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Buy Better Cooking Oils

After doing a research on how to buy cooking oils on internet; I have the following observations:

Different oils fill different needs — for health, taste and cooking.

1. The seeds of vegetable cooking oils must be  naturally hybridized and not genetically engineered.How safe are these genetically engineered seeds, nobody knows for sure.

2. Extraction method should be expeller pressed rather than hexane extracted.
Mass market oils are typically extracted from seeds using petroleum product called hexane, pulling 100% of the oil from the seeds.  Unlikely oils that are cold pressed that yields only 50-70% of the oil.  That is why there is a price difference between these two methods of extraction.

3. Oils should not used chemical preservatives.
Most mass produced oils have added carcinogenic antioxidants such as BHT, BHA and TBHQ to extend their shelf life. These preservatives are enzyme inhibitors.

4. The bottle for the cooking oils should be glass and in dark color.
Oils exposed to heat, air and light are prone to oxidation and free radical production, especially unsaturated fats. (They turn into trans fat in no time).

Another important factor to be considered is the smoke point of the oil.
Once the oil starts to smoke, it will emit a harsh smell and the oils will contain a large quantity of free radicals that contribute to the risk of cancer.

Below is a table that lists the typical smoke points of cooking oil. The more refined an oil, the higher the smoke point. That's because refining removes the impurities that can cause the oil to smoke. A simple rule of thumb is that the lighter the color of the oil, the higher its smoke point.

Normal deep frying temperature in most cases lies between 175 and 190 °C (345–375 °F).You have to choose oils that have smoke points higher than that value. (Reuse the oil will reduce the smoke point, and it is not a healthy practice after all!).  To err on the safe side, stir fry your food, and avoid deep fry totally.

Smoke Points

Safflower	265 degrees C
Sunflower	246 degrees C
Soybean	241 degrees C
Canola	238 degrees C
Corn	236 degrees C
Peanut	231 degrees C
Sesame	215 degrees C
Olive	190 degrees C
Lards	183 to 205 degrees C

The next factor we have to consider is that whether the oils are considered good fats or bad fats.

 

Cooking Oil the Bad Fats
Saturated Fats	Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Trans Fats	Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
Cooking Oil the Good Fats
Monounsaturated Fats	Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). Omega 9
Polyunsaturated Fats	Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Omega 3,6

 

Based on this classification:

• Good Cooking Oils include:
• canola oil
• flax seed oil
• peanut oil
• non-hydrogenated soft margarine
• safflower oil
• sunflower oil

• Bad Cooking Oils include:
• Vegetable shortening
• Hard margarine
• Butter
• Palm oil
• Palm kernel oil
• Coconut oil

Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat with trans-isomer (E-isomer) fatty acid(s). Because the term refers to the configuration of a double carbon-carbon bond, trans fats may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated but never saturated.

Before we make our decision on what oil to buy for our cooking, let us consider some other differing views on the above-mentioned classification:

• Animal fats are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, E and A.  It has better flavor.  Since lard has low level of polyunsaturated fatty acid, it doesn’t turn rancid easily.  It is stable with heat, and it is great for frying food. If rendering with water and small fire, the lard will be of good quality.
• Vegetable oil such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, safflower oil, and other similar oils are mostly composed of polyunsaturated fats (the most highly reactive type of fat) which leave them prone to oxidation and free radical production when exposed to heat and light..
• Processed polyunsaturated oils are the most inflammatory inside our bodies because of their high reactivity to heat and light. This inflammation is what causes many of our internal problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases. Moreover, all of the vegetable oils listed above are generally heavily refined during processing, they are already inflammatory before you even cook with them (which do even more damage).
  In short, they are not healthy at all.
  
• Here's the actual order of stability of different type of fats under heat, air and light (from least stable to most stable):
  1.polyunsaturated
  2.monounsaturated
  3.saturated

Mainstream health professionals are afraid to tell you ……….

Saturated fats are actually the healthiest oils to cook with!
Why?

• Because they are much more stable and less inflammatory than polyunsaturated oils.
• Natural butter (NOT margarine) is one of the best fats for cooking. This all goes directly against what you hear in mainstream health talk... because most health professionals  falsely believe that saturated fats are bad for you... when in fact, they are actually neutral in most instances... and saturated fats from tropical oils are actually good for you as they contain mostly medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are lacking in most people's diets.
• In fact, lauric acid is one of the abundant MCTs in tropical oils and is known to strengthen the immune system. Lauric acid is even being studied currently in medical studies for controlling contagious diseases.

For a full discussion on this topic; please follow this link:
Coconut Oils

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat and is more stable than polyunsaturated oils.  Because of it’s lower smoke point, cold pressed virgin oil is most suitable for salads.  If you want to use it for low temperature cooking then choose extra virgin olive oil which has a higher smoke point. Store it in the refrigerator and finish using it within a month.

In conclusion, the only fats you should use for moderate to high temperature cooking are saturated fats like lard, butter, and coconut oil.

For a more technical knowledge on cooking oils, please follow this link

How bad are cooking oils?

Good luck to your informed choice! on how to buy better cooking oils.

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