While cooking food at home, it is obvious that you need cooking oil to cook any type of food but choosing the right type of oil has become a major concern these days. With a range of oils available in the market today, you might get confused with the type of oil that suits your lifestyle and health. Before you select any type of cooking oil, it is important to know about the smoke point of the oil. The smoke point of an oil is the point when it starts burning and it is important to know that when oil passes its smoke point, it not only affects the flavor, but the nutrients of the oil might also degrade. Therefore, you should consider this thing, and if you are still wondering which oil to choose, you can have a look at the types of oil given below: –
- Canola Oil
This oil is derived from a flowering plant named rapeseed, which contains monounsaturated fats and a fair amount of polyunsaturated fats of all the vegetable oils. Canola oil has a high smoke point which makes it appropriate for cooking food which needs high heat. This oil is best used for roasting, frying and baking. However, this oil is not recommended for salad dressings.
- Olive Oil
As per its name, the olive oil is extracted from fresh olives and is one of the popular cooking oils. This oil is mostly used in the Mediterranean and European cuisines. Also, olive oil has a lower smoke point, so. Therefore, it is used for low and medium heat cooking. It is also considered as one of the healthier fats and so it is best suited for frying and is not recommended for salad dressings.
- Avocado Oil
Avocado oils are extracted from avocados and contain both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as well as Vitamin E. This oil has a high smoking point and so it is best suited for frying purposes. One disadvantage of this cooking oil is that it is quite expensive and so it is not suited for budget cooking
- Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil is considered as one of the healthiest oils since the chemical processing in it depletes the natural mineral content of the oil. Many of the lifestyle blogs have mentioned the benefits of using vegetable oil for cooking as it has a high smoke point and is good for roasting, frying, and baking
- Sunflower Oil
Sunflower oil has a less amount of saturated fats and is high in Vitamin E. It is because of this reason, many of the food manufacturers use sunflower oil for preparing snacks such as potato chips. This oil has a high smoking point and does not have a strong flavor. Also, the oil contains omega- 6s fatty acids which are required by the body but you should be careful as consuming too much of omega- 6s without balancing it will lead to problems
- Peanut Oil
Peanut oil has one of the highest monounsaturated fats and has a nutty smell and taste, so this type of oil can be a good choice for experimenting in the kitchen. This oil has a high smoke point and is ideal for frying purposes and is not ideal for foods that do not require the taste and smell of the peanut
- Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has a high saturated fat content and is considered saturated fat. So, most people do not use it for health benefits.
These were some of the healthy living tips for you to select the right kind oil for your benefit and lead a healthy and worry-free life.