olive oils
 

i am using olive oils in my cooking ,or say i am trying to. i was wondering which olive oil is better to fry in. they have diffrent ones like reg oilve oil and and i am just not sure which to really fry with. sue

I'm not sure if one fries better than another. I choose olive oils based on the food I'll be using them in, and if I want the olive flavor. Some can be very strong, especially when heated. I would probably use an extra light version for that reason.

extra virgin has the most flavor, as it;s from the first pressing of the olives. it's a bit fruitier than others, and for that reason, most people, except for mario battalli and me, use it only for salad dressings and to add a final 'finish' to some dishes. mario and i cook with the stuff. that is, mario cooks. i gave it up, but will only use extra virgin if i did cook.

most people use a 'pure' or '100% olive oil, it's from later pressings and aren't as richly flavored ,which means that they go well in frying and other uses where you don't want a whole lot of olive flavor.

but no matter what, if the olive oil is a main ingredient and has to stand on its own, you really do get what you pay for. don't settle for a cheap brand if you're using it, say, in a vinaigrette. a little goes a long way in terms of flavor. but for regular cooking, there's no sense in using the really good quality stuff...

does this help??? or confuse you more?

It depends on what kind of frying you will be doing. Oils have what is called "flashpoints" which means at what temp do they burn. Extra virgin olive oil has lots of olive matter in it, and it burns at very low temps. I wouldn't deep fry anything in any olive oil, but would use a peanut or a veg oil...they have higher flashpoints and impart no flavor of their own to a dish. I do cook scrambled or fried eggs in extra virgin olive oil, and I also sautee in it. I pan fry in peanut oil. So, maybe to break it down...quick stuff like eggs and veggies I use olive, longer stuff like pan frying meat and deep frying I use a peanut or a veg oil. Hope this helps!

I was going to say the same as Jodie...

I use olive oil now for everything, because having different oils around most of them would go rancy before using them all up...

But why are we talking of frying foods? Is this not a weightLOSS site?! :lol:

Later...

thank you for all your imput. i have gotten some extra virgin olive oil to fry some zuccini with alittle bit. i just might have to use some peanut oil. i never thought of peanut oil. thank you. i do use olive oil in my eggs though. sue

2 questions form the UK!!

1. Do you guys have Sainsbury's Supermarket stores? They do their own olive oils with a taste and use grading, so for stir frying you use one bottle and for salad drizzles you use another.

2. Do you have Rapeseed oil yet? Apparently it is even better for us than olive oil (I'm looking for a WHO message on that), and it tastes quite different, sort of buttery and nice!

Usual caveats apply - don't use much and don't deep fry, oils are the Devil's own fat friends!!!!

Stef I'm assuming you mean to say grapeseed;) Yes, that is indeed a good choice-I usually use it for roasting meats-like turkey and chicken-I find it gives it a great flavoe.

With all else -I turn to olive oil! Just to help us out-I thought I'd post this excerpt from the food network on olive oils to explain-basically extra virgin (think expensive and more flavor-this is what you use for dressings and for drizzling) and light olive oil is good for frying *note they say here you can use it for dressing-but I really like the flavor of the olive oil in my dressing;) Enjoy!

Extra virgin olive oil, the cold-pressed result of the first pressing of the olives, is only 1 percent acid. It's considered the finest and fruitiest of the olive oils and is therefore also the most expensive. Extra virgin olive oil can range from a crystalline champagne color to greenish-golden to bright green. In general, the deeper the color, the more intense the olive flavor. After extra virgin, olive oils are classified in order of ascending acidity. Virgin olive oil is also a first-press oil, with a slightly higher level of acidity of between 1 and 3 percent. Fino olive oil is a blend of extra virgin and virgin oils (fino is Italian for "fine"). Products labeled simply olive oil (once called pure olive oil) contain a combination of refined olive oil and virgin or extra virgin oil. The new light olive oil contains the same amount of beneficial monounsaturated fat as regular olive oil...and it also has exactly the same number of calories. What the term "light" refers to is that--because of an extremely fine filtration process--this olive oil is lighter in both color and fragrance, and has little of the classic olive-oil flavor. It's this rather nondescript flavor that makes "light" olive oil perfect for baking and cooking where regular olive oil's obvious essence might be undesirable. The filtration process for this light-style oil also gives it a higher smoke point than regular olive oil. Light olive oils can therefore be used for high-heat frying, whereas regular olive oil is better suited for low- to medium-heat cooking, as well as for many uncooked foods such as salad dressings and marinades. The International Olive Oil Institute recommends using pure olive oil for frying, since the flavor of extra virgin olive oil tends to break down at frying temperatures, making the added expense a waste. Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. It can be refrigerated, in which case it will last up to a year. Chilled olive oil becomes cloudy and too thick to pour. However, it will clear and become liquid again when brought to room temperature. See also fats and oils.