For those of you trying to eat healthier, what kinds of oils and fats are you using for cooking and other/cold uses like salad dressings? If you have reference info/links, that would be great too.
The usual suspects - olive oil (several varieties), coconut oil, avocado oil. I like eggs cooked with ghee. Walnut oil, sesame oil, hazelnut oil for dressings. Grape seed oil as a neutral option. I really like California Olive Ranch products. No canola, vegetable, corn or peanut oil.
I have macadamia nut oil, some peanut oil as well. Not sure it I have any other oil.
Extra virgin olive oil here, exclusively.
Lots of olive oil, lots of high quality butter.
Yes, I only use butter, no margarines or other substitutes.
EVOO and butter (dependent on what I’m cooking.)
For salad it’s always the same EVOO and balsamic vinegar.
Mostly extra virgin olive oil, or regular olive oil if flavor is an issue.
We also use olive oil a lot. Recently a nutritionist warned about not having the temp too high with it on cooking (she advises only using olive oil for salads). Not sure I agree on that, which prompted the thread.
Avocado oil for cooking, EVOO for dishes without thermal treatment. Oils with high content of polyunsaturated fats are not good for frying. There is that oil called Calyno that is supposed to be extra good for high temps, but it is only available to food services. I would like to try it… I do not do deep frying because I hate to throw out deep frying oil after one use.
Largely olive oil (or a flavored olive oil like garlic) though I have canola on hand, I have coconut oil and always unsalted butter.
I would like to try avocado oil. What are the benefits and what are it’s limitations?
Meh, the more I hear, the more I see there are no healthy options, all industrially sourced fats and oils have their problems, being fats. It is what it is.
Avocado oil is better for frying because it is more stable at high temperatures:
https://chosenfoods.com/blogs/central/avocado-oil-as-a-high-heat-cooking-oil
I forgot butter. Vermont Creamery makes a cultured butter with sea salt that is delicious.
I thought this article did a good job explaining various oils and their best purposes: https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/types-of-cooking-oil
We use avocado oil for anything cooking related - mostly stir fries or basic frying (like eggs) TBH.
We use olive oil or pure butter for on bread.
Nothing else.
We chose avocado due to various articles showing a high smoke point advantage and then the general known health benefits of avocados. I also buy it for my budget challenged young adults because it’s definitely expensive. We’ve just decided some things are worth it. We only buy organic greens (spinach, etc) now too. That’s based upon one large cancer study in France that Nutrition Action reported (so still rather shaky scientifically), but gave me enough pause to feel it’s worth it. Sometimes we can’t wait for conclusive evidence.
Olive Oil or Butter
Olive oil for most things, and avocado oil for high temps (like in the wok). I sometimes use a little butter (never margarine).
I still use canola oil for baking, like in brownies or cake.
High quality organic evoo for salad, rotating among regular organic EVOO with avocado oil, lard for cooking.
Olive, canola, coconut. Just depends on what I’m making.
Also use organic coconut oil for mainly baking