How to Choose the Best Oil for the Job
More often than not, your dish will require some oil component. Oil provides moisture, acts as an emulsifier, finishes dishes, and aids in searing.
Oil is most known for its acting role as a cooking medium. Oil’s ability to coat ingredients while evenly and efficiently transferring heat in varying cooking methods is unmatched. The most basic approach to oil is understanding its general smoke points. I’m going to breakdown the easiest way to understand oil and when to use which.
Low Heat
You want to use low heat oil when making sauces, dressings or drizzles. Generally speaking, if your oil tastes and smells good raw, or came in a smaller quantity with a high price point — it’s a low heat oil. Examples are sesame oil, walnut oil, or any unrefined oils. These are best used for low or no heat applications. Higher heat applied to these oils will reduce the natural flavoring of the oil.
Medium Heat
Medium heat oil is best used when searing, baking, sautéing, or roasting. Most oils can handle quick periods of heat and will impart some of its flavor (if applicable). Olive oil is the most popular oil used in the above mentioned cooking methods. But, olive oil does have a lower smoke point, therefore, when searing or sautéing, I like to use a mix of olive oil and a higher temperature oil.
High Heat
Cooking methods using high heats are shallow or deep frying, pan-frying, or stir-frying. When frying, it’s best to use neutral refined oil — most popularly vegetable oil. Vegetable oil is my pick when frying. It can sustain high temperatures and most importantly has no flavor. Vegetable oil is also an affordable oil. Other options for high heat applications are safflower or refined peanut oil.
