Cooking Articles & Recipes

Vegetable Oils - Can olive oil be used for frying foods?

New research shows that vegetable oils may not be the healthiest choice for cooking. Discover some healthier alternatives to using vegetable oils in this article ...

As people become more and more health conscious, they begin to wonder about the oils they use in their foods. While some people try to avoid oils all together, many others are searching for the healthiest variety. Vegetable oils used to be the most popular oil used for frying in the home and in restaurants, but that is slowly changing. New research suggests that vegetable oils might not be the best thing for your heart.

When it comes to vegetable oils, it can get confusing. Some oils that come from various plants are considered safer than plain old vegetable oil. You have to make the distinction between heart healthy types and other kinds that may cause problems. If the label says ‘vegetable oil’ but makes no distinction otherwise, you should skip it. Other types, like olive oil are a healthier choice.

Once you have decided to push aside vegetable oils, you may wonder what to use. You not only want a good oil, you want one that will taste great. Two of the most common types you should look for are canola and olive oil. Each of these have been deemed safer than vegetable oils for your heart and your health. Of course, this may change again in a few years. It seems the experts cannot make up their minds. For a while, margarine was considered a healthy substitute for real butter. Today, they say the opposite is true.

One surprising development in recent years is an alternative use for vegetable oils. As gas prices soar, people are looking for alternatives. As it turns out, there are engines that can run on oil alone, and some that use both oil and gas. The good thing about using vegetable oil in a car would be that it might be cleaner burning, and this type of oil is something the US can produce on its own without the need to import from foreign countries.

Though cars that run on vegetable oils are not very common yet, they may be very soon. There are models on the road today, and many have popped up in small towns as well as large cities. You may drive around in a car that smells like a giant French fry, but imagine the money you will save, and the impact it will have on the fragile economy. If we can’t eat it, we might as well use it for a more important goal.

Now ... regarding the question, "Can olive oil be used for frying foods?", Rhonda Parkinson, from Your Guide to Chinese Cuisine, says ... "yes, definitely!" According to Rhonda, cooking with olive oil, harvested from olive trees in Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Italy, can increase the health benefits of stir-frying. She goes on to say that the United States Food and Drug Administration has announced that olive oil may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Like green tea, olive oil is thought to lower the level of LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol that can clog arteries. The FDA report states that only two tablespoons a day may be enough to lower cholesterol levels. This is because olive oil is high in monounsaturated fat, but low in saturated and polyunsaturated fat.

What kind of olive oil is best?

There are three grades of olive oil: extra-virgin, virgin and olive oil (this last grade is also called pure olive oil). For stir-frying, it’s best to stick with olive oil and stay away from the extra-virgin and virgin grades. Standard olive oil goes through a more rigorous refining process than extra-virgin and virgin olive oils. This gives it a higher smoking point, meaning that it can take the high heat needed for stir-frying.

Deep-frying is another story. The smoking point of olive oil varies between 375 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit (190.5 to 200 degrees Celsius), which can be a little low. You may want to stick with other types of vegetable oil, such as canola, or peanut oil for deep-frying. But feel free to use olive oil whenever you’re preparing your favourite stir-fry dishes.

For more cooking tips, please visit the "resources" section of this website, or read Cooking Tips.