Cooking Oils

I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I used
some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts or add a
walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I bought some peanut
oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like olives and have been
avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it olive oil carry the olive
taste?

What are some good oils to use and why? Which are the bad ones? What does
processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the different
kinds of oils and what should I look for?

Mike

Mike,
I have used Peanut oil, Coconut oil, Olive oil, walnut oil and sesame oil
none of them except the sesame oil add much taste if you are cooking with
them. The sesame oil has a deep nutty taste and is good for stir fries,
peanut oil is excellent for deep frying. If you are eating them on salad you
might notice some flavoring. If you live near to a Cost Plus World Market or
other gourmet kitchen store, you can sometimes find miniature bottles of
different types of oils that are fun to experiment with they don't cost much
and you can get an idea of what they taste like.

"em" wrote in message ...
I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I used
some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts or add a
walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I bought some peanut
oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like olives and have been
avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it olive oil carry the olive
taste?

What are some good oils to use and why? Which are the bad ones? What does
processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the different
kinds of oils and what should I look for?

Mike

On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:45:22 -0800, "em" wrote:

I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I used
some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts or add a
walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I bought some peanut
oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like olives and have been
avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it olive oil carry the olive
taste?

What are some good oils to use and why? Which are the bad ones? What does
processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the different
kinds of oils and what should I look for?

Mike

Hi, Mike --

I use olive oil for just about everything. It's never tasted like
olives to me.

A lot of people can taste the difference between the oils, but I sure
can't. I can't taste any difference -- to me, oil is oil. I use an
appropriate one, or one that's recommended in a recipe, just in case
someone else who is eating it can tell.

I used to spend a lot of money on different oils, but I don't anymore.
I never noticed the "nutty" or "woodsy" or "fruity" taste they were
supposed to have. Or maybe I just don't know what these words mean as
culinary terms?

Good luck!


--
BlueBrooke
254/225/135

Once butter has melted, it is like a heavy oil. That is what I use.


"em" wrote in message ...
I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I used
some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts or add a
walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I bought some peanut
oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like olives and have been
avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it olive oil carry the olive
taste?

What are some good oils to use and why? Which are the bad ones? What does
processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the different
kinds of oils and what should I look for?

Mike

em wrote:
I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I
used some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts
or add a walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I
bought some peanut oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like
olives and have been avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it
olive oil carry the olive taste?

What are some good oils to use and why? Which are the bad ones? What
does processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the
different kinds of oils and what should I look for?

Normally, I wouldn't have the time to answer in as much detail as I'd
like, but I just wrote a long email to a friend who's mother died of
heart disease who just discovered he has high bp and needs dietary
advice as he has decided to switch from his fast food and beer diet.

So I'll quote my thoughts on fat in general, and a later bit about
protein and fat dietary choicess from that email here for you. The oil
question gets answered in the midst of this somewhe

I've read a *lot* about fat lately also. There are most definitely
fats that are better and worse, but there's lots of disagreement on
which ones. Everyone knows trans fats are bad. Everyone knows
monounsaturated fats are good. The arguments come down to saturated
vs. polyunsaturated. We had a huge change to polyunsaturated fats in
this country, with an emphasis on margarine and corn oil and such...
but most polyunsaturated vegetable oils are high in omega6s and
therefore skewed the omega3mega6 ratio to an unhealthy extent.
Plus, lots of the vegetable oils were hydrigenated before we knew how
bad trans fats are. And then it turns out the *best* omega6 fats
are CLA and GLA, which are rare in vegetable oils and more common in
products from pasture-raised animals. We've discovered that some
saturated fats, like the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil, are
good. It turns out the whole saturated vs. polyunsaturated argument
is bogus - it's more complex than that. I'm not going into all the
science in details, just making recommendations based on what's known
today as I've been studying this stuff.


PROTEIN AND FAT

You need to get sufficient protein. I eat relatively high protein
because I get most of my blood glucose from protein since I eat so
little carb. But your body also needs it for many, many functions
including supporting lean body mass.

I consider 4oz meat or 1 cup of yogurt or cottage cheese to be a
serving of protein and I eat protein at every meal (even my "cereal"
is high-protein cause of the protein powder). To me, this is a
mimimum amount of protein I need daily - 3 servings of protein. I
ate even more immediatly after the surgeries as protein is needed to
build tissue and hence speeds healing.

