Topic: Which Oil Is the Healthiest ???

[mak]

Hi All, Who uses which oil for their main dishes and why?

What is the healthiest oil to cook with given the reported health risks with Veg oil?

Thanks in advance,

Mak

[natterjak]

I use veg oil, not aware of any reported health risks. Maybe it's better I don't check back on this thread - maybe ignorance is bliss?  ;D (which would account for my generally cheery disposition!)

[chewytikka]

I use...
Ordinary veg oil, which is Rapeseed.
Sunflower oil
Cold Pressed Rapeseed oil
Olive oil (light)
Olive oil
Stir Fry Oil (Chinese)
Veg Ghee
Animal Ghee
Anchor Butter.
Not sure how healthy that lot is,but its all good in my book ;D

cheers Chewy

[hampshire hog]

I've been using Rice Bran Oil with good results - base and final dish

Heres some blurb - I found it in Tesco's

http://www.californiariceoil.com/

[mak]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Personally I use veg oil but I'm open to other oils to test them out.
Rice Bran Oil sounds like a good alternative to Veg oil - is easily available as well?

Thanks again

Mak

[Razor]

I use baby oil.........ooops, sorry, wrong forum : ;D

I use veg oil for BIR but anything else, olive oil.  My mother went to Australia some years ago to stay with childhood friends, and they deep fried their chips in Olive oil.  My mam said that they were the nicest chips that she'd ever had.  I don't think I could afford to fill up my deep fat frier with olive oil, so I don't think I'll be giving that a go anytime soon but, do any of our Aussie friends know of this method?

I don't know what type of olive oil that they used, and my dear old mother never ask

Ray

[PaulP]

Hi Ray,

That would probably be refined or "light" olive oil. I think the Spanish fry their chips in it and it doesn't really have an olive oil taste. I don't think it is expensive either, and probably a healthy choice.

I've just bought a jar of organic butter ghee as I want to try it next time I make a tarka dhal.

I usually use rice bran oil for my curry bases and frying duties.

I don't think there is one best oil but you should be careful what oil you reuse in a deep fat fryer as stuff like rapeseed oil develops toxic compounds over time when heated over and over.

Cheers,

Paul

[mak]

That's a thought Paul, is butter ghee a better alternative to veg oil do you think?
I'm not that keen on it but can stomach it in small amounts

Cheers

[madeinbeats]

I just been looking into this recently and I've found that the healthiest is coconut oil. Most oils when heated mutate and create cancer causing agents. Coconut oil from what I gather doesn't do that.

I mostly use olive oil for cooking and curries though unless it;s something like Chinese cooking, then then I use [in order of preference] peanut oil, ground nut oil, sunflower or other veg oil. Rape seed only has health benefits if it is cold pressed and not heated I think I read.

Palm oil, corn oil or anything that has been hydrogenated are the worst kinds for you so I believe.

If you like butter, try and buy butter from grass only fed cows is one tip I remember.

 Since looking into coconut oil, I am actually now eating spoonfuls of it every day for its health benefits.

[madmatt]

I was a massive fan of ghee, until I heard on 'Saturday kitchen' it is 5 x more unhealthy than veg oil.
Kinda put me off a bit
Still tastes the best IMO

Regards

Matt