…with extra virgin olive oil. That is the question. We all know that olive oil is healthy, delicious and a superfood for your heart. 70-80% of the total fat in EVOO is monounsaturated that comes from a fatty acid called oleic acid. And if I understand correctly, this makes olive oil (and other oils with high percentage of monounsaturated fats) more stable which, in very general terms, makes it better for you.
That’s why I was surprised this morning when I read the daily tip I received from The World’s Healthiest Foods website with the title: Why you shouldn’t cook with extra virgin oil. When it comes to chemical stuff I get easily confused, but basically it says that heat damages the chemical structure of olive oil making it a hazard to your health, although the article doesn’t exactly explains how. You can see this article here.
I wanted to know more about this topic and found this other site that says it is quite safe to cook with EVOO. But at the end of the article they recommend the use of EVOO in two ways:
- For dressings and dips, and added to dishes after they’ve been cooked, for flavor and artery-protecting nutrition.
- For cooking at temperatures of 350 degrees or less – i.e., for sautés and sauces.
Now I am confused. I try to avoid fried food and when I do fry food I use canola or vegetable oil. But I use olive oil a lot to sautee vegetables and in baked dishes such as this Italian Stuffed Zucchini. What have you heard about this? Can anyone enlighten me in this topic?
18 Replies
Like you, I’ve been concerned about this and it all started when I read something from the news a few months back. From my readings, olive oil shouldn’t be used for high heat because beyond a certain temperature (once it starts to smoke), certain chemical reactions occur creating carcinogenic stuff. I’ve found “high-heat” specific oils from Whole Foods, and I’m sure there are similar ones in the regular stores. The oils that we have indicate the maximum temperature at which you can cook with it.
Posted on May 14th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
CS always starts freaking out when I cook with oive oil. Something about the fumes bother him. I will read up more about this.
Posted on May 14th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
It is true that if it burns or smokes, then carcinogens are formed in the oil. How dangerous these are I am not sure. I tend to use the EVOO for salads and so on, and regular olive oil for frying, or vegetable oil!
Posted on May 14th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Ben, save the EVOO for salads, finishing off dishes. As for frying, use regular olive oil and to lower the smoke point, add some butter or a vegetable oil to again, lower the smoking point.
Posted on May 14th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
So it seems that the message really is that Olive Oil has a lower smoking point and once it reaches that smoking point it loses it nutritive values (unless I’m just so tired and not thinking anymore)
Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I’d always thought: EVOO has an even lower smoke point than OO. It isn’t particularly good for you – though what bothers me more is that you lose a lot of the refinement of EVOO by heating it – and that’s a waste of a good ingredient!!!
I use EVOO for dressings, drizzles and dips, OV for some cooking – though I usually mix it with ground nut oil if frying. I always use OV for roasting veg! I use ground nut for anything proper high temperature.
Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 4:47 am
I’m SO glad you posted this, Ben!!! I’m off to get other oils NOW.
Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Hi Ben, have you tried using groundnut oil? I don’t know if it is easily available to you but it is widely avilable in the UK and very cheap too. The reason it is good is because it can heat to an extremely high temperature without becoming unstable like olive oil does.
Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Thanks for the post, I didn’t know anything about this. It sounds like the trick might be to not let the oil smoke and then you’ll be ok.
Posted on May 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
[...] at What’s Cooking? has a great post on the possible negative health side effects of cooking with extra-virgin olive oil. It sounds like if you should keep it under its smoking point and you’ll be [...]
Posted on May 17th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Olive oil is perfect for our health!!!! But of course like with other products it has to be well used! You won’t eat a lettuce tha’s been a week in your fridge… all its components good for your health have gone! You won’t eat a steak that doesn’t smell correct and it hasn’t a healthy colour!
Same thing applies to olive oil: I use extra virgin for salads or gazpacho or to use in raw food or a few drops on a steak after it’s grilled. And to fry and cook I use Olive oil with low acidity 0,4º is great. Now, you have to be careful not to burn the oil (that’s common sense) and never use the same olive oil for different fries… once you’ve use it once… it’s done, throw it away or make soap out of it.
I think I’m going to look for good info about olive oil and post about it. I still have some info I picked at Alimentaria and it’s high time I publish it!
Posted on May 21st, 2008 at 7:40 am
I do this always: saute with olive oil, never deep fry. deep fry or shallow fry with peanut or veggie oil. sauteing is fine… i’m actually so sick of this “everything is bad for you!!!!!! FREAK OUT!!!” fear that is everywhere! If we believed everything we’d probably all be sitting in the dark drinking filtered water and fasting. oh wait, i’m sure there is something bad about filtered water too… grrrrr!
i heart olive oil!
Posted on May 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
did u really use EVOO?!?! omg… please don’t ever do that again!!!
tienes un award aqui: http://www.flanboyanteats.com/uncategorized/awards-contest-winners-icecream/
Ciao.
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’ve been using extra-virgin olive oil for most of my cooking, for years now, and I have not had any issues.
Recently, I’ve been buying my olive oil from holyfoodimports.com because it comes from Israel, so it really has a unique taste.
Posted on July 1st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
hmmm… I had never heard that before either. It’s always been simpler for me to just keep Extra Virgin Olive oil on hand so I don’t have to figure out when to use regular olive oil vs. extra virgin.
Like you, I use it in salad dressings and most of my saute’s. My girls love dipping freshly baked bread in it rather than butter. However, I don’t ever use it for frying either, I use Canola or vegetable oil for that too.
From what I’ve read, I think it’s ok to heat EVOO, just not too hot as you would for deep frying, etc.
Posted on July 11th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
http://www.springerlink.com/content/2t41m1q668v74×69/
This is interesting I think – some of the anticancer properties of olive oil are described in this paper. Most people will have to pay to access this paper though!
Posted on July 28th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Sir,
I want to know the diffrance of extra vergin and pamace olive oil, more over iwant to know which one is better for cooking, and the other one how we can use? please let me know i will highly appreciate for you, thanks again, awaiting for your reply,
Saifullah Syed
Posted on November 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Coconut oil is the #1 GOOD FAT…it does not taste like coconut and can be used for all of your cooking, frying and baking without changing form. It is super healthy and actually helping people to achieve a lean frame as the fat is burned most easily. I like to use a blend of olive, flax, grapeseed, hemp and pumpkin seed oil for salads and other dressings. Coconut oil for everything else. I buy a big tub online from vitacost.com.
Peace, love and light
Posted on March 15th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
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