Can You Use Extra Light Olive Oil For Deep Frying

However choosing the right types of olive oil for cooking is important.

Can you use extra light olive oil for deep frying. Light olive oil with a smoke point of 460 f can be used to deep fry but deep frying with olive oil does not make food healthier than frying with other kinds of polyunsaturated oils. There is a lot of culinary myths surrounding olive oil and one of the most common is that it cannot be used for frying. In one study researchers used several commercial oils for deep frying and took samples of each oil every three hours. And we re not made of money.

Extra virgin olive oil smoking point is only 320 f making it unsuitable for deep frying. Compared to commercial vegetable oil blends extra virgin oil had lower levels of oxidation 22. If you are looking for a healthy oil to deep fry with canola is a great option. But it is definitely not ideal for deep frying because it has too low a smoke point and will overheat.

Another olive oil deep frying myth is that due to its lower smoking point olive oil cannot be used for repeated frying. Don t worry that your food will taste like olives. Light olive oil by comparison has a high smoking point meaning you can make it pretty hot. Deep frying with extra virgin olive oil is a hot topic.

Extra virgin olive oil and canola oil are more in the middle you can stir fry or bake with them but don t deep fry. This is an assumption based on the idea that any oil with a low smoking point will not hold up and will become altered and bitter. Much lower concentrations of aldehydes form when shallow frying fish in extra virgin olive oil compared to sunflower oil 23. If cost is not a factor consider using extra virgin olive oil.

In general when olive oil is used for cooking it s best kept to pan frying only. We know because we hear the myth that it can t be done. Extra light virgin olive oil. The smoke point of extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil is 250 degrees fahrenheit considerably lower than the 350 f you need to fry your doughnuts.

It is often claimed that the health benefits start to break down as soon as it is heated but this is simply not true. Heating olive oil will neutralize much of the flavor. Mediterranean cooks however have been deep frying foods in extra virgin olive oil for a long time. High quality extra virgin olive oil is pricey and dumping six cups of it in a dutch oven to fry some chicken instead of something more affordable like vegetable oil.

If you re going to deep fry light refined olive oil is a good way to go.