Cooking with Fat
Paula and I watch a lot of cooking shows, which led me to wonder: what are the best types of fat to use while cooking? In addition to oils and seed oils, the question would include animal and vegetable sources. I’ll leave taste off the table (or cooktop) because everyone has an opinion. Cooking would include a quick fry in a pan like eggs, sautéing vegetables, cooking meats, and deep-fat frying.
The key to choosing which fat to use is the temperature where the oil starts burning, referred to as the smoke point. Here are the ones I think are most applicable to everyday cooking:
You may wonder why olive oil is listed three times; unless it says “extra virgin,” it will contain some other vegetable oils as well.
Most cooktops generate an average temperature of about 350°, so using oils and fats with smoke points above that temperature is a good idea, depending on the type of cooking you’re doing. But questions remain about seed oils and animal fats. I’ll answer those on Saturday.
What are you prepared to do today?
