Oil For Cooking

[MESmith]

or is it the AMOUNT of oil we consume that will do us in? If we could agree upon which is the very healthiest of oils for cooking, won't a diet of French fries, fried chicken, Thai-style omelets, fried fish, deep-fried whatever, etc., etc., etc., still be less healthy than someone eating steamed veggies, boiled fish, grilled chicken, etc., with just a spoonful of WD-40 in their salad dressing? Just how crazy do we have to get with our diets? If our medical checkup tests are in the 'normal' range, and we're feeling healthy and fit, do we really need to completely revamp our eating style?

Worcestershire sauce makes for a healthier substitute

[junglechef]

Lard and duck fat are all good and but don't forget schmatz! That's render chicken fat that I use for my chopped liver and other things I make for my days off of eating healthy. Take everything in moderation including moderation!!

[stickylies]

i eat with thai neighbour every single day. he uses soy oil and never palm oil. he knows the latter is very bad stuff.

if u wanna cook yourself stick to cocos oil or olive oil. i steam all my vegetables without oil.

[NBD]

Lard or duck fat when cooking at home. A kg of pig fat from the local market for about 40 THB makes a couple of months worth of good clean oil with a high smoke point, no artificial stuff and tastes great.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Despite dozens of people trying, I refuse to feel guilty about eating anything that tastes sooo much better. I also use ghee for frying mushrooms.

Nothing to feel guilty about IMO! Basically up until the late 80s or early 90s animal fats were a huge part of the average human diet since time immemorial. They got replaced by loads of processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils "for health reasons", coincidentally at the same time as western governments (US especially) had loads of surpluse corn, maize etc as a result of farm subsidies. They also dumped a load of this stuff into high fructose corn syrup and other food additives. And lo, obesity shot up, cancer rates rose, and the government continued blaming saturated fats!

They make these concoctions by extracting oil from vegetables using solvents (you don't get oil from crushing rice bran, as you do an olive) and then adding in colouring and flavouring to make it look like nice cooking oil.

Watch the film Fathead for a lot more info. Fascinating topic IMO, and one where the public has been hugely mislead.

Olive oil is fine as a salad dressing, but has such a low smoke temperature that it's hopeless for frying.

Coconut oil has a strong taste which I am not overly fond of.

Lard is awesome!

Duck fat is the mother of all salad dressings.

Keen to try ghee but haven't found any here yet, and I'm reluctant to throw a lot of nice (expensive) butter at making my own. Where do you get it from?

Edited September 20, 2013 by NBD

[Konini]

Lard or duck fat when cooking at home. A kg of pig fat from the local market for about 40 THB makes a couple of months worth of good clean oil with a high smoke point, no artificial stuff and tastes great.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Despite dozens of people trying, I refuse to feel guilty about eating anything that tastes sooo much better. I also use ghee for frying mushrooms.

Nothing to feel guilty about IMO! Basically up until the late 80s or early 90s animal fats were a huge part of the average human diet since time immemorial. They got replaced by loads of processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils "for health reasons", coincidentally at the same time as western governments (US especially) had loads of surpluse corn, maize etc as a result of farm subsidies. They also dumped a load of this stuff into high fructose corn syrup and other food additives. And lo, obesity shot up, cancer rates rose, and the government continued blaming saturated fats!

They make these concoctions by extracting oil from vegetables using solvents (you don't get oil from crushing rice bran, as you do an olive) and then adding in colouring and flavouring to make it look like nice cooking oil.

Watch the film Fathead for a lot more info. Fascinating topic IMO, and one where the public has been hugely mislead.

Olive oil is fine as a salad dressing, but has such a low smoke temperature that it's hopeless for frying.

Coconut oil has a strong taste which I am not overly fond of.

Lard is awesome!

Duck fat is the mother of all salad dressings.

Keen to try ghee but haven't found any here yet, and I'm reluctant to throw a lot of nice (expensive) butter at making my own. Where do you get it from?

I

Thanks for the suggestion on the film - it's on Youtube and download as I type. I agree with you on the taste of coconut oil - I once fried an egg in it, and the taste was so unusual that I'll keep it for my hair! It's OK if you're making curry and have no ghee left though. Nothing tastes quite like an egg fried in lard, especially if the lard has been used to fry bacon.

I've found ghee at Makro and a market stall that sells Indian spices, definitely worth seeking out although you may baulk at the price. It's only clarified butter, so no guesses how it tastes, can't imagine frying an egg in it but it comes into it's own for mushrooms

[NBD]

Yeah. Frying mushrooms in normal butter is a fine art, but the higher smoke point of ghee must make it easier. Indian curries too. Mmm.

