Best Oil That Isn't Olive or Butter

Peanut!

ARGH FUCK HOW DID I FORGET PEANUT OIL WHICH IS SO DELICIOUS

look nobody was going to vote for walnut so walnut equals peanut for purposes of this poll

peanut oil is the most dangerous of all oils though, and it prevents people from going to certain restaurants

Sesame.

luv peanut and sesame

once again I have utterly failed at polling

sesame is kind of played out but its exclusion from this poll is unconscionable

lol that two of the clear top 3 were left off of the poll options

avocado oil is v nice (high smoke point, nice clean flavor)

blended oils can gtfo

what is a good use of pumpkinseed oil?

people use it for like tanning lotion i think

Canola, I guess, mainly because of lack of kitchen experience with anything remotely exotic.

it's good as part of a salad oil base and it's really good if you supplement whatever oil you're sauteeing your rice in with a little pumpkinseed oil. not really a basic go-to oil but it's really delicious so you can just sort of work some into your overall oil picture

this poll was inspired by the huge crush I have on sunflower oil right now btw, thank you ottolenghi

based on what i use i would have to go with canola because of versatility, neutral taste, and comparative levels of 'good fats' whatever those are

love ottolenghi

It depends what you're cooking.

Firt and foremost, you want an oil that won't burn fast. So, though I love extra virgin olive oil, I won't use it on anything but salads, and much less if doing stir-fry, which I'd use sesame oil, unless I throw in peppers. For some weird reason, I prefer vegetable oil when stir-frying peppers, anything else gives it a weird taste.

Oh, just read what contenderizer wrote. Is that what it's called? "Smoke point"?

I like a bit of sesame oil for flavor (in a marinade or finishing a cooked dish), but can't see stir-frying with it.

Sunflower for fried spuds

Sesame for Asian dishes and Walnut for French.

Canola = rape, right? I work with that stuff every day (uk ilxors, if you ever find that your rapeseed has dangerously high levels of sulphur it may be cause I was hungover when testing for glucosinolates) so I've developed a weird attachment to the aroma. Also yeah versatility. Would vote sesame if that were a option though. Never used the posher ones but avocado oil sounds amazing!

Been using tons of coconut oil for cooking and it's pretty badass, great for stirfry in particular.

Canola = rape, right?

this took an unsettling turn

but can't see stir-frying with it.

It's not high-heat enough but I get around that by using canola/rapeseed and flavoring it.

xp -- Yeah, the Rape Marketing Board had a problem on its hands until they figured out an alternative name for the stuff.

In North America, the term "canola", originally a syncopated form of the abbreviation "Can.O., L-A." (Canadian Oilseed, Low-Acid) that was used by the Manitoba government to label the seed during its experimental stages, is widely used to refer to rapeseed, and is now a tradename for "double low" (low erucic acid and low glucosinolate) rapeseed.[5]

Is oilseed rape never called that in the states or are you just making an ~edgy~ joke?

Tbh I can see the reason to call it somethin else but like I say I hear the word a hundred times a day in the plant context so

Oh xp

very intrigued by avocado oil. voting for coconut oil because it's delicious and i use it far too much when i really shouldn't

canola bcz it's my go to -- though peanut is fking a+ for wok cooking

coconut because it's good for your body inside and out and also smells good
but i like walnut oil on salads for nutty flavor

rape =/= rapeseed?

I usually don't use Canola oil.

I found a beautiful table comparing acidic content and smoke points:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola#Comparison_to_other_vegetable_oils

Is oilseed rape never called that in the states or are you just making an ~edgy~ joke?

Tbh I can see the reason to call it somethin else but like I say I hear the word a hundred times a day in the plant context so

― Charlie Slothrop (wins), Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

soil

Canola oil is probably the healthiest cooking oil, given its relatively high ω−3/ω−6 ratio and low level of saturates. Its the one used in the Lyon Heart Health study. Flax oil is still closer to ideal, but unpalatable and prone to getting rancid.

Walnut oil is healthy and makes terrific vinaigrette.

Sesame oil is an Asian cuisine necessity.

While there are a few interesting minor compounds in olive oil, the balance of evidence is that olive oil causes atherosclerosis. Better to get yer secoiridoids, gentisic acids from other sources. Mediterranean diets are healthy despite the presence of olive oil, not because of it.

Don't get me started on coconut oil. Its used to cause atherosclerosis in animal studies. For topical use only.

I also love duck fat and have a big thing of goose fat in my fridge.

xp you have a good link to read about coconut oil?

safflower is my go-to oil for cooking anything hotter than a medium-high flame.

canola oil imo can't really handle anything remotely hot, starts to smell fishy even at a low heat and contributes weird flavors. i also feel like it goes rancid faster

Coconut oil is high in lauric acid iIrc. Anyway, I don't use all that much fat/oil in cooking so I generally don't worry too much about them dietarily; more cooking heat and taste, tbh.

Don't get me started on coconut oil. Its used to cause atherosclerosis in animal studies. For topical use only.

Pretty sure yet asking abt partially hydrogenated here, not virgin

palm oil is the absolute worst, praise allah it wasn't included in this poll.

voted walnut, wtf, have you people never spent time in Perigord

no peanut no cred lock thread

agree that walnut oil is amazing

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mQsm5id_2CI/TlBWDzBd6VI/AAAAAAAAAMo/8ZLjAHM740s/s400/babyoil.jpg

I don't cook babies that much anymore

You know what's coming next, right?

http://mcgarnagle.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/california_cheeseburger.png

it's not saturated fat or any one thing, but the wrong ratio or certain types of fats in excess, right? I've never seen any study say that it's a single-factor thing

arguing over types of fats in moderation seems to miss the forest for the trees - eating a cup of coconut oil daily on the reg for supposed health benefits is probably not beneficial in the long run (not a natural way to eat), but if you put a little oil in a green smoothie or use reasonable amounts to cook with what are the likely odds of harm? The healthiest fats over-used will be unhealthy.

what if I put it in my butt

what if I put it in my butt

― carlos danger zone (mh), Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was suggested upthread that coconut oil should not be eaten.

awwwwwww i just came to terms with my coconut oil proclivities
prolly gonna eat a bunch of it anyway
still might vote canola bc it is cheap and versatile which is how i decide on voting for most things

there should be a poll for "what oil u wanna try" and the answer is macadamia

I've had lard on bread, quite popular in Germany/Poland.

― Please review your choices carefully. (seandalai), Tuesday, August 6, 2013 4:35 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's from Germany so that makes sense.

peanut walnut

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mT3j_aKPIDs2jVOiW30QQfw.jpg

thinking about my cooking habits, I use a shitload of olive oil

come at me

I like Ricebran oil for frying: good smokepoint, nice and healthy oil, no overt flavour.

Sesame oil not being on this poll is a crime tho, you monster Aero. I'd vote it above olive, even.

Sesame is best for seasoning, shit for cooking

Obviously. You cant cook with it at all, in fact. An oil being "best" doent have to mean "because we use it for frying", tho :)

cf EVOO, which really isnt for cooking with (not that it seems to stop some people)

Been making mayo with macadamia nut oil - it's delicious.

mink oil

telephone oil

crude

what's crisco made out of?

vegetable

Is there a specific use for truffle oil other than for making truffle fries?

Pumpkin seed oil is nice on spinach. I've seen a suggestion to put a few drops of it on vanilla ice cream, but I never remember to try that.

Erstwhile ilxor Bill (Tep) reviews squash seed oil --
http://okaycheckitout.blogspot.com/2012/03/delicata-squash-seed-oil-review.html

So the bottle of mustard oil I bought for curry says "Not for Human Consumption". It seems in the UK and Europe, US, and Canada mustard oil can only be sold as a hair product, whereas at least here in South East London the local Asian supermarket dude insists that he and his family have been making curry with it for generations. My lazy googling suggests some questionable lab tests resulting in mice suffering strokes.

It was damned tasty in the curry I made last weekend - I took my friendly shopkeeper's suggestion to boil the smoke off it at a high temperature before cooking.

I put castor oil and sea buckthorn oil in my hair.

I don't think anything with 'seed' in it should be used for cooking.

re: mustard oil - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/dining/american-chefs-discover-mustard-oil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

that is silly, so many spices and oils are made from seeds

xp - yeah I saw that link. As I said, the guy in the shop said his granny, his granny's granny etc. had been using it forever. The final thing that made me think it was okay was a Madhur Jaffrey book I have which acknowledges its ban in the EU and US, but she writes it is great for making particular South Asian dishes.

I don't think anything with 'seed' in it should be used for cooking.

this does not make sense to me

are we saying things that specifically say "seed" or oils that are made of seeds, because I have some bad news in that latter case

cntrl-f midnight

any seed oil is highly processed in order to get oil out of a seed.

isn't a coconut a seed

yes

its a DRUPE!

I'm going to look for a U.S. version of Uncle Roy's zero erucic acid mustard oil next time I visit the huge Indian food warehouse a couple miles from me.

Also, sesame seed oil made for a worthwhile ghee substitute in this dal recipe, though I added it with the lentils.

i understand being wary of highly processed foods but there are lots of seed-based oils that are extracted by processes that are almost entirely mechanical -- which don't seem "highly processed" to my modern ears but idk

Just look for the phrase "expeller pressed" on the label. The common varieties generally use a hexane solvent extraction.

xxxp Is that bad because you don't like intensive fuel burning methods used to produce it? or does "highly processed" just equal bad in this case? or does the process simply make it unhealthy? Mustard oil isn't a trans fat equivalent surely.

I'm not being flippant - I'm just ignorant about the reasons for your objection. How does the mustard seed oil that my friend's grandfolk ate 60 years ago or more relate to your issues? Surely that was produced differently. Are you sure some types of seed oil are not produced in the same way today? Again I stress these are questions coming from good faith - I don't know.

hexane rules

anyway, i voted "light sweet crude"

any product used in cooking, like flour, cornmeal, anything, really

from wikipedia:
Almost all corn oil is expeller pressed,

is canola oil bad, or is it only bad if I call it rapeseed oil

ghee has mystical properties that negate the arterial whatever. ghee heals the sick

http://www.canolainfo.org/quadrant/media/health/images/bug-fatchart.gif

Canola is low in saturated fat and has an attractive omega-3:omega-6 ratio, but it goes off sooner than other oils and can't be used for deep frying.

ghee is life

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.