Olive Oil for Frying?

Question
Hi.  I keep hearing controversial information about olive oil.  Is it true that you can use olive oil in salads, etc and it will be good for you? But, not to fry with it because of some change that occurs in its chemical composition upon heating it?

Please explain if you should or should not be frying foods with olive oil.  Thanks.

Answer
Tania,

As I said in the previous answer, "Olive oil can loose some of its flavor if it heated too much.  Frying is fine with olive oil, but you would not want to deep-fry with olive oil."

Here is a more detailed answer:

Research has shown that most pure olive oils have "smoking points" (at that point the chemical structure of fats and oils is changed when heated beyond the smoking point) ranging from 250 to 468 degrees Fahrenheit. Basically, the oil can burn and ruin what you are cooking.  If you notice that your pan with olive oil looks like it is smoking, then the heat is too high.

"Pure" olive oil is lighter in color than "extra virgin" and mostly used to cook foods at medium heat. "Light" olive oil has a less pronounced taste than the others and is used for cooking foods at high heat.

As for Searing, Saut閕ng and Sweating, olive oils are perfect for these types of cooking.

I hope this clarifies things for you.

Todd
------------------------------------------------

tania,

Olive oil is an excellent source of mono-unsaturated fat.  Unsaturated fats (fats from plants) are considered the "good" fats because they have health benefits in the areas of heart disease and even cancer.  The "bad fats" (fats from animals) are suturated fats.  These can contribute to high cholesterol and heart disease.

Canola oil is also a good source of mono-unsaturated fat.  Let's not forget poly-unsaturated fat found in sunflower oil and corn oil.  It is good to get a mix of both mono and poly-unsaturated fats.

Olive oil can loose some of its flavor if it heated too much.  Frying is fine with olive oil, but you would not want to deep-fry with olive oil.

Here is a nice bit of information on olive oil:
http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encyclopedia/termdetail/0,7770,4171,00.html

I hope this helps.

Best wishes.

Todd

1. Prev:direction
2. Next:B12