Which cooking oil to use?

[h90]

I read about the olive oil scam a few years ago, and it seems to be still ongoing, Then looking at the bickering back and forth on the other oil alternatives, I just decided there must be a better way. Now I don't use added oil whatsoever, whether doing cooking or on salads. Foods somehow taste fresher and more natural. I don't miss the oil at all when at home. Now to me, oil is just another high calorie processed food I can do without, but find virtually impossible to avoid when eating outside with my wife or friends.

I had a few times olive oil that a small farmer in Croatia gave my mother as gift. He made it for himself.

Very different in taste than anything I ever got from the supermarket.

[96tehtarp]

Don't forget rice bran oil. Many pundits put it right up there with olive oil. Easily found these days and not too expensive, although the OP might feel it is given the quantity he uses.

Rice bran oil is cheap.

I use rice bran oil. It has a very high smoke point and is a lot cheaper than olive oil. I think it's a good compromise as it rates very well in all the charts I've looked at. It's only available at Lotus where I live.

I also use ghee (clarified butter) and lard... but only occasionally and do penance afterwards.

Edited August 10, 2014 by 96tehtarp

[Taggart]

I read about the olive oil scam a few years ago, and it seems to be still ongoing, Then looking at the bickering back and forth on the other oil alternatives, I just decided there must be a better way. Now I don't use added oil whatsoever, whether doing cooking or on salads. Foods somehow taste fresher and more natural. I don't miss the oil at all when at home. Now to me, oil is just another high calorie processed food I can do without, but find virtually impossible to avoid when eating outside with my wife or friends.

I had a few times olive oil that a small farmer in Croatia gave my mother as gift. He made it for himself.

Very different in taste than anything I ever got from the supermarket.

I hear ya. My understanding is the really good, 100% authentic olive oil comes from small producers, but even then no guarantee. To purchase olive oil from small producers you're going to have to go to specialized retailers and pay big money for it.

[KhunBENQ]

Popular brands. Available in bigger bottles/cans (cheaper).

Sunflower:

Soybean:

Edited August 10, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[JesseFrank]

Don't forget rice bran oil. Many pundits put it right up there with olive oil. Easily found these days and not too expensive, although the OP might feel it is given the quantity he uses.

Rice bran oil is cheap.

I use rice bran oil. It has a very high smoke point and is a lot cheaper than olive oil. I think it's a good compromise as it rates very well in all the charts I've looked at. It's only available at Lotus where I live.

I also use ghee (clarified butter) and lard... but only occasionally and do penance afterwards.

Rice bran oil is not really cheap, it's more expensive than Sunflower oil, and comes in different grades, where the better grade is about double from Sunflower oil at Makro.

Another disadvantage from Rice Bran oil is that it is high in Omega 6 but very low in Omega 3.Your Omega 6 and Omega 3 intakes should be 1:1 balance at the least, otherwise Omega 6 is unhealthy.

[BudRight]

Tea seed oil.

[goatfarmer]

If science is of any value, avoid Soy, Sunflower, Canola, and all the other polyunsaturates except for occasional flavouring.

Use: only Coconut and palm oil for high temperature cooking.

Olive oil: be careful to keep it from going rancid: light, temperature and oxygen.

The best summary of the 'science' is here:

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-skinny-on-fats/

[psmiller]

King Brand Rice bran oil is the best for healthy cooking.

[Pii Kate]

Olive oil is the healthiest but it can burn at high temperatures and extra virgin or light olive oil burns very quickly. Extra virgin or light is great for salad dressings, dipping sauces. Buying in bulk will only work if you keep it refrigerated. Olive oil can become rancid in the heat. I have always bought smaller bottles, which ends up costing more, but insures good, fresh oil. Safflower oil is my second choice and works well with deep frying or other very hot temperatures.

PAL OIL IS A HEART KILLER. STAY AWAY FROM IT.

Bon Appetite,

[Pii Kate]

Olive oil is the healthiest but it can burn at high temperatures and extra virgin or light olive oil burns very quickly. Extra virgin or light is great for salad dressings, dipping sauces. Buying in bulk will only work if you keep it refrigerated. Olive oil can become rancid in the heat. I have always bought smaller bottles, which ends up costing more, but insures good, fresh oil. Safflower oil is my second choice and works well with deep frying or other very hot temperatures.

PAL OIL IS A HEART KILLER. STAY AWAY FROM IT.

Bon Appetite,

What to add that you should look for Cold Press olive oil only...the real deal.

[Estrada]

Popular brands. Available in bigger bottles/cans (cheaper).

Sunflower:

Soybean:

I use the "Cook" brand of Sunflower Oil, however the larger bottle is more expensive than the 1Litre bottle, because it is only 1.9Litre. Seems like attempt to fool the consumer that the bigger bottle is cheaper because one tends to think it is twice the size (2L). I prefer Rice Bran Oil but it is more expensive. When I was in Libya you could buy 1Litre of the best quality olive oil for only B40 but here it is so expensive. Be careful to buy only from reputable sources. Some traders use second hand containers and recycled oils.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Estrada

[KarenBravo]

For everyday use, Soya.

For stir-fry, olive oil.

For curries, peanut oil.

[chuenyongman]

I have not seen any Sunflower oil in our Makro for at least a year .

[lopburi3]

Popular brands. Available in bigger bottles/cans (cheaper).

