Thursday, June 16, 2011

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.




No comments: