Dispelling the Myths of Frying with Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil has many health benefits and so it has become one of the best cooking oil available in the market. Cooking with olive oil adds more to your food as the olive oil benefits have been studied and established beyond doubt. Due to this it is now used in vinaigrettes, emulsions and baked goods etc. Whether you drizzle it down on your food or dipped into, you always get extra flavour and moisture making your food more likeable and eatable.

Olive oil can be used in stove-top cooking without loss of the olive oil health benefits and hence it can be used for sauté and frying. There are many myths connected with the usage of olive oil for frying. It is well known fact that the deep-frying, pan frying, stir frying and sautéing uses oil at 350 to 370 degrees F to fry the food.

Due to this, cooking food with extra virgin olive oil is perfect fine and encouraged by most health professionals. They’re many myths of the smoking point of extra virgin olive oil is too low for frying. But in reality the smoking point of the extra virgin olive oil is between 380 to 410 degrees F and hence it does not give the so undesirable smoke and bad flavour before it can reach the temperature needed for frying your favourite foods.

Yet another myth is that when you heat extra virgin olive oil to frying temperatures it makes the olive oil lose all the olive oil nutrition and makes it a toxic oil affecting your health. But it must be noted that the olive oil belongs to the category of unsaturated fats and it’s made from plant sources that contain only good dietary fat. This chemical content of the olive oil does not change with rise in temperature hence this myth is not true and the olive oil is the best cooking oil in the world. It is a flavorful and nutritious alternative to cooking with butter or margarine.

Another myth is that fried foods with olive oil absorb more oil making you gain unwanted weight. But olive oil, also known as EVOO, is the ideal choice for making fried food and you don’t have to worry about absorption into food if you introduce the food after the olive oil has reached the frying temperatures.

The key is to cook with the highest quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford as it maintains and holds on to more of it’s health benefits then lower quality grades of olive oil like pure, virgin or god forbid light olive oil (one of the worse olive oils you can use due to the chemical processing).

Next time a recipe calls for butter, replace it with a high quality olive oil—not only will your food taste better, but it’s also a healthier way to eat. We even offer a Natural Vegan Butter Extra Virgin Olive Oil that gives you the flavor of butter with the health benefits of olive oil.

Use this simple chart to convert butter quantities to extra virgin olive oil quantities:

1 teaspoon Butter = ¾ teaspoons of EVOO
2 teaspoons Butter = 1 ½ teaspoons of EVOO
1 tablespoon Butter = 2 1/4 teaspoons of EVOO
2 tablespoons Butter = 1 ½ tablespoons of EVOO
¼ cup Butter = 3 tablespoons of EVOO
½ cup Butter = ¼ cup + 2 tbsp of EVOO
1 cup Butter = 3/4 cup of EVOO

Now that has been cleared up you can go and cook with extra virgin olive oil all you want and you will know that it’s the healthiest oil to cook with around. Happy cooking!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Alex Ferrari is the co-owner of Olimila Gourmet Emporium (aka Ferrari Olive Oil) and has his Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar Tasting Room in the heart of Studio City in Los Angeles, CA. For more information go to: Olimila Gourmet Emporium

Alex also hosts a weekly show on YuTube called “The EVOO Show” where he discusses all things olive oil, balsamic and foodie! Watch the show by clicking here: THE EVOO Show