I use mostly olive oil as well – the only other oil I buy is sesame oil. But I’m thinking the takeaway from the NYT article is that I need to buy smaller bottles of olive oil — because despite all the wonderful things about EVOO, I need to be very calorie conscious in food preparation. So flooding my food in cooking oil isn’t an option. (I never deep fry in any case – and I don’t do much baking).
https://www.oliveoilsource.com/definition/cold-pressed-olive-oil
Depends on how one defines " dietary experts" LOL.
I don’t use olive oil because I think it’s healthy. I use it because it tastes better. So except for things like waffles that’s what we use. The best olive oil I ever had was the quart bottle we brought back from Jordan. We watched it being squeezed. Usually we use the Fairway unfiltered store brand. Sometimes we taste the other brands they have for tasting and if we like one we get it for salads and drizzling on stuff.
I buy olive oils that taste good to me. For everyday cooking, I use California Olive Ranch. For salads or dipping or any dish where the oil flavor really matters, I try to find a nice arbequina or a fruity, peppery blend (the one I have in my pantry now is from California, but I’ve had others from elsewhere). I wouldn’t waste a super expensive oil on everyday frying, though. I made imam bayildi the other day, and because it requires a lot of oil, I used Trader Joe’s and it was fine.
I don’t know whether I use more olive oil than the average American, but I also use a ton of butter, especially in baking.
Colavita. Know a member of the family and I know it’s authentic Italian olive oil.
Yes, I like the taste of Colvita.
I use avocado oil for cooking. I thought you weren’t supposed to heat up olive oil. (low smoke point)
I use olive oil to pan fry french fries (cut like ranch fries). GF from Spain taught me.
Not greasy at all.
Is it ok to expand this thread a tad and ask what type of oil folks are cooking with? We mainly sauté and stir fry. I had been using canola and olive oil but an thinking of switching to avocado oil.
Any thoughts? We don’t use much oil at all, so whatever we buy will likely last many months.
I use a lot of Italian extra virgin from www.olio2go.com. They are online and also have a store in the DC area. They have amazing tastings at the store.
I’m thinking of Macademia nut oil. It has a very high smoking point and very light flavor. I believe it’s very healthy.
I thought there was a study that disproved the theory that it wasn’t healthy to use olive oil in high temperature cooking. I think it turned out to be much more stable than previously thought.
I go through a lot of olive oil. I buy it at Costco. The one I buy is harvest dated and from Italy. They get it every year and they have it till the inventory is gone. A chef friend recommended it. https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature-Toscano-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oil%2C-1-L.product.100335985.htmlThere are some years where he doesn’t like it as much.
I also will buy the California Olive Ranch oil when they have it at Costco. It is also my go to brand if I’m out of olive oil from Costco and need to buy it at the grocery store.
The other oil I use is avocado oil. That I also usually buy at Costco.
For most of my sauteing and stir frying I use regular olive oil (Spanish that I buy from Trader Joes). For dressings, dipping, very quick cooking such as toasted cheese sandwiches with tomato and basil I use EVOO either from California or Italy (again from Trader Joes). I’ll use good EVOO on pasta with fresh basil, salt and pepper and grated parmesiano reggiano and that’s all. It’s delicious and very simple.
One of the food podcasts I listen to was talking about olive oil today and how olive oil quality is affected by exposure to the air. One of the reasons for the regulated pour spout on many bottles. But they also said that the air issue was a reason to NOT buy the humongous bottles of olive oil that will be opened time and time again and be exposed to the air. Or have separate bottles - the large one for general cooking but a smaller high quality bottle for olive oil that is more directed “eaten” - like bread dipping olive oil, olive oil poured onto hot pasta, etc.
Thought that was interesting.
I have smaller table sized bottles of “better” oil to use with bread or pasta. Unfortunately many of these gourmet shops have been closing in our area (not that we had that many to begin with) so there aren’t as many places to taste before you buy.
I just made this cake and it was delicious, good for people who like citrus and dessert that’s not particularly sweet. I used my regular California Olive Ranch oil. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020430-spiced-olive-oil-cake-with-orange-glaze
True, and there is a reason oil comes in dark bottles. Store it out of direct sunlight, because light promotes its decomposition. For the same reasons olive oil is not good for high temperature frying because it will undergo the same decomposition - just much faster (heat speeds up chemical reactions). While it might not be harmful, the benefits of evoo are lost in the process, so you might as well be using a cheaper oil for frying.
^^ Yes to all that - also mentioned on the podcast!!!
@sabaray I have seen that recipe and was thinking about trying it - could also be a good breakfast/brunch bread. Did you use the fennel or cardamom?
@abasket, I used cardamom because I had it. I think fennel would be good too.
Good olive oil makes such a big difference. My go to has been Ina Garten’s pick, Olio Santo, a California product. I’ve occasionally bought the pricier imports from our local gourmet shop and like the Costco oil mentioned, too. Sometimes the imports are worth the price and other times they aren’t.
I learned something from the article and will try to buy smaller quantities or much more frequently from now on, though we go through it reasonably quickly. I saute and roast veggies in EVOO all the time.