Protein foods usually come with fat, so the choices for the best
protein foods tends to be based on the best fats. Fish and nuts are
the best sources of protein.

Fish has the form of omega3 acid that we use directly, and some of us
don't convert from the plant sources so well. I've never cared much
for fish, but have been trying to add it in ways I don't actually
despise. Albacore tuna packed in water is good (packed in oil will
mean the good fats will dissolve and pour off when you drain it). If
you don't want the calories of mayo, you can mix it with ranch
dressing and it's pretty good. I've discovered tilapia is a very
mild fish I can eat occasionally spiced up with garlic and such and
it's not too bad. When I want to splurge, I buy scallops, but
they're too expensive to eat regularly. Add whatever you like, or
whatever you can tolerate if you don't actually like fish much. Get
it in several times a week, the more often, the better. Oily fishes
are best, but most are pretty strong-tasting: salmon, sardines, tuna,
mackarel. Shellfish is good also as the only really good source of
vitamin B12.

While plant omega3s don't always convert to the type we use, there's
a lot of evidence that they're good for us in and of themselves.
This is where nuts and seeds come in. Note that peanuts don't really
count, they're a legume, not a nut. We're talking walnuts, almonds,
macadamia nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds,
sesame seeds, whatever you like. This time of year, the whole nuts
are always available and I've always loved having a bowl on the table
through the holidays. All year, you can buy them already cracked,
fresh or roasted, salted or not. It's harder to find, but you can
also buy nut butters, almond butter and cashew butter and tahini
(sesame seed butter) are most easy to find. And I've already
mentioned the notion of meals, almond meal and flax meal being good
things to eat. You can also buy lots of good nut oils, which are
really tasty (but generally have to be refrigerated, especially flax
oil and walnut oil). Lots of ways to add nuts to your diet.

As far as a plant source of omega3s, flax is king. Figuring out some
way to get flax into your diet is very worthwhile. However, you have
to add flax gradually as it's almost entirely fiber and fat, hence
can have a major laxative effect.

Meat is not the enemy, unless it crowds out fish and nuts in your
diet. But again, there's better and worse choices. Meat from
animals raised on pasture contains a lot more CLA, GLA, omega3s and
bioactive form of vitamins A and D than stuff raised in feedlots. If
you take the time to search out sources of pasture-raised meat, the
fat is a good thing and can be eaten freely as very wholesome food.
If you eat more typical sources of meat, stick to the leanest cuts of
red meats and remove the skin from poultry as that fat is much less
healthy stuff.

I have similar advice for eggs, best to spend the bucks for
free-range omega3 eggs. Eggs are one of the best and cheapest
protein sources around. Dietary cholesterol intake has almost no
correlaiton with serum cholesterol levels, so you can eat eggs
liberally - but get the good ones.

As far as processed meats go, it's best to buy stuff without nitrates
and nitrites. My grocery carries a brand of uncured bacon as well as
Hormel's line of natural lunch meats. Not the best possible meat
choices, but when you need processed stuff, it's a lot better than
most of what's out there.

I also use protein powder. I think the soy and whey powders taste
gross, but if you like them, go for it. They make fast meals when
you're in a hurry. I use an unflavored, unsweetened milk isolate
protein powder as it's cheap and very versatile and taste better to
me than soy or whey products.

As for dairy, I personally eat a lot of yogurt and cottage cheese and
some hard cheese and butter. I use half-and-half in my coffee and
some cream and creme fraiche in various recipes. If you're buying
products from pasture-raised animals, all the stuff I said about meat
applies and the fat is a good and healthy thing. If you're buying
from more ordinary sources, you're better off with low-fat or skim
products.

There's additional benefits to buying raw cheese if you can manage
it. Raw cheese, yogurt, kefir, vinegar, saurkraut, pickles, soy
sauce, tofu... basically all fermented foods are very good for a host
of reasons, the bacteria do good things for you.

Coconut oil is a strange oil. It's a saturated fat, solid at room
temperature, but turns out to be pretty healthy. The health benefits
seem to be related to the length of the chains the fatty acids are
made of. I have no explanation biochemically for why medium length
trigylcerides are healthier than long chain ones and find it frankly
counterintuitive given what I know about fatty acid metabolism from
my biochemistry background, but a lot of research shows it's so even
though I can't explain it. Coconut oil is a bit tricky to add to
your diet. Virgin coconut oil has a coconut flavor to it so works for
anything you want to taste that way; expeller-pressed coconut oil has
a more neutral flavor and I prefer it myself as I don't really want
everything to taste coconut-flavored. You can cook eggs or buckwheat
pancakes in it, replacing butter. I make almond and flax muffins
with it (recipes on my page). I also make a "coconut bark" which is
basically a chocolate candy (again, recipe is on my page).

