What types of oil do you use?
 

I generally use olive oil but I'm looking for a different oil for when I'm using high heat like sauteing veggies or frying an egg. What do you use for high heat cooking that is good for you?

Not sure about high heat but I LOVE to use a little Seseme oil on my grilled veggies and if I am pan sauteeing. Love the flavor.

Grapeseed oil is good for high heat cooking.

Extra virgin olive oil for most things, sunflower or rapeseed oil if I'm cooking something far Eastern where olive oil would taste odd. I saute veggies all the time and haven't had a problem using these oils. Coconut oil, on the other hand, doesn't seem to behave as well.

Refined safflower oil's pretty good for high heat cooking.

I use E.v.o.o

Thanks for the suggestions! I've never heard of rapeseed oil, I will have to look up some info on that one :-)

I have used sesame oil and it does impart a great flavor for some types of dishes but sometimes I don't want the oil to lend any flavor to my cooking. Do sunflower, grapeseed or rapeseed oil have much of a flavor?

Canola oil is the more common name for rapeseed oil in the US.

Canola and sunflower oil are both very mild, neutrally flavored oils.

I also like peanut oil.

Right now I'm experimenting with extra virgin coconut oil. One thing to remember with coconut oil is that there are two types. Unrefined (often called virgin, or extra virgin coconut oil) and refined (also called hydrogenated) coconut oil. It's a bit like the difference between butter and clarified butter (also called ghee).

I'm not convinced that coconut oil is as healthy as it's proponents argue (especially in regard to it being said to be a miracle cure for practically every illness imaginable).

I actually like using expensive and even "unhealthy" fats, because I am very stingy with them for those reasons. I like using bacon for example, but I'm super careful with it. I rarely eat bacon by the slice. Instead I use bacon or bacon grease sparingly as a flavoring (I also use a very high quality, strongly flavored bacon - Neuske's applewood smoked bacon - luckily I can get it affordably because we live near the Neuske's outlet store).


We buy "ends" because they're cheaper (this is bacon that sells for about $10 a pound and we got 10 lbs for $10 by buying the ends). We keep the box in the freezer and only take out what we need. I'll grind a few ounces in the food processor until it has the consistency of sausage, and I'll put it in a small tupperware container. Then I can use a teaspoon to scoop out just enough to saute onions or to use to fry an egg. It doesn't even amount to a full slice of bacon (at this rate, the 10 lb bag is going to last us more than a year).

Buying only more expensive (and some unhealthy) fats has really helped me use less - because I treat them like gold. Corn oil and canola oils are cheap, so I can easily fall into overgenerosity in using them.

One fat I'm a little more generous with (which is why I buy them less often) is avocado.

My husband doesn't like them, so that means I'm stuck with 300 calories of fat that has to be used within a day or two. I use an exchange plan, so I eat about the same amount of fat every day, but I almost always go over budget when I have an avocado because I don't want to waste it.

I bought one this week because I found a very, very small one.

I've heard that avocado oil is actually good for frying, but I've not tried it.