Which olive oil for frying?

Which olive oil for frying? Extra virgin olive oil is always used in Spain for frying and cooking. It is a healthy and stable cooking oil according to scientific studies. My Spanish family cooks with nothing else.

Since I left home, my parents gave me a 5 liter can of extra virgin olive oil Oro de Genave every year, which I used for a year and then got a new can in December. Just in time because the old can was empty. As long as I can remember, this was the only cooking oil I used, apart from the occasional bit of butter and sunflower oil for oriental dishes.

Since I started my webshop, I found many myths and rumors on the internet that advise against cooking with extra virgin olive oil because it would be unhealthy. I therefore decided to delve a little deeper and read various studies. In this blog I want to share the conclusions.

Scientific research on cooking with extra virgin olive oil

A recent study on cooking with different oils from the Modern Olives Laboratory Services in Australia refutes this claim and actually shows that cooking with extra virgin olive oil is the best way to cook.

The main findings from this study are:

1. Smoke Point of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Although the smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is lower than typical cooking temperatures, it is incorrect to say that extra virgin olive oil is unsuitable for cooking. Research by Modern Olives Laboratory Services showed that the stability of an oil did not correlate with its smoke point. In fact, extra virgin olive oil was found to be more stable than oils with higher smoke points in this study.

2. Polyunsaturated fats are more unstable: Oils high in polyunsaturated fats, such as grapeseed oil and canola oil, performed worse at higher temperatures.

3. Antioxidants of extra virgin olive oil: The study emphasized that the antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil contributed to its stability under heat. This is in contrast to the myth that antioxidants and polyphenols in olive oil are destroyed by heat, which was already debunked by a scientific study in 2008, published in Food Chemistry. The gist of this study is that the antioxidants did not burn, but were found in the food.

In addition to these studies, it also appears that the type of olive has an effect on the stability of olive oil. Research has been done to determine whether frying in olive oil made from Arbequina, Picual olives and sunflower oil differs from each other. The conclusion from this research is that frying in Picual olive oil is more stable compared to the other types of oil and deteriorates less quickly in quality.

Conclusion

The conclusion of these studies is what many top chefs and everyone in the Mediterranean already knows: extra virgin olive oil is not only safe to cook with, but also a healthy way to prepare food. In addition, the olive oil made from the Picual olive variety is the best choice for frying, because it remains stable for longer.

I therefore recommend the Oro de Genave or the Señorio de Segura for baking.

Sources:

• "Is it safe to cook with olive oil?" - aboutoliveoil.org
• "What happens to olive oil when you heat it?" - aboutoliveoil.org
• Health effects of replacing butter, margarine, dairy fats and mayonnaise with olive oil
• Changes in the physicochemical and nutritional parameters of Picual and Arbequina olive oils during frying

• Cooking with extra-virgin olive oil: A mixture of food components to prevent oxidation and degradation