"refined", "light", "virgin", "extra virgin"?
2006-10-29 13:39:28 · 5 answers · asked by Dan S 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Other - Food & Drink
EXTRA VIRGIN is the first pressing of the olives, has a nice olive taste and in a clear glass bottle has a greenish tint to it. It is best used on salads and on sandwiches. Since it tends to be expensive, its a waste of money to use it in cooking. People also use it for dipping bread.
VIRGIN is from the next pressing and is slightly more golden in color. This can be used in cooking or as a "top dressing" over dishes that have already been cooked. It's the most popular and readily available in grocery stores.
LIGHT olive oil refers to the taste because it isn't as "olive-y" as Extra Virgin or even Virgin. You can actually use it in baking, I'm told, although I've never tried it.
REFINED is pretty much a common oil with no distinctive olive flavor and is sort of the "bottom of the barrel". Spend an extra dollar and get the "upgrade" of Virgin olive oil.
There are other oils out there that are great for cooking. My favorites include:
Peanut Oil--great for high temperatures and frying, sautee work
Walnut Oil--great in salads and good for your health
Corn Oil-- good for baking.
Coconut Oil--great for baking and also good for your health
I avoid Canola because it is an "industrial lubricant" and was never intended to be used in food!
You can have a whole selection of oils in your kitchen cabinet for different applications. Experiment! Just make sure that you keep any oil out of direct sunlight as it will go rancid and nasty fairly quickly. You can refrigerate olive oil and it'll keep longer but it will be thick and white for a few minutes while it is cold. That's the fat that has congealed.
Hope this helps.
Have fun!
2006-10-29 14:14:44 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The different types of olive oil depend on how much the olives have been pressed. There are some brands that are better than others but I wouldn't say that light is better than virgin or refined is worse than extra virgin.
Each kind is better at certain types of uses than other kinds but I dont think one is overall better than the other. For example, I use extra virgin (the greener kind) for salad dressings or marinades. The more heavier kinds (yellower) work well for sauteing or other types of cooking where the oil is used more for cooking rather than taste.
2006-10-29 13:56:36 · answer #2 · answered by moemar 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
extra virgin is the best because it comes from the first pressing--good for use in cooking and salads, on top of bread, wherever you would taste the difference in quality between evoo-extra virgin olive oil--and a lesser quality olive oil.....virgin, i believe is from the second pressing, and light is from the third pressing, or has some other oil mixed with it, like vegetable oil, although i'm not entirely sure about light oo....don't know what refined means....evoo is the best oo because its from the first pressing and light or refined is probably the lowest quality because its down the line in the number of pressings, i think ??!!!
2006-10-29 14:23:13 · answer #3 · answered by morris the cat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The first pressing is called Extra Virgin. It has a very strong olive taste and aroma.
The second pressing is called Virgin. It has a taste and aroma somewhat milder than Extra Virgin.
"Light" when used to refer to an oil refers to flavor only. All oil is pure fat and has the same amount of calories.
2006-10-29 13:49:20 · answer #4 · answered by Jay 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
virgin olive oil is the best and the most expensive
other olive oils are o k but virgin is best
2006-10-29 15:21:59 · answer #5 · answered by ekleinert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