When Good things Go Bad

When does Olive Oil become bad? Why do we buy Olive Oil and cook with it in preference to other oils. What principles can I apply to reap the benefits without becoming an over-concerned health fanatic?

The smoking point of oil is the point at which good oil becomes bad oil (Smoking Point).

• Butter 170 C
• Avocado Oil 270C
• Coconut Oil 170C
• Olive Oil - Extra Virgin - 160 C
• Olive Oil - Virgin - 216 C
• Olive Oil - Pomace - 238 C
• Olive Oil - Extra Light - 242 C
• Sunflower Oil - 232 C

I'm not going to harp on about the benefits when you can read about them (Olive Oil). I suspect that to gain the benefits you have to consume an olive oil by eating salads/bread with olive oil daily/weekly. My diet is therefore only avoiding the use of bad oils.

Principles:

• The more refined, the higher the burning point. Use Extra Virgin or Virgin Olive Oil for salads, use anything more refined for frying and cooking.
• When cooking, do not fry/cook above 220 C.
• Do not use butter to fry above 170 C.

Remember, using Olive Oil to fry food does not make frying healthy (Burnt).

Principles:

• Do not burn/overly burn your food. Turn regularly.