WHICH OIL?
For every homemaker, there’s always the ringing question. Am I using the best cooking oil?
Today when you walk down the aisles of a supermarket there are several different varieties of cooking oil. Cooking oil can be classified by their
· Origin – Sunflower oil from sunflower seeds, Peanut oil from peanut seeds, olive oil from olives
· Process – Cold Pressed oils, Filtered Oils and Refined oils
· Pure Vs Blended Oils – Oils from one source vs various sources.
· Saturated and Unsaturated Oils
THE BEST OIL FOR MY FAMILY
Today everyone is hit with a ton of information either through newspapers, TV and digital media. In one article you hear that saturated oils are unhealthy, and in the next they tout that saturated oils are very healthy. So which do you believe?
We suggest a simple mechanism to choose your cooking oil, based on the
physical property of different cooking oils. Every cooking oil has a smoke point. At this point the oil has reached a temperature where it loses its ability as a cooking medium.
Different types of cooking need different temperatures. Cooking such as light sauté require lower temperatures whereas deep frying require much higher
temperatures. And each oil is suitable at those particular temperatures.
Generally virgin oil have a low smoke point, whereas refined oils have a higher smoke point.
For low temperature cooking you can use your virgin oil for good flavor and taste. And, you get the additional benefit of anti inflammatory compounds present in your virgin oils. Since the temperature is low, the cooking temperature is well within the limit of these oils. You can also use refined oils,
when you need an odorless tasteless medium, bringing the flavors of the ingredient to the forefront.
For high temperature cooking such as deep frying, it is better to avoid virgin oils and go for refined cooking oils. The refined cooking oils are much stable at higher temperature, and do not bring in any new flavour to the food cooked.
So next time when you choose your oils, choose your oil based on the style of cooking.
