# which is best oil used for cooking?



## Carina1962 (Jan 7, 2011)

I have extra virgin olive oil at home which i use for salad dressings and also to cook with but i read somewhere that extra virgin olive oil is not that good for cooking with, is this true do you think?  what oil is best in health terms for cooking with?  thanks


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## Northerner (Jan 7, 2011)

I'm sure I heard that the reason you don't use extra virgin for cooking is because it's too good, so you just use ordinary olive oil for that  Personally, I cook with sunflower oil.


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## lucy123 (Jan 8, 2011)

I use the fry light olive oil version.


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## Liz! (Jan 8, 2011)

Most oils (including SUNFLWER!) hydrogenate easily on heating - that means they become like saturated fats, except unlike saturated fats that your body can deal with if you don't over-eat them, you have no process to remove them from your body. 

Olive oil is one of the best, but still does change - but the very best oil ever is coconut, which is in fact solid at room temperature. It is a mid-chain fat, the only one, and there is evidence to show it does not get processed by the body in the same way as asaturated fat. It does not change its structure on heating.

The only probelm is some people do not like coconut - we've got used to it!

Even better is tto use no oil at all and if you have to fry, do it in water or in the meat's own fat. Or grill!


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## lucy123 (Jan 8, 2011)

I often add water to the fry light if it doesn;t seem wet enough Liz - and you really can;t tell.


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## Steff (Jan 10, 2011)

tbh i dont use oil much these days accept for o/hs chips or if im frying him an egg and i use rapeseed oil which i was told was best by the lady at my X-PERT course, i also heard olive oil was to good to use for frying, my bottle gets used in salads...


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## AlisonM (Jan 10, 2011)

I use a light olive oil, extra virgin is OK, but it's quite a strong flavour for say, a stir fry and quite expensive too when a cheaper one would do fine. You could use sunflower oil instead. Some follk use Rapeseed oil which is supposed to be very good for you but I have serious problems with the way the stuff is grown and won't use it for environmental reasons.


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## David H (Jan 10, 2011)

Hi all,
I believe that using extra virgin Olive Oil at high Temp releases toxins!

Here's a list of different oils and uses + effects of heating to high temps (chips) They list Canola oil (rapeseed as bad???).

*http://www.aaxnet.com/clove/ingredients/oils.html*

Best Regards,
David


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## Liz! (Jan 10, 2011)

Safflower, coconut or avocado can take the heat. 

The toxin release is contentious... and does not hapen with refined oil.

Olive oil  changes bad cholesterol into good and is brilliant for diabetic when cold and not heated too high. 

Sunflower oil is not good for you as a cooking oil. 

Link to toxic levels and alternatives here:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/spiritual-dammit/2009/07/cooking-with-olive-oil-can-be-toxic.html


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## Steff (Jan 10, 2011)

David H said:


> They list Canola oil (rapeseed as bad???).


Oh dear glad i dont use it on myself then


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## FM001 (Jan 10, 2011)

Always use extra virgin olive oil for shallow frying and drizzling over salads as this is by far the healthiest.  Very rarely use a chip pan but would normally choose vegetable oil.  I remember my old mum would fry our chips in beef dripping when we were kids, surprised I've lived this long to tell the tale!


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## Carina1962 (Jan 10, 2011)

thanks everyone for your feedback.  I too was told that rapeseed oil is good but never tried coconut oil, where can you buy that from?  i don't think i've seen any.


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## Liz! (Jan 10, 2011)

Health food shop is the only place I've ever seen it and it is NOT cheap. But it does last. It does have ataste, but not a horrid one. I thought I wouldn't like it in somethings but actually i don't notice it. but I guess you have t try it yourself to know! 

I suspect avocado oil would be expensive too, I haven't seen that one...


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## David H (Jan 11, 2011)

carina62 said:


> thanks everyone for your feedback.  I too was told that rapeseed oil is good but never tried coconut oil, where can you buy that from?  i don't think i've seen any.



Try a health food shop or an Organic shop maybe Farmers markets.

Some people with high cholesterol use coconut as a spread (coconut butter).

Best Regards,
David


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