Research shows that all high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil is suitable for high heat cooking. This Red Island Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made with olive varieties that naturally have 30% more antioxidants than the standard Red Island EVOO, making the oil more stable for high heat cooking.
Laughs in mediterranean
UncleRico is right. Source: worked in the food distribution/supply industry.
Olive for pouring over salads and pastas and tasty stuff, and for dipping into with other breads and stuff, Rice Bran oil for high temp stuff.
yep, rice bran in deep fryer due to high smoke point and doesn't gum up like canola.
Recent scientific peer-reviewed research indicates that extra virgin olive oil is safe to use for high heat cooking from a health standpoint. Extra virgin olive oil has a medium-low smoke point, but it turns out that the smoke point is a poor indicator of degradation and oxidation, which is what leads to cancer-causing free radicals. Yes, I know this goes against everything you will read on the internet or hear from a chef, but it’s been independently confirmed by multiple studies.
That said, I still don’t use evoo for high heat cooking, because it has a stronger taste and turns bitter quickly. Also, I forget the scientific reason, but evoo is worse than most cooking oils at making foods dry and crispy. Fried chicken or chips (French fries) will be crunchier if cooked in peanut oil. And then of course there’s the fact that the cost of evoo is around triple that of common cooking oils.
Isn't the main point of avoiding an oil with a low smoke point, is to avoid the… low smoking point? I've never heard anyone preach about the health benefits - high heat cooking can reach this smoking point sooner on oils like this compared to other oils
It was (and still is) commonly thought that cooking oils began to rapidly degrade and become unhealthier once they reach smoking point. You can easily find this misinformation all over the internet. As previously stated, all scientific evidence points to olive oil being among the most chemically stable oils when exposed to high temperatures, despite its relatively low smoking point.
Avoiding smoke is a perfectly valid reason to avoid cooking with olive oil on high heat, especially if you don’t have a good extraction fan. That said, the smoking points of olive oils can vary quite a lot. While a low quality olive oil will smoke quite readily, a higher quality extra virgin olive oil with higher levels of antioxidants such as this will be quite comparable to other common cooking oils in its smoke point.
@Franckel: So refreshing to see someone call out this misinformation rather than just regurgitate it.
From a health perspective, smoke point is not what we should be worrying about, rather we should concern ourselves with the 'oxidative stability' of an oil, i.e. how quickly it breaks down and produces harmful compounds. Notably, most vegetable oils with a high smoke point have low oxidative stability due to the fact that they are rich in polyunsaturated fats
This article sums up the research nicely.
And if anybody wants to read why polyunsaturated fats should be avoided in general, here are some great articles:
Oils in Context
Unsaturated Vegetable Oils: Toxic
Diabetes, scleroderma, oils and hormones
On Friday night my mate's partner almost burnt his house down. He was warming up olive oil to make chips, even though my mate said stop using olive oil. The oil ignited. Luckily the fire brigade was quick.
He has second degree burns on his arms and face. Half his beard is gone. The whole downstairs of their house needs replacing.
Don't use olive oil for high heat cooking.
Only a fool walks away from oil heating up, bloody lucky it wasn't worse than it was! I've cooked with olive oil for years, never had a fire.
Good excuse to get rid of the beard :)
Yeah look, I made the mistake of heating oil and turning my back on it while chopping up veggies. Turned around just in time to see the oil ignite…
I took it outside, looked at my deck and realised everything was flammable, turned around and took it back inside… luckily it just left soot on my oven alcove rather than taking out my beard!
I think you mean inflammable
@TEER3X: Undid the neg. Some people have zero sense of humour. I smiled, don't let the fools get you down.
best way to smother or contain an oil fire is to put a lid on the pot/pan, or pour a bunch of salt on it. usually taking it anywhere wont really help and you might get burned from it. the only place you might consider taking it to is if you have a BBQ you can put it on there and close the lid. hope this helps someone in the future
@hongerwonger: hahaha yeah…. I had to take it outside as the flames started hitting the stove alcove roof, and I didnt really want to burn the house down. I definitely got a toasty hand for my troubles! Thinking back on it I'd grab another bigger pan and slide it ontop to put it out. At the time I was a bit panicked and definitely thought I had a fire blanket in my cupboard. An outside bbq would be a good option as well but I dont have one :(
Or I'd just not heat the oil to ignition point…. thats probably a better idea.
But… the research shows…
Although the smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is lower than that of most cooking oils, the ignition temperature of olive oil is the same or higher than oils such as canola and soybean. The mishap almost certainly would have occurred in an essentially identical manner with other oils, so your friend’s carelessness and ignorance is far more to blame than the specific use of olive oil.
https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/11333/Buda_Or…
This man knows his oils
This guy oils
Call him Sol.
ehhh, use and electric deep fryer …. much safer .
(X) Doubt
Can I use this for a WOK/WOK BURNER?
That's not a bargain prize.
How interesting, didn't know this variety existed.
The next bottle of oil I'm going to try for cooking is a refined olive oil (extra mild), not extra virgin, apparently the smoke point is a lot higher on the refined olive oils.
So we shouldn't be using extra virgin olive oil for ANY frying pan cooking or not using it just where the temp is too high (i.e. you can see smoke coming off the oil?)
Olive oil is great for frying. As long as it is not smoking, it isn't too hot.
You'll soon learn to avoid that.
I've never heard of anybody using olive oil for deep-frying, but that may just be the cost.
You can use it for soffritto, for frying garlic , onion or pancetta before adding tomato for pasta sauce. With onions and butter when you make risotto. Fried eggs. Not as good for frying a schnitzel or chips.
what if you consume it without cooking? 30% more power?
Use an air fryer and there is no need to be concerned about which oils aint oils.
Air fryers are great but don't hold a candle to deep fryers when it comes to the end result, for most things, like chips for example
Not disputing that this may be a good price, but don't use Olive Oil for high heat cooking. It has one of the lowest smoke points of all oils.