What is the best oil for cooking?

As a fine food retailer, it is important to stock a variety of high-quality cooking oils. There are classics every business should keep a steady supply of, such as extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), but consumers are increasingly looking for alternatives…as well as information about how to use them.

The best and worst oils for cooking

While many oils, such as sunflower and rapeseed, are all-rounders, there are some that work better at higher temperatures, and others more suited to light cooking and drizzling. Here are some of the most popular cooking oils and their uses.

Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The gold standard, extra virgin olive oil or EVOO, is a slight green colour, with a fruity and bitter flavour, best suited to drizzling, dipping and everyday cooking. Some customers may ask you if they can use olive oil instead of vegetable oil for cooking. This is because due to its low smoke point (or boiling point), many assume you can’t cook with extra virgin olive oil, but this is a myth. For example, when making a base for a casserole or pasta sauce where you’ll be slow cooking onions and garlic, the temperature point suits extra virgin olive oil perfectly and by using a good oil, your customers will benefit from a more flavoursome dish. 

Olive oil boiling point: 190° – 215°

Cooking with Coconut Oil

Similarly to EVOO, coconut oil has a low smoke point, so it’s best to reserve it for low or moderate heat only. Indeed, many recipes call for coconut oil in baking or simple sautéing. It is clear when melted but becomes white and solid at room temperature, and has a slightly sweet, nutty, yet clean taste. Coconut oil is ideal for cooking Asian and Indian dishes, as well as a variety of vegan puddings and desserts, where it takes the place of butter.

Coconut oil boiling point: 175-196°C

Cooking with Rapeseed Oil

The delicate taste of rapeseed oil means it can be consumed in its cold, natural form as a dressing or dip. However, it can also be heated and used in shallow and deep frying, baking and roasting. The oil contains a favourable omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio, making it perfect for vegetarians and vegans.

Rapeseed oil boiling point: 204-246°C

Cooking with Sesame Oil

A favourite for Asian cooking, this nutty and umami oil boasts plenty of flavour. Great for sautéing or pairing with garlic, soy sauce and other ingredients to create sauces, sesame oil is a must-stock for home cooks. 

Sesame oil boiling point: 175-210°C

Cooking with Sunflower Oil

Sunflower is the best neutral oil for cooking, with a mild taste that makes it a very decent all-rounder for everything from roasting potatoes, to baking cakes. It is commonly used to fry food because of its high smoke point, however, it can spoil faster than other cooking oils, so customers should be advised to use it within a year.

Sunflower oil boiling point: 232°C

Cooking with Avocado Oil

Boasting an extremely high smoke point, avocado oil has lots of uses, whether that’s sautéing, roasting or frying. It’s also delicious drizzled on soups or avocado toast, made into a salad dressing or blended to create homemade mayonnaise. Pressed from the fleshy pulp surrounding the avocado pit, rather than the seed like other edible oils, avocados produce an oil full of healthy fats, including oleic acid and other monounsaturated essential fatty acids. 

Avocado oil boiling point: 271-299°C

Cooking with Vegetable Oil

Derived from more than one type of plant, vegetable oil is usually a mixture of various refined oils, such as soybean, sunflower, or rapeseed oil and has a neutral flavour. With a medium-high smoke point, vegetable oils are useful for stir-frying, sautéing, grilling, frying, and baking. 

Vegetable oil boiling point: 204°C

Which oil is the best for high-temperature cooking?

With a very high smoke point of 271-299°C, avocado oil is the best cooking oil for high temperature cooking such as roasting, closely followed by rapeseed, sunflower and olive oil. 

In contrast, sesame and coconut oil have the lowest smoke points and are therefore best suited to light frying, baking and marinating. 

Which cooking oil is the healthiest?

Oil is generally hailed as a ‘healthier’ alternative to butter or margarine for cooking, but some pack more health benefits than others. 

Here are some of the most popular cooking oils, ranked by their health:

1. Extra virgin olive oil – The mainstay of the Mediterranean diet, this oil boasts a myriad of health benefits including protecting against heart disease and reducing the risk of type two diabetes.

2. Avocado oil – This oil has seen increased popularity in recent years stemming from its health benefits as a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that support eye health. 

3. Rapeseed oil – An excellent source of vitamin E which can support eye and skin health, and a great source of omega-3 fats.

4. Sesame oil – With plenty of monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, it rivals olive oil as a healthy choice for cooking.

5. Sunflower oil – While high in omega-6s, which can cause inflammation if you consume too much, this oil is also high in beneficial vitamin E. 

6. Vegetable oil – The health effects of vegetable oils vary depending on which plants they were extracted from, how they were processed and which fatty acids they contain.
 
7. Coconut oil – Containing 92% saturated fats, eating coconut oil significantly increases LDL (bad) cholesterol, a major risk factor in heart disease, compared with nontropical vegetable and seed oils.

Do cooking oils go off?

The short answer to this is yes, and it is extremely important to store cooking oils correctly to prevent this. In fact, the storage of cooking oils can make or break a meal. This is because while they aren’t tricky to store properly, some cooking oils can become rancid if they are not kept in the proper spot – both on the retail shelf and post-purchase. There are four main enemies of cooking oil—time, heat, oxygen, and light.

How to store cooking oil

Proper storage depends on the type of oil, as well as how frequently it is used. Most cooking oils require being stored in a cool dark place, such as a kitchen cupboard, and away from the stove. Typically, for the oils that have been refined such as vegetable oils are less affected by light, but time, temperature, and oxygen exposure still have a significant impact – this is why you tend to find it in clear bottles.

The most delicate oils are nut oils such as walnut, macadamia and pistachio, and infused varieties such as truffle, chilli, basil and lemon. These should be kept in the fridge after opening as they are the most susceptible to oxidisation and used up quickly.

What to do with old cooking oil

While it may be tempting to pour used cooking oil down the kitchen sink, this can clog and damage the plumbing, and if it’s poured outside on the ground, it can cause problems for wildlife.

- You can save your cooking oil to reuse later, but if it’s gone bad or you don’t want it, there some easy, safe ways to get rid of it.

- Let the oil cool completely and then pour it into a non-recyclable container with a lid and throw it in the bin with household waste.

- Small amounts of cooking oil, fats and plate scrapings of fatty food can be added to your food waste recycling service, if you have one.

- To dispose of cooking oil as a business you must first store it in a secure leak-free container with a lid and secure so no oil will spill out, before arranging collection of your used cooking oil by a licensed waste carrier.