Agree with junglechef too about chicken fat/schmaltz - possibly even better than lard for a fried egg.

[NBD]

Where in Makro do you find ghee? I've looked in a few Makros and never seen it.

[rebo]

Lard and duck fat are all good and but don't forget schmatz! That's render chicken fat that I use for my chopped liver and other things I make for my days off of eating healthy. Take everything in moderation including moderation!!

Schmatz? That's another german word for Kiss ...

I assume you mean Schmalz (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmalz) what is the german word for lard. In most cases made from pork, sometimes from goose.

[femi fan]

Where in Makro do you find ghee? I've looked in a few Makros and never seen it.

Don't know, but you can buy it in kasem. It's in round green tins. I think i bought it in rimping ages ago.

I now buy mine in ban suan pak health store. She makes it herself and sells it in smallish jars for about 70 baht,

[Anon999]

Omega 3 oil.

[Prettygirl051469]

According to the research Virgin Coconut oil actually lowers colesteral . Some use it for that purpose by taking a tablespoon daily. Some reported that it replaced their medication.

Coconut is the Gold of oils because it does not oxidise like other oils that will go on to produce free radicals that damage normal cell reproduction leading to various health issues.

it's expensive, don't know why, does not make sense, but we force ourselves to use it in moderation because of the expense.

[Duvidl]

According to the research Virgin Coconut oil actually lowers colesteral . Some use it for that purpose by taking a tablespoon daily. Some reported that it replaced their medication.

Coconut is the Gold of oils because it does not oxidise like other oils that will go on to produce free radicals that damage normal cell reproduction leading to various health issues.

it's expensive, don't know why, does not make sense, but we force ourselves to use it in moderation because of the expense.

Where do you buy your coconut oil and how much do you pay for it?

Thanks.

[junglechef]

Lard and duck fat are all good and but don't forget schmatz! That's render chicken fat that I use for my chopped liver and other things I make for my days off of eating healthy. Take everything in moderation including moderation!!

Schmatz? That's another german word for Kiss ...I assume you mean Schmalz (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmalz) what is the german word for lard. In most cases made from pork, sometimes from goose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmaltz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_language

[Prettygirl051469]

Yes Big C sells a 700ml bottle of Virgin Coconut oil for around 465 Bht from memory. Am used to paying much lower prices in the Philippines.

[Chiengmaijoe]

If you were drinking this stuff by the gallon I could understand all the fuss (107 replies and almost 3000 views) but isn't it just for cooking?

[NBD]

Joe

You wouldn't think it would make much difference, and I never even considered it until someone told me how they make vegetable oils (and margerine too.)

Once you start using clean oils though you really can taste the difference.

[Prettygirl051469]

You can use coconut oil for sun protection. If you use other cooking oils expect to be badly burnt. It it also used to enhance hair. Coconut oil is anticeptic and anti-tumor so it can be used to assist healing of wounds.

During WW2 the water from the coconut was used as a substitute for blood plasma in emergencies.

The coconut tree is called the tree of life in the Philippines.

[elektrified]

After doing some reading on coconut oils the last few days I'm interested in getting some. I understand that 2 tablespoons per day could lower your cholesterol. Now, where to get it? They had 2 different brands at Rimping today; one was about 467 Baht and the other was 299 Baht for a not very big bottle! That seems silly considering how many coconuts there are in Thailand. There was a shop I saw open up on Nimmanhaeman soi 7? 9? (where the Italian buffet place is/was) selling only coconut oil just a couple of months ago but when I passed by today, they were already out of business

So does anyone have any sources for this oil at a reasonable price?

[butterisbetter]

Palm Oil = DEATH! Dead elephants, orang-utans, the list goes on and on.

I won't use it for this reason alone.

Thousands of sq kilometres have been cleared in Indonesia and Malaysia without a care for the environment.

I don't know why people say this about palm oil.

The one single thing that ruins the world's environment more than any other source is raising cattle. In america alone it uses up about half their total energy, half their water resources, and half their crops just to feed the cows so people can have their hamburgers. Not to mention all the forest clearing in other countries including the amazon to grow crops to feed the cows and to find homes for the cows.

So worry about beef if it comes to the environment!

Clearly your predilection for of palm oil outweighs the fact that the cultivation of palm oil trees is creating the risk of mass extinction for many species of animals, including the orangutan. It's a convenient sort of conscience you have that leads you to decry cattle farming while dismissing the environmental dangers posed by a food you favor. It's so much easier to ask others to make sacrifices rather than yourself. Maybe raising cattle is worse for the environment. But the cultivation of palm oil trees is really bad, too. There's an observation from, I believe, Aristotle about making the perfect the enemy of the good. You've managed to make the worst the ally of the bad. Quite an accomplishment in a dismal, sophistacal sort of way.

