The three most commonly used cooking oils are vegetable oil, olive oil, and canola oil.
Each oil can play a different role in the kitchen, but which one should you regularly use?
I decided to put vegetable oil, olive oil, and canola oil to the test by comparing them based on affordability, versatility, and smoking point.
First, here's some fast facts about each oil:
VEGETABLE OIL
- Blend of many different oils (sunflower, corn, etc.).
- Most common vegetable oil is corn oil
- Loaded with omega-6 fatty acids
- Generally considered the unhealthiest cooking oil
- High smoking point (so it can be used for cooking at high temperatures)
- Neutral taste
- Very inexpensive
OLIVE OIL
- Made from pressed olives
- Most common olive oil is extra virgin olive oil
- Considered the healthiest oil (no chemical-filled process to be produced)
- Low smoking point
- Retains some olive flavor
- Expensive, especially the higher-end brands
CANOLA OIL
- Made from the rapeseed plant
- Considered to be a heart-healthy cooking oil
- Incredibly high smoking point
- Neutral flavor
- Very inexpensive; often sold in bulk.
Now, let's compare them based on affordability, versatility, and smoking point:
AFFORDABILITY
The pricey: Olive oil. Higher-end brands can be outrageously expensive.
The affordable: Vegetable oil and canola oil. Both are very inexpensive.
Best choice: Canola oil. Because it is often sold in bulk, it beats out vegetable oil.
VERSATILITY
The limited: Olive oil. Because it often retains some of its olive flavor, it can distort recipes' flavor.
The versatile: Canola oil (and some varieties of vegetable oil). It has a very neutral taste, so it can be used in any recipe.
Best choice: Canola oil. Although there are some neutral-tasting varieties of vegetable oil, it varies from oil to oil, so canola oil is a safer bet.
SMOKING POINT
Low: Olive oil.
Medium: Vegetable oil.
High: Canola oil.
Best choice: Canola oil. It has the highest smoking point of all commonly-used cooking oils, making it ideal for high-heat recipes such as stir fry.
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RECOMMENDATION
Based on the above comparison, canola oil is best cooking oil due to its affordability, versatility, and high smoking point.
While vegetable oil is generally very affordable, its smoking point is only medium and its versatility depends
on the specific variety of oil.
Additionally, although olive oil is the healthiest oil to cook with, it is not affordable or versatile, and it does not have a high smoking point.
Canola oil, on the other hand, combines all three of these key factors.
YESSS canola oil!! Olive oil is good, but 1. expensive and 2. whatever you're cooking is going to taste a lot like olive oil (sauteing) unless you're going for that olive oil flavor lol
ReplyDeleteExactly! I do love olive oil, but its use is really limited when it comes to high heat cooking. (I almost burned down the kitchen learning that the hard way!)
DeleteThank you: so helpful!
ReplyDelete