If you like avocados, they're a great type of fat. I personally like
eating them right out of the skin, but also make guacamole of various
types. They're very caloric, so when I'm feeling lazy, I can call an
avocado a meal (albeit it's short on protein for a meal).

If you need more fat in your diet for the calories (especially if
eating lean meat and low-fat dairy), best choices for additions
beyond the above are olive oil, avocado oil and rice bran oil. All
of these are good for salad dressing and or stirfrying in. It's
important to stick to oils that have not been hydrogenated (and thus
contain trans fats). You want all your oils to be labeled either
"virgin" or "expeller-pressed" or something similar that makes it
very clear the stuff hasn't been highly heated during processing or
otherwise hydrogenated. I understand most canola oil in the US is
hydrogenated to improve shelf life, which is a damned shame as it'd
be a wonderful oil otherwise. I've not yet been able to find virgin
canola oil.

The ABSOLUTE baddy in fats that you should avoid are trans fats.
That a product says 0 trans fats is irrelevant. Labels measure trans
fats in grams, and it's milligrams levels that are dangerous, so 0 g
of trans fats isn't good enough. This stuff is poison! Any product
containing "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" ANYTHING is
bad, don't eat it at all.

High heat makes "homemade" trans fats, so frying should be fast
stirfrying to reduce the damage to the fats. Or use more saturated
fat for frying. Coconut oil works. I often use homemade broths from
which I do not skim the fat (because it's from pasture-raised animals
and thus good stuff).


--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

I have an excellent recipe for tilapia with the added benefit of coconut
oil. Since coconut milk comes in 15 oz cans I use a whole can and double or
triple the other ingredients. Makes enough for two with leftovers for
later. Keeps well with just gentle reheating required.

Thai-Style Tilapia

1/2 cup coconut milk
6 whole almonds
2 tablespoons chopped white onion
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chopped fresh lemon grass
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, almonds, onion,
ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Process until
smooth. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the
fish fillets with salt and pepper on both sides, then place them skin-side
up in the skillet. Pour the pureed sauce over the fish. Use a spatula to
coat the fish evenly with the sauce. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Reduce
heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the puree is
thickened and fish flakes easily with a fork.


Jackie Patti wrote:

"em" wrote:

I've been wanting to experiment a bit with different cooking oils. I used
some walnut oil for thanksgiving. It didn't smell like walnuts or add a
walnut taste, which is kind of what I was expecting. I bought some peanut
oil today but haven't used it yet. I don't like olives and have been
avoiding olive oil for that reason -- does it olive oil carry the olive
taste?

Olive flavor from olive oil depends on the grade. Extra virgin
should have a distinct olive flavor. Virgin should have a slight
olive flavor. Regular olive oil should not have a noticable olive
flavor. Light olive oil has no olive flavor at all - My wife dislikes
olives and she has no problem using light.

What are some good oils to use and why?

Pork lard - good for deep frying. Chicken schmaltz - good
for disolving into foods to make them richer. Rendered duck
or goose oil - Solid in the fridge but liquid on the shelf and
excellent for frying eggs and common in old style french
preserving recipes.

Butter - Low temperature frying because it burns. Ghee -
the rendering process gives oil that doesn't burn so it's
better for higher temps.

Grape seed oil - The one with the highest smoke point so
for use in the highest temp flash frying.

Peanut oil - High smoke point among easy to find oils so
good for deep frying - deep fried turkey uses it.

Soy oil aka vegitable oil - Most common vegitable oil,
medium temperature use so good for shallow frying like
country fried chicken (which is unbreaded in my home).

Canola oil - Low smoke point so good for baking or
lower temp frying.

Coconut oil - Soft at room temp so it does well for high
temp frying. Some brands do have a slight cocnut flavor.

Olive oil - Wonderful general purpose cooking oil.

The brands of margarine that have zero transfats - A few
people prefer it to butter for the flavor though it's a minority
opinion. For some reason mushrooms sauteed in margarine
have a better texture.

Which are the bad ones?

Margarines with transfats.

Types of oils you don't like.

When you plan on feeding low fatters, the types higher in
saturated fatty acids, but not a consideration when only low
carbers are around.

