Kerrigold butter. Olive oil & coconut oil — usually from Trader Joe’s.
I go through a lot of oil. I roast a lot of vegetables and make a lot of salads. I use extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil. I have coconut oil but find I don’t use it much. I buy my olive oil and avocado oil from Costco. Costco has a Kirkland California Olive oil right now and I bought several bottles. I also like the Kirkland olive oil from Italy. They have it every year and sell it till it’s gone. @abasket the Costco avocado oil is Chosen brand which is the same brand I’ve seen in the local grocery stores. For awhile I bought sunflower oil at Trader Joe’s for my H’s popcorn addiction but he now uses avocado oil. I also use butter for baking and frying eggs.
Sounds like avocado oil is an overall big hit! I’ll look at Costco.
But some are likely more problematic than others. Partially hydrogenated oils with trans fats are likely worse from a health standpoint than all others.
I use mostly EVOO. For wok cooking I use peanut oil. For things like pancakes I use real butter. I occasionally use canola oil when I want something more neutral than olive oil.
So I bought an old cast iron pan at an estate sale and preliminary research told me to re-season it grapeseed oil. I did more research and realized I should use flaxseed oil instead, lol, but I had already gotten a big bottle of grapeseed oil at a grocery store where the clerk didn’t know the price and charged me $4.99.
Turns out it was a great bargain! It’s very light, has no overriding flavor and takes a really high temp with no problems. We mainly cook and eat with olive oil, but this is a great alternative since we had run out of avocado oil.
I also use canola oil or safflower oil for baking.
For olive oil, we buy Kirkland 100% organic EVOO, and also Kirkland 100% Italian EVOO. The Italian one has a really potent flavor. It’s worth trying them side by side. Really, Costco should have taste tests so we can all find our favorites! H recently picked up an organic Sicilian EVOO there that is buttery and mild. I love them all!
Almost always we use extra virgin olive oil. And, some butter.
You lucked out. Not only is the grapeseed great for cooking, but it’s better for seasoning CI than flax. Flax looks great on the pan at first but many people find it quickly turns brittle and flakes off. Grapeseed takes longer to look “showy” but is very durable.
Thanks for all of the quick and helpful feedback!
CANOLA OIL - Here is an article about canola oil (which we have been often using at my house in recent years). The concerns relate the processing methods… https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2015/04/13/ask-the-expert-concerns-about-canola-oil/
and another:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-canola-oil-healthy#health-impact
Avacado oil for pan sautéing. Extra virgin olive oil for roasting and salad dressing. California brand for roasting. This for dressing. https://www.zingermans.com/Product/roi-olive-oil/O-ROI-500
EVOO and unsalted butter.
Olive oil, ghee, and butter. I use an Italian extra virgin olive oil for salads (make my own vinaigrette) and on cooked veggies. I will use a California olive oil for cooking—sautéing onions, etc. For stir frying I use ghee…
For cold uses, evoo. For cooking, avocado or coconut. Grass fed butter.
Many of you have mentioned ghee (butter w/o milk solids). Is that due to vegan diet
or lactose intolerance or other health benefits?
I had a small thread recently on ghee. Some people even posted a recipe on how to make your own. From what I hear it’s quite flavorful.
Avocado oil for baking or no?
Thanks @abasket - That’s a helpful thread (which I found via Google - somehow CC search, at least on my chromebook, seems harder than in the past) - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/2166747-who-is-using-ghee-in-their-cooking.html
The net seems to be that the higher smoke point on ghee makes it a better choice than butter for high heat cooking.
SMOKEPOINT chart is in this article…
https://www.jonbarron.org/diet-and-nutrition/healthiest-cooking-oil-chart-smoke-points
Well, because of this thread, just picked up a bottle of Tuscany EVOO from Costco. I will see how I do with it. We really don’t use all that much oil, so hope we like it. Can cook with the macadamia nut oil, which is fine with high temps.
This link says once opened… use olive oil in 30 to 60 days. Not sure we always comply, but since we only cook for 2 I’ve leaned toward smaller bottles of olive oil. Hmm… we do store above the stove (not advised), but hopefully ok above the over-range microwave, which hopefully is not hot on top. Thoughts?
https://californiaoliveranch.com/olive-oil-101/what-affects-the-quality-of-olive-oil/
Hmmm, maybe I will return my oil and buy smaller bottles. I use very small quantities and the liter I got from Costco would probably last a year or longer. The Mac nut oil I have is 12 oz bottle and I’ve had that several months already.