[NBD]

I missed that spectacular bit of wrongness

Femi fan, where do you get the figure that the US uses half of it's energy and water on beef production? And half of their total crops? Really?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited September 23, 2013 by NBD

[butterisbetter]

I missed that spectacular bit of wrongness Femi fan, where do you get the figure that the US uses half of it's energy and water on beef production? And half of their total crops? Really? Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Even if it were true about cattle raising, which is dubious, it doesn't mitigate the fact that palm oil plantations are also destructive. It's like saying that since 75% of murders are committed with a gun, there's nothing wrong with committing murder with a knife.

[NBD]

By the way it's important to draw a distinction between two different kinds of palm oil.

Red palm oil is extracted naturally and has been used for years in Africa. The stuff you'll find on special offer in Big C is extracted with solvents and other crap, and I suspect is just as bad as canola or any other manufactured fat substitute.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Prettygirl051469]

Thought it would be interesting to see just how complex and expensive it is to to produce Virgin Coconut oil so we found this youtube video made in the Philippines by a small scale producer.

Guess they must pay high salaries in Thailand to arrive at the high price. Can see it is labour intensive as shown here, there must be ways to make it much more cost effectively.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y5HFVMsEosY&desktop_uri=%252Fwatch%253Fv%253Dy5HFVMsEosY&autoplay=1

[masuk]

Palm Oil = DEATH! Dead elephants, orang-utans, the list goes on and on.

I won't use it for this reason alone.

Thousands of sq kilometres have been cleared in Indonesia and Malaysia without a care for the environment.

I don't know why people say this about palm oil.

The one single thing that ruins the world's environment more than any other source is raising cattle. In america alone it uses up about half their total energy, half their water resources, and half their crops just to feed the cows so people can have their hamburgers. Not to mention all the forest clearing in other countries including the amazon to grow crops to feed the cows and to find homes for the cows.

So worry about beef if it comes to the environment!

Clearly your predilection for of palm oil outweighs the fact that the cultivation of palm oil trees is creating the risk of mass extinction for many species of animals, including the orangutan. It's a convenient sort of conscience you have that leads you to decry cattle farming while dismissing the environmental dangers posed by a food you favor. It's so much easier to ask others to make sacrifices rather than yourself. Maybe raising cattle is worse for the environment. But the cultivation of palm oil trees is really bad, too. There's an observation from, I believe, Aristotle about making the perfect the enemy of the good. You've managed to make the worst the ally of the bad. Quite an accomplishment in a dismal, sophistacal sort of way.

I kept my mouth shut on this, as it's the cattle raising argument used by the Malay and Indonesian govts as an excuse to destroy yet more forest. They don't realise that most of the cattle land was grassland before cattle were moved in.

There are orang-utan orphanages set up to try and find a new place for the poor creatures.

It's more difficult with the Asian elephants, as they need the forest shade. Some have been moved to Bali and an elephant centre set up.

[John Egil]

Palm oil is banned at all fast food joints in Norway such as Mc.Donalds and so on . Because of the health issues...

[Chiengmaijoe]

Palm oil is banned at all fast food joints in Norway such as Mc.Donalds and so on . Because of the health issues...

Nanny state.

A quick google search says it was banned due to deforestation concerns in Malaysia, Indonesia.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Chiengmaijoe

[Prettygirl051469]

Coconut husk removal first stage in coconut oil production.

We noticed the post from Arjen, interested in coconut husk removal , so have done a little research to discover the most efficient methods. Some methods are so hopeless and dangerous. So here are our favourites.

Here is a Philippine traditional method for removing coconut husks. Also seen the identical method used in a Thai video. It is simple but with the proper technique a Philippine worker can remove about 200 husks per day. We think that should cost around TB300 in Thailand.

http://youtu.be/P_84F1Z6raI

The next is my partners favourite mechanical husk removing machine. It does a very efficient removing operation in one single push.

Just for amusement I found this video clip. Don't think you will find anyone capable of this de-husking feat.

Thanks to Arjen for his kind visit offer but right now we are very involved in studying the Thai language.

[Prettygirl051469]

You need to see this very simple and extremely effective little tool:-

[daoyai]

You need to see this very simple and extremely effective little tool:-

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wR5LruFtUYs&desktop_uri=%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DwR5LruFtUYs&autoplay=1

That is the coolest thing i have seen in a log time, brilliant.

[Prettygirl051469]

Had a feeling you might make a tool like that for yourself. It's true that the best ideas are the simple ones. Hope you can find a way to improve on it.