Most of the time when I cook with high heat, such as searing meats or deep frying, I reach for neutral oils like canola or vegetable oil. I mostly do this out of habit, but if I were to give a reason, it'd be both because their neutral taste means they won't contribute unwanted flavors to the dish, and because they tend to be inexpensive.
But recently I wrote a recipe for pan-seared steaks with a garlicky olive oil-and-butter sauce , and, since I was already calling for two fats—olive oil and butter—I decided to streamline things by searing the steaks in olive oil instead of requiring a third, neutral oil for that step. One recipe with three fats just seemed a little fussy for something that was supposed to be an easy weeknight dinner. This idea that it's not a good idea to cook over high heat with olive oil is fairly common.
For others, it's one of taste: Do you want the flavor of olive oil getting into whatever you cook, and is there a risk that the flavor will be bad if the oil has reached its smoke point? I decided it was time to investigate. We don't normally address health questions here at Serious Eats: We know a lot about food, but we don't pretend to be nutritionists or health experts.
And honestly, the way medical advice can change from one year to the next, it's often just as well for us not to get involved. Because the health aspects of cooking with olive oil are such an integral part of this question, though, I'm going to wade in just a little bit. Up to my ankles anyway definitely not up to my olives.
After spending hours scouring the internet for studies that could help provide an answer, here's what I discovered: My head hurts. My head hurts because there's a lot of conflicting information out there and it's very hard to reduce it into a simple, direct answer.
Still, based on my reading, things are looking favorable for olive oil. For starters, I couldn't find a single scientific study clearly supporting the idea that exposing olive oil to high heat has worse health consequences than other oils used for high-heat cooking. I found a lot of websites making that claim, but none of the ones I saw back it up with evidence. Instead, they assume that a lower smoke point by definition means more toxins, and then sling around buzzwords like "free radicals" to scare us off from using EVOO for cooking.
I did find one study that compared emissions of potentially toxic volatile compounds of several oils at several temperatures , and it indicated that those compounds do increase significantly when an oil has reached its smoke point.
That doesn't bode well for olive oil, since its smoke point is relatively low. But of all the studies I found that specifically compared the heating of olive oil to other oils, the overall message was that olive oil performs decently well under high-heat conditions. There was this one from , also in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that showed that olive oil—both extra-virgin and refined—produced fumes with fewer apparently undesirable volatile aldehydes than canola oil.
Then in , the journal Food Chemistry published this study , which found that olive oil held up much better and was much safer than sunflower oil after prolonged exposure to high heat. A lot of these studies looked at both extra-virgin olive oil and regular olive oil, and both performed well. On and on, most scientific studies I read gave olive oil high marks for its ability to retain its nutritional properties and resist deterioration despite high heat.
Apparently it's even good for the postprandial insulin response of obese, insulin-resistant women. Who knew? Granted, none of these studies are massive, comprehensive looks at every conceivable aspect of this topic. There may well be a reason why heating olive oil is worse than other oils, but if there is, I didn't find clear evidence for it. If you want to take a deeper dive, start by looking at these three overviews of what is and isn't known about olive oil and high heat.
Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page. Contact info texashillcountryoliveco. Can you fry with Olive Oil? August 12, This is why temperature control is key when frying with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. By keeping the olive oil below the smoke point you keep all of the beneficial polyphenols and oleic acid. Olive oil is also high in healthy monounsaturated fats that do not break down when heated, unlike other oils that can break down into harmful trans-fats.
Do not heat the oil too quickly. This leads to a greater chance of it burning. Instead, start with a medium flame and let the oil come to temperature slowly. Frying with Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best for small bites or things that will cook quickly. How Do You Soften Butter?
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