Oil questions
 

Hi y'all,

In my cooking, I've always relied on olive oil.

Back home, we would get olive oil from a village, made from freshly harvested nearby olives :). However since coming to the US, I've used random brands here and there, but none were too impressive.

I wonder if people here know of a brand of extra-virgin olive oil that's:
* Really good!
* Not too expensive
* Available in major supermarkets (or easy to order, otherwise)

(For the record, green Lebanese olives tend to be rather bitter, so anything close to that taste profile would be good).

And I have another question.

I've used non-virgin olive oil for when I'm frying in a pan. That's because the smoking point in it is higher that for XV olive oil. But is it high enough? Or is it better to use something like canola oil?

Moreover, when doing a stir fry or frying some meat, I'm wondering if instead of heating oil in the pan before putting the meat in, is it enough to rub the meat in oil before dropping it in the hot oil-less pan? It seems that I could use less oil that way.

Thanks! :)

I always use canola oil when I'm doing high-heat cooking. Anytime the pan is hotter than medium, it's probably going to make the olive oil smoke too much.

As to good brands, I get my olive oil from the local organic grocery store... but other than that, can't tell you much. I don't pay attention to the taste of olive oil.

Canola oil and peanut oil are both good oils for frying.

As for olive oil...find a specialty foods shop. There has got to be at least one good Italian specialty foods shop near where you live. Go there and ask. Most likely there will be someone there that has an opinion about several of the olive oils they sell.

Personally, my favorite olive oil for eating and cooking is the Costco Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil. It's only released for a very limited time every year. They put a lot of work into making sure it's a good olive oil--and I like it because it's not so expensive I can't cook with it and it's not so cheap I can't eat it relatively plain--like in on bread or in salad dressing. Their regular extra-virgin olive oil is also good, but not as tasty plain, and it's also an incredible value.

I prefer peanut oil for frying. I started using it when I was using a wok. The first time you fry chicken or shrimp in peanut oil you'll be hooked.

Peanut oil is good, albeit high in fats, but I've found that if I didn't use it fast enough, it'd get rancid.
I use a mixture of canola oil and olive oil and sometimes through in a chunk of butter. The butter does two things-adds flavor and lets me know the oil is now hot enough to start frying(because it melts, of course).

Thanks for the tips everyone!

Snowy, I actually shop at a Costco too (and there's a Trader Joe's nearby), so I'll check that out to see if they're selling that olive oil at this time of year.

Ngdawg, about the peanut oil, did you mean high in saturated fats? Since all oils are pretty fatty anyway :).

ktspktsp--if you have a TJ's nearby, definitely go there and ask--they usually have someone on staff who is intimately familiar with the food and can probably offer you good advice.

I wish we had a TJ's here :( but the closest one is 50 minutes away.

All oils are by definition 100% fat. There's no difference in the amount of fat in different oils. Different types of fat, maybe, but not the total amount.

Yeah, I think ng meant saturated fats, given that peanut oil is the highest out of the oils we use for frying in saturated fats.

Even though peanut oil is high in saturated fats it is an oil that is good for you, like olive, canola, walnut and safflower.

From what I've read, the most important things to look for in olive oil is 1) Freshness and 2) UV protected packages (i.e., no clear glass bottles). Since a lot of olive oil in the US is imported and stored in clear bottles it will taste ... not so good. It sounds like you're used to some pretty darn fresh oil, so it may be hard to find a suitable replacement.

if you are gonna fry using XV olive oil add a tbsp of butter (not margerine) to it - that too will raise the smoke temp

while going thru my cardiac re-hab i got this chart...
this is the best i could find of it...

http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/20...l/fatchart.jpg

saturated fats - bad
mono & polyunsaturated fats - good
transfats - ugly

Someone mentioned Costco so I'll chime in...Their extra-virgin olive oil "Toscano" 2005 late harvest was exceptionally good and a great price for the high quality...once I tried it I went back for another bottle a month later and got there right when they were pulling the pallet out, I grabbed the last 2 bottles of that season.....how can they sell a whole PALLET of olive oil in 1 month?? impressive oil.

I use the store brand from Whole Foods Market (where I work) the brand is called "365" and a 1 litre goes for $7.99 and a 3 litre for $21.99 (PA prices may be different). It's a very good "standby" XV Olive Oil. We have stores in Wayne, Rydal, N. Wales, Pittsburgh, Wynnewood and 2 in Philly.

Actually, all oil has 14 grams of fat per tablespoon.

Canola is perfect for high heat cooking. The lowest is butter. Olive oil is above butter. It's great to use if you are cooking in a grilling pan and want to sear in lines.

You can tell your oil is hot because it will swirl on it's own. If you allow the pan to heat up first and then add the oil it will be ready almost immediately if you aren't deep frying. It also works much better than starting with a cold pan and oil.

And finally, I've found there are knowledgable folks at most Wholoe Foods thta can help you select an aolive oil that is right for you. I'm sure specialty shops have the same folks as well!

I don't think anyone has answered this so here goes - I think for things like stir fry, the amount of oil you put in the wok is pretty small anyway and you usually fry other things before the meat (garlic, onion, ginger etc) and/or you marinate the meat. If you are worried about the amount of oil, just add less at the beginning (if following a recipe, you can usually halve the oil without really affecting the end result).

Make sure your pan is hot before adding your meat anyway (a lot of asian cookbooks suggest waiting until the oil is smoking in the wok before adding anything..). This goes for frying meat on a pan - depending on the type of pan I'll add a tiny dash to no oil at all (for example on my bbq plate, I rarely add oil, because it is well seasoned and things rarely stick to it...).

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice spindles! I do try to use less oil than suggested usually.

1) I also use peanut oil for almost all asian dishes, including stir fries.

2) When I'm cooking meat, I like a little extra oil. Adding butter WILL raise the temp high enough to cook meat on med/high with olive oil. It's also extremely common in italian cooking.

3) I tend to use so much garlic in most of my dishes that I lose a lot of the flavor of the olive oil. I try to get extra virgin, first press, organic olive oils from Whole Foods or other speicialty stores.

as a side note, in asian dishes, the sauces are usually 15-20% oil. They are still rather healthy due to the oils used. Also, for thai-style dishes, use more fish sauce and less oil if you'd prefer it be less oily.

I also like to use grapeseed oil. It has a smoking point of around 420 degrees, so it's great for stir frying and sauteeing. It has a pretty neutral flavor, so I also use it for salad dressing and mayonaisse. I don't live in the US now, but I know you used to be able to get it at Trader Joes. I don't know where else, but I imagine Whole Foods probably has it too.

And don't forget sesame oil for Asian foods. I use plain and chili sesame, it gives a great asian flavor! I will often add a splash of it on to food after it's cooked and toss it or mix it. It isn't too heavy, and a little goes a long way for flavor.