Sunflower:

Soybean:

I use the "Cook" brand of Sunflower Oil, however the larger bottle is more expensive than the 1Litre bottle, because it is only 1.9Litre. Seems like attempt to fool the consumer that the bigger bottle is cheaper because one tends to think it is twice the size (2L). I prefer Rice Bran Oil but it is more expensive. When I was in Libya you could buy 1Litre of the best quality olive oil for only B40 but here it is so expensive. Be careful to buy only from reputable sources. Some traders use second hand containers and recycled oils.

Although it may be misleading it is not more expensive at normal marked price Today in Lotus 1,9L is 138 baht and 1L is 74 baht - so effective cost is 72.63 baht per liter when buying 1.9L container.

[Doc46]

Google Rice bran oil vs olive oil,Rice bran oil just as good or even better,higher smoke point,Much cheaper.never use palm oil

[96tehtarp]

Rice bran oil is cheap.

I use rice bran oil. It has a very high smoke point and is a lot cheaper than olive oil. I think it's a good compromise as it rates very well in all the charts I've looked at. It's only available at Lotus where I live.

I also use ghee (clarified butter) and lard... but only occasionally and do penance afterwards.

Rice bran oil is not really cheap, it's more expensive than Sunflower oil, and comes in different grades, where the better grade is about double from Sunflower oil at Makro.

Another disadvantage from Rice Bran oil is that it is high in Omega 6 but very low in Omega 3.Your Omega 6 and Omega 3 intakes should be 1:1 balance at the least, otherwise Omega 6 is unhealthy.

I stock up on rice bran oil when it's on sale at Lotus. It's almost the same price as sunflower oil when on sale. I've never seen it available in my Makro, and I'd certainly use Sunflower oil anytime. The last batch of rice bran oil I bought had a big yellow label on it which said Non-GMO.

Thanks for bringing up the Omega 3/6 1:1 ratio. I didn't know that.

Too bad I can't convince my wife that cooking oil choice is an important health issue. Wife says "Thai people cook with palm oil"!

[Sayonarax]

Rice oil..

Olive oil is good only for low temp cooking or added to things.

Ill let the phone chefs battle it out.

[Doc46]

Rice Bran oil,cheaper and better than olive oil, has a higher smoke point than olive oil

[isawasnake]

I am sensitive to oil for whatever reason, and if I have too much of the wrong oil, like that soybean oil, i feel very sick. Olive oil never does that to me for whatever reason, even the cheap pomace version I buy.

I don't know about you guys, but i just hate paying almost twice as much as products used to cost me. It is just tough for me to do. I will definitely try this sabroso though, I wish there were more makros available.

[Seducedbytheseas]

Alternate Rice Bran Oil with Olive Oil

[TheRascal]

Olive oil is worthless from a health benefit perspective once it's heated. Great on salads not good for cooking.

Unsalted butter from grass fed cows is great as is coconut oil - although it's more expensive than other oils 250-300 baht for 500 mil. I use the coconut oil for cooking almost all thai foods where the other flavours will take over the coconut flavour (which is slight). For something like eggs where the flavour can easily be tainted I use a little bit of butter.

Read the articles about different oils and fats on http://www.marksdailyapple.com/.

Edited August 11, 2014 by TheRascal

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In BKK, I see and buy rice bran oil at all kinds of different markets -- Tesco, Villa, Tops, etc.

There's a Thai brand that's very reasonably priced, I wanna say, 65 baht or so for a 1 L bottle. There are other varieties that run up to around 100 baht for a 1 L bottle.

It does sometimes take a bit of store shelf scanning to find, since usually there's only a couple varieties/spaces devoted to it -- whereas there are rows and rows of bottles of palm oil, and lesser but many varieties of canola and sunflower oils.

[KVJ]

Read the articles about different oils and fats on http://www.marksdailyapple.com/.

That site is positive on Palim Oil which is unusual given the consenus.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/palm-oil-nutrition/#axzz3A3ILhOzc

[playbgnow]

Stay away from fried food period.

A recent study in the Science Times reported that fried food is more addictive than cocaine and clogs up your motorways.

[Tchooptip]

Canola oil.

Canola oil is absolutely perfect for salad for it contained the so important Omega3, better than olive oil (for salad) which is omega 9.

For cooking in pan (not deep-frying) I use (organic) coconut oil for it the best for supporting high temperature as a mainly saturated fat oil.

[Tchooptip]

You old un's, remember mum cooking chips in beef dripping...............

I guess not many people know that nowadays, I was brought up in Belgium "at the times" yes, chips were cooked everywhere by everyone in beef dripping

I had almost forgotten its existence

[duanebigsby]

The first thing I'd do is cut back on the oil use in general. The OP saying they use "tons of it" already has alarms going off.

I use the best olive oil I can afford for dressings and to cook Mediterranean food, the rest I like Rice bran oil.

[davidmann]

told coco nut oil is better than olive oil

[Bigfarang1948]

Have you researched best or healthiest cooking oil on the web? If you came here expecting to get a consensus opinion I guess you have found the answer to that right off , Try Makro for selection and large quantity. We spent 10K baht there on similar items once and they "rewarded" us with TWO single packets of Rahmen noodles, We burst out laughing as soon as we were away from the counter.

Thanks for the replies so far guys. There's a lot of conficting information out there so it's been hard to get a good fix on it.

[khunPer]

A good friend of mine who is an educated dietician, and quite famous adviser writing in magazines and having her own TV-program, told me, that palm oil is the best oil for cooking (frying). Whether there are different varieties to look for, I don’t know.

Normally cold pressed virgin olive oil has been considered the best for cold use, like salad dressing. Don’t (never) use olive oil for cooking.