How To Choose The Right Oil For Your Recipe
Cooking Tips
2 years ago
Knowing how to choose the right oil for your recipe is essential to ensuring it tastes exactly the way it was meant to. However, trying to pick the best oil can feel overwhelming, as there are so many options available these days!
Swapping out oil for butter and other fats in your recipes can also be a healthier option, depending on what type of oil you choose.
What Is A Smoke Point?
You may have heard of “smoke point” before, as it refers to the temperature any oil reaches when it begins to smoke.
This is important because even the healthiest oils, like extra virgin olive oil, can lose their health benefits once they start smoking. Matching the right oil to the right recipe heavily relies on smoke point information.
Unheated Dishes
Extra virgin olive oil is the perfect example of an oil that is best used after cooking or used in recipes where there is no heat. It has a low smoke point and is delicious when whisked into salad dressings, marinades, or used to add finishing flavor to your dish.
Toasted sesame, almond, avocado, and walnut oils are also delicious choices to use when finishing a dish.
Low Heat Recipes
If a recipe calls for a light saute or cooking over low heat, extra virgin oil can still be an ideal choice. The smoke point is at about 375 degrees to keep that in mind if your dish is going in an oven and keep it on low heat on the stovetop!
Cooking Over High Heat
High-heat recipes include dishes like stir fry, searing meat, and frying. Avocado oil or pecan oil can be great healthy solutions for high-heat applications, as it has a high smoke point (almost 500 degrees!) and a neutral flavor.
Find The Best Oils At The Olive Branch
Ask our experts at The Olive Branch to recommend the best oil for your recipes. You can even schedule a tasting with us to find the best olive oil for you!
The Olive Branch is dedicated to providing premium extra virgin olive oils, balsamic, and wine vinegars at our storefront in The Village at Winona in Winona Lake, Indiana, and through our online shop.
