Can you cook with olive oil?

Ive been using olive oil instead of sunflower oil when cooking, does it get damaged or lose its benefits by heating it, say i put it in my scrambled eggs mix or cooked mince with it on the hob etc?

Thanks ICE.

I wouldn't use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for cooking, but Olive Oil is fine for most things. For very high temperature cooking like stir fries I would use an oil designed for this like groundnut oil.

I wouldnt use groundnut oil for high temp frying. I would use butter or coconut oil.

As per above, extra virgin isnt meant to be cooked with. But on the flipside if its not cold pressed EV, then its pretty pointless to begin with. Most is centrifugally extracted at high temperatures which has already damaged he good bits in the EVOO.

Thats why good EVOO is so expensive.

good quality EVOO *can* be used for cooking although some of the flavour and aroma is destroyed by high temperatures.

Sunflower oil is good though, and AFAIK, rapeseed oil (sold as 'vegetable oil') which is the cheapest of all is good for mono's and coping with the high temperatures

eddie, butter will burn at high temps unless it's cleared butter or oil is added.

I use clear sesame oil for frying at high temps and always try and use as little as poss.

I've never burnt butter before, I don't think i need to flash fry anything. Plus it would ruin my pans to have them on super high heat a lot of the time.

Isn't coconut oil also fairly damaged through processing?

I think coconut butter is best but it's absurdly expensive.

As above, clarified butter is the best option IMO.

From what i remember, anything high in polyunsaturated fat, e.g. sunflower oil is not good, as this fat gets damaged more easily (at a lower temp) than mono or sat. Some oils may have a low smoking temp, however this doesn't necessarily mean it's structure is changing. Olive oil and EVOO are fine for cooking.

Might get a better response in Diet/Nutrition section, from someone like Nigeepoo, the Resident Fat Expert!

depends how you want to cook. You can saute with butter but bring it to smoking to sear meat and create the roast aroma the impurities in normal butter will burn, no doubt.

Clarified butter is 100% butter with those impurities (basically what makes the butter tasty) removed. This can be heated to smoking point.

But I prefer to use clear sesame oil for high temp cooking.

Suspirio

Isn't coconut oil also fairly damaged through processing?

I think coconut butter is best but it's absurdly expensive.

As above, clarified butter is the best option IMO.

Dont see how as its very stable due to being nearly all saturated fats.

Thanks, ill post in diet forum.

I want to use olive oil to get my fats in and boost calorie count you see and dont want to put it on cooked food as it will affect the taste, how do you's use olive oil and with what foods?

why dont you just buy some decent flax oil and put some in your shake ?

Otherwise you can pour EVOO onto many foods, salads, soups, pasta, meats, just trickle a little over your meal and see how you like it. Can liven up an otherwise dull plate.

Thanks NR, i suppose if i have a shake or two a day, 2 tablespoons daily should do the job.

Groundnut oil is the oil of choice for Chinese cooking, which is done at extremely high temperatures. This makes it an ideal oil for all cooking, but especially suited to high temp.

Current advice clinically is
cook with rapeseed oil - because although cold it does not have the best of profiles this profile is the most stable when heated.
so although olive oli is a better profile cold - when heated rapeseed is better for cooking:

Unfortunately most nut oils although flavoursome do not retain their profile when heated very well at all

also Chinese cooking done traditionally uses smoking hot oil - and at that temperature the oil is getting changed in structure pretty rapidly and not for the better!

Very insightful thanks les. Is the lik used to cook with that and its really cheap i think, i guess i best stop using Olive oil then lol