a secret: We use extra-virgin olive oil for high-heat applications, too. And it's completely fine. Sear a steak, fry an egg, and stir-fry to your heart's content.
So many different oils, the good news is you can stick with what you know – canola is great! The best oils for stir frys are the oils with the higher smoke points. These tend to be the “thinner” oils such as peanut, grapeseed or canola.
Olive oil is an extremely versatile type of cooking oil and can be used for anything from baking to frying to sautéing. When recipes call for the use of either butter or any other type of refined oil, such as vegetable oil, we highly recommend substituting this for olive oil instead.
Olive oil has a very low smoking point. This means that it gets heated up quickly and can even burn when exposed to high temperatures. Cooking on high heat with olive oil can release toxic smoke which contains compounds harmful to human health.
You can use extra virgin olive oil for all cooking up to 400°F, which includes searing, sautéing, stir-frying, roasting, and low-temperature frying.
Typically, olive oil is a safer bet when cooking because of the higher smoke point and neutral flavor, and extra-virgin olive oil is ideal for a flavorful dressing, a dip for bread, or a last minute pour over a cooked piece of meat. However, this is entirely a matter of preference.
Extra virgin olive oil is the most stable oil to cook with and can be heated as high as 400 F (deep frying occurs at 350-375 F). Even when heated past its smoke point, virgin olive oils produce low levels of harmful compounds due to the high antioxidant content in the oil.
Celebrity chefs have relied upon extra virgin olive oil for centuries in the pursuit of preparing perfect dishes. With its varied and flavourful palette, extra virgin olive oil has become a favourite among many celebrity chefs because of the layers of flavour it can provide to both simple and complex recipes.
The experts we spoke to recommended opting for extra virgin olive oil since it's the highest quality option on the market. Extra virgin olive oil is processed differently than other types of olive oil, like virgin and refined varieties.
Refined oils recommended for high-heat cooking and deep-frying are “high oleic” safflower, sunflower, and peanut oil. These oils are from varieties high in monounsaturated fats, which are well-suited for high heat.
If you don't have any vegetable oil on hand, you can substitute another neutral high-heat oil. Canola, safflower, peanut or grapeseed oils are all great choices. Refined versions can reach even higher temperatures than unrefined ones. (Check the label if you're unsure about what you have.)
In summary, use olive oil when you want its flavor in a dish and for moderate-heat cooking. Choose a vegetable oil when you want a cleaner flavor and for high-heat cooking. If you find yourself out of the oil called for in your recipe, we've found these oils can be used interchangeably the majority of the time.
Is there really a difference? And if so, what is it? Unlike regular olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil is unrefined (not processed with chemicals or heat), and it has much less oleic acid than regular olive oil (meaning its fat hasn't been broken down). It has a distinctive rich color and a notably peppery flavor.
More and more chefs are convinced that olive oil is the best choice for frying. In fact, frying with olive oil is healthy, if you know how to do it. You read that right.
Olive oil is considered extra virgin if it has a free fatty acid level of 0.8 percent or lower. Virgin olive oil has a fatty acid level of between 0.8 percent and 2.0 percent. Basically, every olive oil starts with an acidity level of zero, and then acidity rises with time and other factors.
While the TV chef does love to drizzle a bit of olive oil over a nice salad, he says that rubbing it all over his body is what keeps his skin looking so youthful. Jamie, 42, is a "massive believer" in swapping extra virgin olive oil for expensive moisturisers. And he's even used the trick on three of his five children.
Extra virgin olive oil is one of the most versatile and healthiest cooking oils that chefs use in the kitchen. With its distinct flavor, rich aroma, and many health benefits, extra virgin olive oil is a favorite among chefs worldwide.
The flavor compounds in olive oil are delicate and will evaporate when heated. Heating olive oil does not damage the health benefits but it will make the olive oil lose some flavor. Some people consider this to be a good thing as they do not want their foods to taste like olive oil.
Heart-healthy oils like canola, corn, olive, peanut, and sunflower oils contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They help to lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and raise healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
Olive oil has significantly less saturated fat than butter. It is better for frying. The burn point of olive oil is about 410 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter's burns at about 300 degrees.
Because olive oil has more monounsaturated fats (the heart-healthy fats) than butter, it stands to reason it's also healthier to cook with.