Topic: A heathier alternative to Vegetable Oil?

[PaulP]

Virgin and extra virgin olive oil are sensitive to heat and should not be used for frying at high temperatures. The stuff I use is tasteless, odourless and heat stable.

Paul

[Stephen Lindsay]

Just to underline the apparent consensus appears on this thread. I use bog standard "veg" oil from either ASDA or Lidl and certainly in the latter store that is, as Phil says, rapeseed oil. if that wasn't available I'd use sunflower oil. Groundnut oil is, I understand, good for frying at very high temperatures and I have used this is wok cooking (Chinese) with good results.

Did I use the word consensus? - that must be a new concept on this forum 

[Jal-frenzy]

If you mean healthy as in trying to lose weight/reduce calories my understanding is all oils are the same in that department so it really is down to your preferred oil for cooking the dish.

[PaulP]

If you mean healthy as in trying to lose weight/reduce calories my understanding is all oils are the same in that department so it really is down to your preferred oil for cooking the dish.

I think the OP was talking about health as opposed to calories, which as you say are the same for all fats and oils.

Paul

[beachbum]

Latest advice is that oils high in monounsaturates such as Olive oil are better for you than polyunsaturates, hence the Mediterranean Diet etc. They have a marked influence on reducing low density cholesterol and increasing the good high density.

An excellent oil with very high smoke point and very high in mono is Rice Bran Oil. Becoming very popular in Australia (it mostly comes from Thailand and is favoured by most Thai restaurants, who established the import "channel" for the stuff initially) and this is my major cooking oil nowadays.

[Cory Ander]

At the risk of sounding totally boring, what oil do BIRs use?

Oil, it seems to me, is becoming (has become) prohibitively expensive (for whatever reason).

It also seems to me that, like many other things, the debate on "which oil is healthiest for you?" (read "least unhealthy") goes around and around.

It also seems to me that things like rice bran oil and peanut oil are very prohibitively expensive (at least twice as much as simple vegetable oil). 

So, why not stick to what BIRs generally use (i.e. simple vegetable oil or, for the posh and health conscious ones, sunflower oil)?....if you wish to reproduce their results...health risks and all?

It seems to me that these sorts of changes are amongst the very reasons why BIR curries are apparently very different from (and not as good as) those of yesteryear.

[Malc.]

An excellent oil with very high smoke point and very high in mono is Rice Bran Oil.

Funny you mention this as I bought some yesterday, it has a smoke point of 250c and virtually tasteless. Cooked our dinner last night with it to great effect.

[Peripatetic Phil]

An excellent oil with very high smoke point and very high in mono is Rice Bran Oil. Becoming very popular in Australia (it mostly comes from Thailand and is favoured by most Thai restaurants, who established the import "channel" for the stuff initially) and this is my major cooking oil nowadays.

Readily available (and not expensive) in Waitrose, comes in a nice screw-top bottle rather than the modern, minuscule, flip-top caps with initial sealing strip that are a complete disaster if one has the misfortune to drop a bottle.  I like it and use it, but for curries am happy to stick with generic rapeseed oil.

** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

Readily available (and not expensive) in Waitrose...

You live in a different world Phil, you really do.

Waitrose 500mL rice bran oil costs 1.99 pounds. Veg oil from Lidl, 65p for 500mL.

[emin-j]

Our local t/a use Pride Rapeseed Oil in 20ltr drums.