how do you choose what cooking oil to use?

Question

I mean there's vegtable oil, crisco, lard, peanut oil......and many others

Answer 1

depends what you're cooking....

if it is something you want a good flavour for (ie. a garlic/oil pasta sauce): extra virgin olive oil (or a LITTLE sesame oil for more asian-style dishes, but be careful, it is very strongly flavoured!)

if it is something you DON'T want to be flavoured (ie. eggs): light olive oil (light on colour and flavour)

if it is something you want to cook at a high heat: mix a little olive oil (light or extra virgin, again, depending on if you want the flavour of the oil to come through) with a bit of butter. This will stop the oil from burning.

if it is a vegetarian dish: vegetable oil (d'uh!)

oil sprays are good for baking and such, where you only need a very light coating to prevent sticking. These options are often lower in fat than regular oils, and you can use a much smaller amount due to it being in spray form.

if baking/preparing indian dishes, they often call for ghee (clarified butter). This produces a wonderful nutty flavour that normal butter does not posses.

oh well, I guess the list is as expansive as it is exhausting... my best bet would be to invest in a good extra virgin olive oil, a good light olive oil, and save a bit on a cheaper vegetable oil/ canola oil, and a canola oil spray (or something of the like...) That way you have an option for most situations, and can cater to most dietary types and requirements.

Happy cooking!

Answer 2

you should use three criteria when selecting an oil
1] how high a temperature will you be cooking at ? If you're going to do deep frying you need someting with high smoke point- which immediatley eliminates the the much lauded EV olive oil.
The reason is interesting If you can fry something between 375-385 degrees then there is a very good possibility that that food will not absorb oil. Consequently your oil needs to be up to the task
2] whether or not you want to impart the taste of the oil to the food ?
3] Intended purpose :. Again back to the EV olive oil - nice stuff but I don't cook with it because I know that heat will destroy the flavor so what's the point. I usually cook with either virgin or pure.
Lard on the other hand is the proper thing to use when making pie crusts and it as 25% less saturated fat than butter.

Answer 3

the most common for cooking most types of food would be corn oil but I believe canola oil is supposed to be better for you. I like to use olive oil-its more expensive, but it tastes better with savory foods. Crisco is vegetable oil. Peanut oil is horrible, very bad for you. Lard is just wrong...its animal fat and will spoil. Check your recipe you are cooking with and it should say, olive, corn, canola, etc.

Answer 4

Canola and Olive Oil are the healthiest. Don't use vegetable oils or palm oil, they're very fatty and bad for the heart.

Answer 5

Peanut oil is perfect for frying.

Extra virgin olive oil is great for sauteeing, and salad dressings.

Canola is a good all purpose, and not expensive oil.

Answer 6

It depends on what you are cooking and at what temperate. Canola oil,corn oil, vegetable oil, and Crisco are good for frying. olive oil is good for low temperate cooking.

Answer 7

My favorite--canola oil.
2nd favorite--extra virgin olive oil. Try frying an egg with this instead of butter. Little different flavor, but cuts down the cholesterol.

Answer 8

it depends on what your making, Id say best 2 oils would be extra virgin olive oil & vegtable oil.

Answer 9

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best to use.

Answer 10

canola and virgin or extra virgin olive oil are the best for you.

olive oil also adds a little bit of flavor to the foods you want to jazz up and if you want to keep it plain the canola is awesome