Olive oil; should it be used to fry?

Question

I have thought about this long and hard. I love to eat fried seafood, but it is very fattening. I was wondering if you can use olive oil to fry in?

Answer 1

The best healthy oil for deep or pan frying foods is grapeseed oil. It has a much higher smoke point than olive oil and has a neutral taste, unlike olive oil. It's expensive, but you're worth it!

Answer 2

Here in Spain much of the food is cooked in olive oil.
However for cooking purposes we do not use Virgin oil, the flavour is too strong and effects the food. Use a cheap oil for frying and virgin oil for salads an as a dressing for soups as an example.

having said all that I use virgin olive oil for roasting potatoes, but then , as I have my own olive grove the cost to me for good oil is zero.

Answer 3

Absolutely- it's excellent for frying things! I don't know about the nutritional values, I'm sure someone else on here does, but everything tastes better when fried in olive oil as opposed to say, canola, or vegetable.

Answer 4

Olive oil is not good for frying because of it's smokepoint. Also, FYI, fat is a fat is a fat. All fats have 9 kcal/g. The difference you're thinking of is the type of fat and the effects on the heart. Olive oil is monounsaturated compared to butter which is saturated.

Answer 5

It's not good to fry with both because of the price and because it's smoke temperature is lower than that required to fry properly. You can't get it hot enough.

You're better off with canola or safflower oil.

Answer 6

Olive oil, although a beneficial ingredient, will lose the nutrients it serves to give off when susceptible to extreme temperatures (such as heat).

After such heat, it becomes tantamount to it's contemporary Crisco.

Olive oil is used for salads and raw foods.

Answer 7

I use it for everything now...even cakes! When you want buttery taste, just add a splash of butter to the olive oil...much better for you.

Answer 8

Olive oil is very good for frying, it doesn't get saturated.