If I stocked only 1, which would be the best to use for all moderate and high heat cooking? Avocado, olive, light olive, grapeseed, coconut? Other?
I have EVOO for low heat and salads.
It would be helpful to the discussions in this sub if people follow the sticky and support their claims with links to reputable studies.
Everybody just lists some oils without backing up why. There is so much potential for misinformation in this sub.
DON’T EVER BUY LIGHT OLIVE OIL.
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As a country that produces Olive Oil, using olive oil mixed with other oils is just a slap in the face and it is a waste of the olives used in that mixture.
Avocado oil, it is high in healthier fats, neutral in flavor and does not alter at high heat. Extra virgin olive oil turns more acidic in high heat and also can develop more carcinogenic properties. Coconut oil can have a very strong coconut flavor unless you get refined which is more processed.For overall usage avocado oil is good for baking, sautéing, high heat, low heat, etcetera. Highly recommend.
I use coconut oil but I only use it in sugar free baked goods in place of butter or when roasting sweet potato fries. It really adds a nice flavor to the fries. I use actual avocado in place of butter in baked goods too. I whip it first with a stick blender.
Ghee. It’s clarified butter and can be made at home easily.
Edit : Recipe below -
In a skillet / sauce pan, melt butter over low heat until it foams and boils, around 10 - 15 minutes. Allow the milk solids / foam to brown. Using a fine strainer, pour the ghee into a container. The ghee will thicken and become slightly transparent as it cools. It lasts a long time.
Home made so you are sure it doesn’t contain any adulterants.
I feel like everyone here is saying really different things. Where is the evidence for smoke points? I thought coconut oil was bad as it is a saturated oil such as that found in animal fats that raises LDL. From my understanding, there is little evidence to suggest saturated fats are any good. Evidence is conflicting though but most studies point to unsaturated. Can anyone lead me to info about why we look to smoke points?
I’m a nutritionist. Lot of cringey responses.
The basic idea here, coming from a whole foods perspective ie aligned with weston a price style thinking, is to avoid first gmo oils (soy, canola, rapeseed, etc) and to avoid polyunsaturated fats. Now, even coconut will have some poly unsaturated, some mono, along with its largely saturated fats. The poly means there are little links in the molecules that can be broken. Most vegetable oils are high in poly unsaturated fats. They are often rancid by the time they get to the store, and are easily destroyed by cooking. Olive and avocado are in the middle, high in monounsaturated fats, which only have one link to break. But best for high heat is saturated fats, which don’t break under heat and are a single solid chain without breaks. So, coconut, sustainably sourced red palm oil (see rainforest destruction issue), ghee, butter, tallow, lard would all be the best, as these are highest in saturated fat. Olive or avocado not bad. Grapeseed close. Most other vegetable oils often should simply be avoided altogether, but especially avoid high heat for them.
Licensed Nutritionist here - okay so off the top of my head from prior research I will say Avocado because of how it falls in my ven diagram per say of it being a monounsaturated fat and having a high smoke point.
I don’t think oil is good when it is heated. Every oil does produce cholesterol when heated. Precisely why in some Middle Eastern dishes, olive oil is poured cold after preparation. Meanwhile, my choice of healthiest high heat oil is cold-pressed coconut oil.
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-021-01961-2
According to this study:
Evoo, canola, corn, margarine, butter. From best to worst. CVD, cancer etc. However the RR between best and worst was barely 0.1
I really like grapeseed oil, it burns really hot and I’ve never seen it smoke. I’ve even used it to make fried foods in a skillet. Idk how it is as your main oil as I routinely switch between grapeseed and olive oil
Consider oxidation and smoke point.
I prefer ghee, tallow, lard, for high heat. Coconut oil as well, for medium heat.
Avocado and peanut are also good for high heat, though I don’t personally use them.
I teach home ekonomics at school and have cooking as a hobby at home.At work and home we almost exclusively use rapeseed oil (canola oil) as it has a very high smokepoint ( about 200 C / 400 F )It’s also low in saturated and trans fats, and high amounts of unsaturated fats ( so it’s healthy as well)For my third point in this presentation is the fact that it has almost no taste which makes it suited for any type of cooking ( I’m looking at you olive and coconut )