What cooking oil does one need?

[razz]

What about using just olive oil for all cooking? I do not deep fry but use oil for baking, sauteeing etc.
I have been making a point of having both canola for cooking and extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings but don't go through a lot of either.
Can't I use just the olive oil for everything? Does olive oil go off or rancid?

[loosechickens]

We don't use anything but olive oil. If people do deep frying, they need an oil with a higher smoking temperature, but we don't deep fry, and the olive oil is fine for sauteeing, and I use it in baking.

Olive oil, like any other oil, will go rancid over time, but if kept in a cool place, in the dark, will last quite awhile. I keep mine in a deep drawer in my kitchen, in the dark, and have never had a problem. You'll find, if that's the only oil you use, it won't take that long to go through a bottle. You don't have to buy a really big size if you don't use a lot.

[Mrs-M]

The two main oils I solely rely on in my home are olive oil and peanut oil, that's it.

[bae]

The two main oils I solely rely on in my home are olive oil and peanut oil, that's it.

Ditto. I use a more refined grade of peanut oil for high-temperature stir-frying, and the olive oil for everything else.

[redfox]

Smoke point is the important factor in using oils. I have sesame seed oil and occasionally walnut oil around. And once in a great while, I'll clarify some butter to cook with.

[IshbelRobertson]

2 different grades of olive oil, walnut oil (for dressings), sunflower oil for deep frying (for Scotch eggs, for instance) or when I want to use an oil which gives no real 'taste' to a dish, sesame oil and peanut oil when cooking asian-style dishes.

[creaker]

Ditto. I use a more refined grade of peanut oil for high-temperature stir-frying, and the olive oil for everything else.

This is what I have - peanut oil for popcorn and olive oil for everything else. And sesame oil, but that rarely gets used.

[iris lily]

razz like you I've got canola oil for frying and olive oil for salad dressing, although I something fry in olvie oil.

We usually have sesame oil around but seldom use it. At the moment, I don't know if I have any.

[Bastelmutti]

Chef Mario Batali uses olive oil for everything. I've heard him talk about it on his show - probably different grades for different dishes. I've seen him fry in it, too.

I use canola, olive and recently added coconut oil. Keep sesame oil, too, but don't cook w/ it, just use it as a flavoring. Occasionally grapeseed oil instead of the canola.

[puglogic]

I like having a selection of oils and generally keep them in the fridge (except for canola). Sometimes I'll need to take them out an hour ahead of cooking just to liquify again....but they never get rancid that way, and I have a selection of flavors when I need/want them.

[Kat]

I love to cook, so I usually have a few different oils on hand. But I couldn't do without olive oil and vegetable oil. I use the OO for just about everything, but I really like for VO for the rare deep-fry and also for baking. I don't like using OO for breads and such. Just personal preference, I guess. I like it better for making stove popcorn, too (though I do top microwave popcorn with a spritz of OO).

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yes, I use olive oil for everything, extra virgin California olive oil :)

[ljevtich]

We use olive oil exclusively. I once bought ~ 15 L of oil, put it under a cabinet, and used it until it was gone. Never turned rancid. Sometimes, during the cold, it was cloudy, but when it was heated up, it was fine. I finally used all of it up about a year ago. Now we buy it in 4-5L at a time.

[H-work]

Olive oil for cooking. The only thing I fry are egg rolls and donuts (tiny ones, more like fritters) and they turn out fine. I use coconut oil for popcorn, gives a clean taste and a bottle lasts forever--I think it's one of the most stable oils. In baking, I used to use olive oil but now have been moving to melted butter--tastes better.

[Gina]

I'll use several oils, and price is a consideration. Almost always ev olive oil for salads. And for cooking, (no deep frying) either peanut or canola or olive oil, or butter.

Olive oil keeps a very long time out of the fridge (in a cool dark spot). I think it has to do with it being mono unsaturated.

Next fall a friend and I are going to harvest as many olives as we can find locally and have them 'pressed' into evoo. Tasted some that was done last year and it was great. Expensive however (you can buy it cheaper), but fun. But we'll know for sure the oil is indeed from olives. Apparently there is a lot of non-olive 'olive oil' sold.

[IshbelRobertson]

There's no way I'd use canola (or rapseseed, as it seems to be known in Europe).
It is starting to appear more in the UK, but I think I'll pass...

[Gina]

There's no way I'd use canola (or rapseseed, as it seems to be known in Europe).
It is starting to appear more in the UK, but I think I'll pass...

I'm curious why not?