Venison tallow - Way too waxy for the modern tastes of
anyone I've ever asked. When you scrape the fat off the
inside of a deerskin during deer season, make candles out
of the stuff or give it to the ghost of Daniel Boone.

What does
processing have to do with the quality and healthfulness of the different
kinds of oils and what should I look for?

For olive oil less processed to more processed goes extra virgin,
virgin, regular, light. I like the less proocessed better so I think
the less processed is better quality but that isn't a unanimous
opinion just a majority opinion.

One aspect of health - Something bad happens to oil when it
starts to smoke and that's part of why I listed by smoke point.

FOB wrote:
I have an excellent recipe for tilapia with the added benefit of coconut
oil. Since coconut milk comes in 15 oz cans I use a whole can and double or
triple the other ingredients. Makes enough for two with leftovers for
later. Keeps well with just gentle reheating required.

Thai-Style Tilapia

1/2 cup coconut milk
6 whole almonds
2 tablespoons chopped white onion
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chopped fresh lemon grass
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, almonds, onion,
ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Process until
smooth. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the
fish fillets with salt and pepper on both sides, then place them skin-side
up in the skillet. Pour the pureed sauce over the fish. Use a spatula to
coat the fish evenly with the sauce. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Reduce
heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the puree is
thickened and fish flakes easily with a fork.

You read my mind!

I recently posted elsewhere asking for recipes with turmeric as I don't
know how to cook curries and only use turmeric in my bread-and-butter
pickles.

I bought curry powder, coconut milk and a pretty low-carb mango chutney
to begin experimenting. I shall add lemon grass to my next shopping
list and try this soon.

Thanks!


--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

Jackie Patti writes:

So I'll quote my thoughts on fat in general, and a later bit about
protein and fat dietary choicess from that email here for you. The oil
question gets answered in the midst of this somewhe

That's lots of great info. I just want to add: If you don't think
pasture-raised meat, dairy, and eggs are being raised in your area, or
don't know where to get them, try a search here
http://www.localharvest.org/. I just attended a Local Foods
conference yesterday, and learned that there are a lot more people
raising quality food around here than I realized, and a larger market
for it than I thought too. There's a good chance that some farmers in
your area are growing this stuff already. (If not, you might want to
start your own, because the demand is rising fast.)

The ABSOLUTE baddy in fats that you should avoid are trans fats.
That a product says 0 trans fats is irrelevant. Labels measure trans
fats in grams, and it's milligrams levels that are dangerous, so 0 g
of trans fats isn't good enough. This stuff is poison! Any product
containing "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" ANYTHING is
bad, don't eat it at all.

I'm a little confused about trans-fat labeling these days. I used to
think they were required to say "hydrogenated" or "partially
hydrogenated", because otherwise, why would they ever say it? But
recently I was buying mayonnaise, and noticed that all the brands simply
said "soybean oil." As much as I'd like to think they've all (even the
generic brands) shifted to unhydrogenated oils already, that seems too
good to be true; and if they weren't using trans-fats, I'd think they'd
announce that proudly on the label like many other products do. So now
I'm wondering, is it ever possible to know for sure whether something
has trans-fats based on the label, or do I need to start making my own
mayo?



--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

Aaron Baugher wrote:
Jackie Patti writes:

So I'll quote my thoughts on fat in general, and a later bit about
protein and fat dietary choicess from that email here for you. The oil
question gets answered in the midst of this somewhe

That's lots of great info. I just want to add: If you don't think
pasture-raised meat, dairy, and eggs are being raised in your area, or
don't know where to get them, try a search here
http://www.localharvest.org/. I just attended a Local Foods
conference yesterday, and learned that there are a lot more people
raising quality food around here than I realized, and a larger market
for it than I thought too. There's a good chance that some farmers in
your area are growing this stuff already. (If not, you might want to
start your own, because the demand is rising fast.)

Local Harvest is also a good source for CSAs - Community Supported
Agriculture. This is a deal where you sign up for the growing season
and get a basket of fresh produce every week from the farmer.

One of the strategies from that email I didn't quote was to buy a LOT of
fresh produce every week and plan meals around trying to get through it
before it goes bad; a CSA is a good way to accomplish that!

There's also http://www.eatwild.com - that's where I discovered a farmer
less than 2 miles away was raising pasture-raised beef on land he'd won
environmental awards for management of. It's *damned* good beef!

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/