What Type of Oil Should I Use in My Recipes?

                                                               

Here's a question I wondered for years and didn't know the right answer until recently:  What type of oil should I use in my recipes?


Certainly it depends on what type of food and how it's going to be cooked.

Pan-frying: My choices for pan-frying are coconut oil and peanut oil, but real peanut oil that isn't mixed with other oils is hard to find. Coconut oil is almost always the best choice, as it can withstand high-heat temperatures and is also known for its many health benefits.  Olive oil should not be used on high-heat temperatures.

Baking:  My first choice for baking is freshly-ground flax seed; next would be coconut oil and then olive oil.  Coconut oil and olive oil might add a different, possibly unwanted flavor to the recipe where I can not tell when flax seed is used.  I keep my flax seeds in the freezer and use a small coffee grinder to freshly grind when needed.  All three of these options have wonderful health benefits.  Although I've always been told, never use olive oil in baking, I've used it for years and have never tasted a difference.  I've read that olive oil is the number one adulterated food and that might be why I've always had good luck - maybe it wasn't really olive oil!  I've just started to buy the smaller bottles of olive oil in a dark jar rather than in a large tin.  When it comes to olive oil, what comes to mind is, 'you get what you pay for.'


Canola:  I remember specifically when canola was 'invented.'  I use the word 'invented' for lack of being able to find a more suitable word.  It was in the 1980's and everyone was saying, "Why aren't you using canola - it's the best, healthiest oil?  Don't you know it's heart healthy?"  I was young, never questioned it, and I guess I thought that everyone else was smarter.  When I recently started questioning food in general, I wondered: What is a canola?  I know what the peanut in peanut oil is, what the olive in olive oil is and I even know what the coconut in coconut oil is.  What the heck is a 'canola'?????

I decided to research this conundrum and found that canola stands for Canadian Oil Low Acid and canola oil is made from the genetically modified rapeseed plant.  The rapeseed plant, on its own is toxic and birds will not eat the seeds.  By genetically modifying the plant, it is supposed to be okay for human consumption. You won't find any canola oil in my pantry!

Vegetable Oil: I will only buy vegetable oil if I am familiar with which 'vegetable' the oil came from and that it is not genetically modified.  So really, I don't buy this anymore.

Here is a report of an Indian study that found we should be eating oils our grandmothers ate:  Times of India Article  Who would have ever thought (*being fastidious*) we should be eating foods that were around 100 years ago rather than man-made, food-like products???