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Vegetable oil, Olive oil, or butter?

Posted on 7/17/17 at 6:05 pm
Posted by Grassy1
Member since Oct 2009
6275 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 6:05 pm
How do you determine which to use when "frying" something in a pan? (and if you use some type of oil, is it considered frying?)

My usual suspects are trout, eggs, and occasionally some type of beef like maybe a hamburger patty.
Posted by RedStickBR
Member since Sep 2009
14577 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 6:12 pm to
I use olive oil or ghee for pan frying virtually everything these days. That said, I don't eat vegetable oil or butter.
Posted by TigerstuckinMS
Member since Nov 2005
33687 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 6:18 pm to
Depends on how hot you're cooking. The butter is going to burn at a lower temperature than the olive oil which will burn at a lower temperature than the vegetable oil.

Essentially, what you're going to want to do is to get your hands on a chart that lists smoke points. Figure out/guesstimate how hot you're going to be cooking at, then you'll know which fats you can use without burning the fat itself. Then, you pick the fat that will taste best with what you're cooking.

For instance, if I'm cooking scrambled eggs, I'm using fairly low heat. I could use pretty much any fat and won't run the risk of burning it. So, I'm going to use whatever will make it taste best, and that's bacon fat or butter. Sure, I could use olive oil, but not only is it more expensive, it won't taste right.

If I'm going to be doing a good solid saute for a savory dish under medium high heat, butter's almost certain going to be out because it'll scorch, but I probably can use olive oil. Again, I could use the peanut oil, but the olive oil is almost always going to give me a better flavor in that particular application so I'll use that.

If I'm going full on stir-fry, I'm almost certainly going to be limited to using some very refined type of oil (sunflower, peanut, etc.) Things like butter and olive oil would scorch almost instantly under the intense heat of that cooking method. I'm kinda stuck with using the oils that can stand up to the intense heat of that cooking method and have fewer options to choose from.

In a nutshell, look at the list of oils that will stand up to the heat you're going to use, pick the one with a flavor that best fits what you're going to cook, and if you still have two or three options picking the cheapest isn't dumb.
This post was edited on 7/17/17 at 6:20 pm
Posted by JustSmokin
Member since Sep 2007
9152 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 6:26 pm to
Oils have different smoke points, ie, the point it starts to burn. Vegetable, canola, peanut oils are good for deep frying. Olive oil is good for pan frying, stir frying and sauteeing. Butter is good for sauteeing and eggs.

I mix butter and olive oil when I'm pan frying fish. Helps prevent the butter from burning, tho nothing wrong with brown butter.
Posted by Salmon
On the trails
Member since Feb 2008
83674 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 7:31 pm to
I use ghee or lard for everything these days
Posted by busbeepbeep
When will then be now?
Member since Jan 2004
18409 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 7:35 pm to
ghee or avocado oil if using high heat
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71753 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 7:43 pm to
I wouldn't use olive oil for any of those. Too expensive. Use veggie oil unless the recipe needs olive oil (like Greek or Italian food).
Posted by upgrayedd
Lifting at Tobin's house
Member since Mar 2013
135180 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 9:17 pm to
Saw a video that said the best way to get an egg is using olive oil and spooning the hot oil over the top so you don't ha e to flip it. Looked interesting.
Posted by geauxpurple
New Orleans
Member since Jul 2014
12725 posts
Posted on 7/17/17 at 9:43 pm to
Olive earl.
Posted by Earthquake 88
Mobile
Member since Jan 2010
3025 posts
Posted on 7/18/17 at 11:46 am to
What no one is mentioning here is there are a variety of olive oils used for different applications. Extra virgin olive oil (tasting olive oil) can be used on say a salad or a marinade. They actually make an olive oil with a higher smoke point that you can sauté or even fry with.

I like the neutral flavor of grape seed oil when cooking under extremely high heat. Peanut oil tast good frying fish or chicken. There are a lot of good oils available like the others above noted it's all about the smokepoint at which the oil will burn.
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