Yes you can but you may not be able to crank the temperature up to maximum and avoid it degrading. So it depends on the particular oil (as the treatment in part determines smoke point) and what you are frying how easy that will be.
You will be throwing out quite a bit of expensive oil when it gets too dark and smelly as it is around four times the price of (say) canola. The fine aroma and taste of expensive EVOO will not be so evident once it has been used a few times. Maybe a cheaper refined OO will be more suitable than EVOO.
Only use the light olive oil to deep fry, it has a fairly high smoke point. It is the final press of the olives and so has no moisture and very little flavour to affect the taste of what is being fried.
since swapping to a keto eating plan I always have a mixture of fats for my meal preparation;
MCT for morning coffee
Coconut for baked goods and stir fry
Butter and ghee baked goods and pan fry
Nut oils - avocado, walnut, hazelnut, macadamia for salad dressing or mayonnaise
EVO for low heat cooking and dressings
Sesame for asian dishes
Lard or duck fat for crisp potatoes
With a history in commercial cooking and training in Greek, Italian and French cooking there is no one size fits all. If I am to use butter, a small amount of olive oil will slow down the burning of butter. Baking potatoes and crisping hash browns needs duck fat, olive oil and butter. Omelettes must be cooked in virgin olive oil and Australian brands are some of the best in the world. When cooking French style my training French chief always relied on putting MORE butter in it. Adding 10% classic olive oil to butter for Baklava prep helped keep the melted butter flowing over the pastry. Cooking onions or garlic should be classic olive oil but you must start with a cold pan. All oils and butter too give a flavour to the food, so if you want the food to dominate then classic olive oil has the least dominant flavour.
Olive oil (light) for most.
Peanut oil for asian/high temps.
Olive oil with Nuttalex margarine for tasty low temp cooking (can’t tolerate dairy).
I notice a post above suggesting that light olive oil has a very high smoke point. I can’t say I’ve noticed this and would like Choice to investigate this as part of an article on the differences between the different presses of olive oil. What is the difference in terms of chemistry, goodness and temperature tolerance? Do you get all the touted benefits of extra virgin olive oil if you use ‘light’? Do you need ‘full flavour’ or ‘classic’ to get all those flavenols etc?
Light Olive Oil sometimes called Extra Light Olive Oil is also referred to Refined Olive Oil. The final press of the olives uses steam and chemical treatment and very high pressure to extract the final remnants of olive oil. This final press has no water left, and none of the usual flavours expected of olive oil. If smelling it, it may have a very faint olive scent but is usually a very neutral smelling oil.
The first presses that produce the Virgin Oil and the classic oil leave the oils with some “juice” from the oil. These first presses have the distinct olive smell and if heated high enough the “juice” will burn producing an acrid smoke. The oil that is extra light/light/refined is still like all other olive oils in that they are all mostly monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) and they contain by weight about 75% monounsaturated fat and about 10% polyunsaturated fat, the remaining fat is saturated fat.
The difference in what the oils do contain, is that Virgin and Classical contain phenols (Virgin having the highest concentration), due to the heat processing that Extra Light/Light refined undergoes the phenols are destroyed/removed. These plant phenols are regarded as having antioxidant properties. Heating Virgin Olive Oil to a high point also destroys these phenols.
It’s an aside, but can you explain why it is a ‘must’ to start cooking onions from cold? I’m interested to know because I like to cook in stainless steel pans which work much better (no sticking) if heated fairly high before adding oil or ingredients.
Apologies for not being clear - all my discussion including the ‘light’ that I mentioned that I use was assuming Extra Virgin olive oil, which despite a lack of confirming studies (not the same as studies finding no benefit!) conceivably has significant health advantages. In any case I only use Extra Virgin now, and was interested in the differences between the well known Cobram labels of Light, Classic and Robust - all Extra Virgin. I can read the Cobram blurb which implies that olive varieties account for most of the difference, but also note that while the last two specifically mention ‘first pressing’, the Light does not. It makes sense that the stronger flavoured and coloured oils contain more flavonoids and other phenols and probably other colour-related chemicals which are likely to be at least partly responsible for the touted health benefits of olive oils. I was hoping that Choice could do some deeper homework on this than I can find online, as it would be relevant and interesting to many of us.
PS see response from Cobram that I have posted below … not sure if it is linked to this post or not.
Starting onions and garlic in a cold pan has been a tradition with Greek and Italian cooking. the reason behind this is that by the time the pan reaches a hot temp the onions and garlic are cooked with the onions now clear and no caramelisation. With the garlic starting cold it stops the garlic getting a bitter taste. I cook a Fettuccini, garlic, mushrooms, bacon and cream (16 cloves of garlic sliced fine). So, cook garlic and remove, cook mushrooms and remove, cook bacon and return garlic and mushrooms and cover with cream at low heat and reduce. Classic olive oil gives a flavour without dominating the food the way virgin oil will. And most Greek and Italian cooking was peasant food, we sold all the virgin oil. Also try cooking sausages at a lower heat, they remain juicy. I love stainless steel pans and they clean easily but I was trained on cast iron and had to be able to “prove” my pans.
Yes, burning the garlic in hot oil should be avoided at all costs
Just curious about your proportions for using 16 cloves of garlic?
My guideline for mushroom and cream sauce is 1 clove per 4 servings?
We use Cobram Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) for everything based on professional dietary advice for health reasons.
For frying when using non-stick pans or baking veges etc I use Aldi’s equivalent spray - branded The Olive Grove EVOO spray.
I use Australian to avoid deterioration in the oil due to international food miles and different food standards e.g. purity and labelling.
I subscribe to an American newsletter called Medical News Today recommended by an Australian cardiologist to easily keep up to date with new research progress on all health areas.
I put my faith in reliable research. Hard to have an opinion for me without understanding the data.
If interested, here is a link to their summary on oils …
What are the most healthful oils? - Comparing oils: Olive, coconut, canola, and vegetable oil .
Thanks for that good info and advice. I must admit I haven’t been totally happy with my stainless steel pan (which I use most because my cast iron pan is smaller), after discovering that stainless steel can’t be proven/seasoned as well as cast iron.The alternative (and it is a MUST for eggs and fish IME) is to cook differently – heat the pan to a medium heat as tested by the water drop method, before adding oil and then the food. This works pretty well (even with scrambled eggs!), but is more complicated than using seasoned cast iron which seems to be non-stick no matter how you cook. Anyway I’ll apply your “onion and garlic from cold” process and see how it works with stainless steel. While writing this I also found online a method for seasoning stainless pans that is claimed to work ok, so will give that a go too. I should add that for many reasons I prefer the stainless steel pan over alternatives and will not be replacing it!