I remember seeing it being grown in the UK. Looks like fields of yellow mustard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit: I was curious so looked around. Apparently the old rapeseed oil had a particular acid in it that was harmful to humans, but current canola/rapeseed oil is from a different plant bred from the original, but now called 'canola', and it has a very low level of that acid. It is low in saturated fat but high in monounsaturated and is considered healthy.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/canola-oil/AN01281

[ApatheticNoMore]

Canola is often GMO (genetically modified). Of course if you buy organic canola oil it solves that problem (organic can't be GMO).

[JaneV2.0]

I like butter; I'd use (non-hydrogenated) leaf lard if it weren't nearly impossible to find. I also use coconut, olive, grapeseed, and sesame for flavor. I avoid most high omega-six oils like corn and safflower, as well as soy (which--unfortunately--seems to be in everything.) There is no such thing as untampered-with rapeseed oil, as it's inedible without a lot of processing.

[Tiam]

I'm glad to see lard mentioned. It gets a bad rap. I rarely use it, but it has it's purposes. But I never see leaf lard. I just get the kind the Mexicans get in the grocery store.

[IshbelRobertson]

Gina
Apathetic no more has given a couple of reasons why I don't buy it. Usually, the name MONSANTO covers it....!:D

BTW - those yellow fields are just so WRONG in the context of British fields... eye-searingly yellow and so foreign looking to my eyes :D

[mira]

I tend to use extra virgin olive oil for most things, but it has such a strong flavour that it really isn't practical to use it in everything. For example, olive oil + oriental stirfry really isn't a great match. I keep some vegetable oil to use in dishes that olive oil doesn't complement.

[razz]

I did not know about the term 'leaf lard' so looked up wikipedia and found out a lot of good info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard Neat chart there as well about the smoking point and saturated fat comparison.

"To improve stability at room temperature, lard is often "hydrogenated" a process that should not be confused with "partial hydrogenation" of vegetable oils which creates unhealthy trans-fats.[9] Hydrogenated lard sold to consumers typically contains fewer than 0.5g of transfats per 13g serving.[10] Lard is also often treated with bleaching and deodorizing agents, emulsifiers, and antioxidants, such as BHT.[4][11] These treatments make lard more consistent and prevent spoilage. (Untreated lard must be refrigerated or frozen to prevent rancidity.)[12][13]"

"The highest grade of lard, known as leaf lard, is obtained from the "flare" visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin. Leaf lard has little pork flavor, making it ideal for use in baked goods, where it is valued for its ability to produce flaky, moist pie crusts."

I have been discarding the fat that I get from ground pork that I cook up but may now keep some of it frozen for cooking.

I will finish my canola and then use up the olve oil that I have in a dark bottle.

[JaneV2.0]

Natural saturated fats are more stable and less likely to go rancid than processed oils, so I don't know why commercially available lard is so heavily processed. Probably so it can be warehoused for years. A pity.

[Gingerella72]

More on why canola oil isn't a good choice:

http://www.naturalnews.com/026630_canola_oil_olive_oil_saturated_fat.html

I no longer use canola oil. I now only use real butter, EV olive oil, unrefined virgin coconut oil, and bacon grease. Yes, bacon grease! :)

[goldensmom]

I use extra virgin olive oil for everything. I did not research it and never really thought about it so I have no reason other than I started using EV olive oil when I moved out of my parents home and have never changed. One thing about olive oil is that I have to make sure I watch sales because it is so expensive at the regular prices.

[Tiam]

People used to use rendered chicken fat. Fat wasn't so avoided when calories were a necessity. There was a time when 'drippings' were a popular toast topping too, long before the days of margarine. Not meaning to hijack....just kind of in the vein cooking fat.

[Gina]

BTW - those yellow fields are just so WRONG in the context of British fields... eye-searingly yellow and so foreign looking to my eyes

LOL, I can understand that. Here in California, there is wild mustard (same species) everywhere (brought in by Spanish missionaries to mark where they've been), so I am used to seeing fields of it everywhere. I've got it on my hillside.

As to canola oil, I've read various articles and frankly don't see anything of great concern, and I don't mind using it. GM foods have been in our stores for years. If you eat cheese, you are most likely eating GM derived ingredients since something like 90% of commerical cheeses today are made with GM derived rennet. That was the first GM 'food' approved 20 years ago. If you eat processed foods, it's estimated 75% of them have GM ingredients. If you shop in mainstream stores and buy products with corn, soy, canola, cheese, many fruits, and wear cotton, you are likely using GM products.

I'm not advocating GM foods and am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I would prefer they hadnt' been developed and weren't currently in our food chain, but they already are and have escaped. I also only see them getting more common as more humans are born that need feeding. The genetic genie is out of the test tube. Other than the popular, automatic anti-GM stance, I've seen no credible evidence that in general they are harmful to humans when consumed. Yes, there can be allergy issues for some people, and there can be seed-saving issues. I know I could be wrong, but I'm just not going to lose sleep for using canola oil. ;)