Olive Oil
Sep 22nd, 2014, 03:07 AM
#41
Join Date: Apr 2003
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"We use the best olive oil for everything"
Extra virgin really isn't the best (or even an adequate) oil for cooking. Its low smoke point - caused by the solids that make it so tasty - means that some of its components disintegrate well below the temperatures even light frying demand. That tastes repulsive, stinks the kitchen out and is widely claimed to cause carcinogenic residues in the food it's contaminated.
I'm a huge sceptic of "carcinogenic" claims (how many thousand gallons do you need to consume?). But there's no debating the horrible taste and smell caused by overheated extra virgin.
For most purposes: use a high smoke point refined oil (preferably rapeseed, though blended late-pressing olive will do) for frying (including making a sofritto). And use the "good" stuff as a condiment.
In this as in almost everything: there's no such thing as "best".
Extra virgin really isn't the best (or even an adequate) oil for cooking. Its low smoke point - caused by the solids that make it so tasty - means that some of its components disintegrate well below the temperatures even light frying demand. That tastes repulsive, stinks the kitchen out and is widely claimed to cause carcinogenic residues in the food it's contaminated.
I'm a huge sceptic of "carcinogenic" claims (how many thousand gallons do you need to consume?). But there's no debating the horrible taste and smell caused by overheated extra virgin.
For most purposes: use a high smoke point refined oil (preferably rapeseed, though blended late-pressing olive will do) for frying (including making a sofritto). And use the "good" stuff as a condiment.
In this as in almost everything: there's no such thing as "best".
