Isn’t oil just oil?”
Smoke point is the temperature at which your cooking oil begins to send out smoke signals. Oil shimmering in a ripping-hot pan can be the perfect way to create a tasty stir-fry or a stovetop-seared steak. But beyond a certain point, fat breaks down, releasing free radicals into the air and a chemical substance (acrolein) that gives foods a burnt taste, makes your eyes water, and stinks up your kitchen.
Are all oils the same and if not, why not? The problem is that some oils are refined (to remove impurities) and some contain a higher amount of “free fatty acids.”
Here’s a chart that shows the smoke point for most of the oils you might ever (want to) use, but I’d be derelict in my duty if I didn’t take the time to issue some warnings. Just because you can cook with all of these, that doesn’t mean that you should. And that is why I have also included numbers for the percentage of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fat in each. If you don’t know what that means don’t worry, I’ll explain that too.
Saturated, Monounsaturated, and Polyunsaturated Fats
What do these words mean? It’s chemistry, but I think I can explain. There are three major groups of fats; like the Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western there are the good (monosaturated and polyunsaturated), the bad (saturated), and the ugly (trans fats).
Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated –
Oils that contain unsaturated fats are typically liquid at room temperature but start to turn solid when chilled. Olive oil is a good example of this. What is the difference between monounsaturated and polyunsaturated? A chemist would tell you that the difference between these two fats lies in their structures.
Monounsaturated fats contain one double bond in their structures. On the other hand, polyunsaturated fats contain two or more double bonds in their structure.
What does this mean? Well, simply put there are two methods of extracting oil. First is what we call the cold-press method — the monounsaturated oils. ‘Mono’ oils such as:
- extra virgin olive oil,
- peanut oil, and
- sesame oil
These oils are made without the use of chemicals. Squeeze, press, extract. Done.
Science and innovation have helped us to discover a second set of healthy oils — the polyunsaturated oils. These oils are manufactured using heat and solvents to extract the oil from the seed or food product.
Examples are:
- walnuts,
- sunflower,
- sesame,
- soybean,
- sunflower,
- corn,
- canola, cottonseed, and
- safflower oils
Saturated Fats –
Saturated fats occur naturally in many foods — those made from animal products. A diet heavy in saturated fats will raise your total cholesterol level. And (more bad news), foods high in saturated fats and also typically high in calories.
Examples are:
- fatty beef,
- lamb,
- pork (which of course includes bacon),
- poultry with skin,
- beef fat (tallow),
- lard and cream,
- butter,
- cheese and
- other milk products made from whole or reduced-fat (2 percent)
In addition, many baked goods and fried foods can contain high levels of saturated fats. Some plant-based oils, such as palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil, also contain primarily saturated fats.
The American Heart Association recommends aiming for a dietary pattern that achieves 5% to 6% of calories from saturated fat. That means, for example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 120 of them should come from saturated fats. That’s about 13 grams of saturated fats a day. One tablespoon of animal fat (bacon grease, duck fat, lard) is 116 calories and 13 grams of fat.
Trans Fats –
I won’t go into great detail on these because I am not including them in the list of potential cooking oils. Trans fats are a man-made substance — an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oils to make them solid at room temperature. The benefit is that these oils spoil at a much slower rate — slower spoilage means a longer shelf-life for goods made with trans fats. And trans fats used for deep frying don’t have to be changed as often. You are probably wondering why this is a bad thing?
Trans fats are considered by nutritionists to be the worst of all fats — the Frankenstein of dietary substances. Trans fats (also called trans-fatty acids or partially hydrogenated oil) are truly a cholesterol double-whammy. They raise the bad (LDL) cholesterol and lower the good (HDL) cholesterol.
Trans fats have no place in your diet. Highly processed foods/snacks are often high in these. Read labels.