The Best Vegetable Oils for Cooking
Not all vegetable oils are created equally; knowing which oil to choose will allow you to make the right choice for cooking and for your health.
Vegetable oils can include oils made from vegetables, nuts,seeds and other sources. Vegetable oils are typically considered to be low in saturated fat ("bad") fat and high in mono and polyunsaturated ("good") fats. Mono and polyunsaturated fats have bee shown to lower cholesterol levels. Most vegetable oils, with olive oil being the exception, have a high smoke point, meaning they can be heated to higher temperatures that other fats without smoking. This high smoke point makes vegetable oils well suited to tasks such as frying, stir frying and high heat sauteing.
Most vegetable oils have relatively neutral flavor, with some possessing only a slight undertone, which makes them ideal for cooking, baking and for using in salad dressings and marinades.
If you do not use vegetable oils on a frequent basis, purchase them in smaller quantities since they typically need to be replaced every 4 months or so. Nut oils such as walnut oil will turn rancid quickly, so once opened, store them in the refrigerator.
A few of our favorite cooking oil that we keep stocked up on are:
Canola Oil: Mild-tasting, very high smoke point and has the lowest saturated fats of all vegetable oils. Canola oil also contains omega-3 fatty acid which aids in reducing cholesterol levels.
Corn Oil: Completely odorless and almost tasteless, ideal for frying or baking light cakes and pastries. Corn oil is very high in polyunsaturated fat.
Peanut Oil: A flavorful oil with a very high smoke point. Use peanut oil when stir frying Chinese or Asian dished; has a nice nutty flavor and darken amber color.
Sunflower Oil: A soft oil used primarily for baking and salad dressing, Sunflower oil will smoke at medium-high heat. Has a light nutty flavor.
Walnut Oil: Nutty-tasting oil that can be used for baking as well as in salad dressing and marinades. Do not use for high heat cooking.
