Best Oil to fry with?

chillywilly

What is the "healthiest" and best tasting oil to shallow fry with? Do different oils go better with different foods?

tHE vAGGABOND

for frying I use Peanut Oil, personally

Do a search here, as it comes up quite frequently, and has had some good discussion over last few months..

rocky

coconut oil was recommended before, it can reach a higher temperature before heat degradation

Ciaran500

Coconut oil, tallow, lard, olive oil (not Virgin olive oil), palm oil, butter and probably a couple more

The ones to avoid are the unstable at high temperatures or have a lot of omega 6 in them like vegetable oils, peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil or canola oil.


EDIT: If you're getting any of the animal fats make sure you don't get ones that have been hydrogenated.

Adelie

I use coconut oil (cheap in Asian shops) or lard (really cheap in Tesco).

I tend to use lard for meat, and coconut oil for others (eggs, fish, also Asian cooking)... just feels weird to use lard for those.

metamorphosis

I only ever use coconut oil and butter. When i make an omlette in butter, there's something 'extra' if you know what i mean. Just an added niceness to it.

Squiggle

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Coconut oil, tallow, lard, olive oil (not Virgin olive oil)

I thought the Virgin olive oil was the better one. Is Rapeseed oil a good one to use?

Ciaran500

Squiggle wrote: »

I thought the Virgin olive oil was the better one. Is Rapeseed oil a good one to use?

Virgin olive oil is great for salads, but has a lower smoke point than the cheaper olive oil so you can burn it when frying if it gets too hot.

Rapeseed I'm not sure about, seems to be alot of discussion on the internet whether its good or not, mainly over its erucic acid content.

tHE vAGGABOND

The ones to avoid are the unstable at high temperatures or have a lot of omega 6 in them like vegetable oils, peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil or canola oil.

One of the only reasons anyone [like me!] would use Peanut oil is that its great to use up to very high temperatures as its smoke point is among the highest of any common to find oil..

Its used a fair bit to deep and shallow fry in Asia.

[Clearly if you have issues with nuts, avoid!]

Not to say if its the worst or the best in other reasons - but I use it with loads of garlic and done like that I think tastes great

El_Dangeroso

Adelie wrote: »

I use coconut oil (cheap in Asian shops) or lard (really cheap in Tesco).

I tend to use lard for meat, and coconut oil for others (eggs, fish, also Asian cooking)... just feels weird to use lard for those.

FYI the lard in tesco is hydrogenated I believe.

brianthebard

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

One of the only reasons anyone [like me!] would use Peanut oil is that its great to use up to very high temperatures as its smoke point is among the highest of any common to find oil..

Its used a fair bit to deep and shallow fry in Asia.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/50/Smoke-Points-of-Various-Fats

No unrefined peanut oil has a pretty low smoke point, and refined peanut oil probably (but I can't say definitely) refers to hydrogenated oil.

Adelie

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

FYI the lard in tesco is hydrogenated I believe.

Oh - how can you tell? There's nothing on the packaging about it.

Anyway I just decided to cut down on all pork products after checking out the fat profile so I'm gonna stop using lard, so the question is just curiosity really.

El_Dangeroso

Most supermarket lard is unfortunately

But you can tell by its consistancy, the Tesco lard is far more solid than when you render it yourself. Plus generally speaking rendering yourself means you can make sure the animal it came from wasn't treated with any nasties that could end up in the fat, ie Irish free-range pork.

Lard is a wonderful thing, 11% PUFA is not so bad (similar to avocados) maybe less depending on the diet of the animal. When you factor in that it is an added fat and won't make up 100% of the diet (I would hope!) then it has quite a good fatty acid profile.

Adelie

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Most supermarket lard is unfortunately

But you can tell by its consistancy, the Tesco lard is far more solid than when you render it yourself. Plus generally speaking rendering yourself means you can make sure the animal it came from wasn't treated with any nasties that could end up in the fat, ie Irish free-range pork.

Lard is a wonderful thing, 11% PUFA is not so bad (similar to avocados) maybe less depending on the diet of the animal. When you factor in that it is an added fat and won't make up 100% of the diet (I would hope!) then it has quite a good fatty acid profile.

Yeah, maybe I should try to find free-range pork rather than giving up on it!

El_Dangeroso

Most supermarket lard is unfortunately

Plus generally speaking rendering yourself means you can make sure the animal it came from wasn't treated with any nasties that could end up in the fat, ie Irish free-range pork.

Lard is a wonderful thing, 11% PUFA is not so bad (similar to avocados) maybe less depending on the diet of the animal. When you factor in that it is an added fat and won't make up 100% of the diet (I would hope!) then it has quite a good fatty acid profile.

Actually I'm going to email Tesco to find out for sure. Watch this space.

Bob Z

Isn't lard full of cholesterol?

metamorphosis

Can.Of.Worms.

That is all!

Ciaran500

Bob Z wrote: »

Isn't lard full of cholesterol?

Less than butter and about a third the amount that is in a whole egg.

Bob Z

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Less than butter and about a third the amount that is in a whole egg.

Yes but more than cooling oil?

Ciaran500

Bob Z wrote: »

Yes but more than cooling oil?

Vegetable oil? This is where the can of worms open...

There's alot of debate over whether, dietary cholestoral or saturated fat is in anyway bad for us.

Then there's the problem that vegetable oils are loaded with omega 6 which messes up the omega 3-6-9 ratio in your body causing a whole host of problems.