4 ms·

I’ve always heard that canola has a much higher smoke point than olive, but the page suggests they’re near the same (depending on the olive oil). Thoughts?

dragonwriter 7y ago
There is a big difference between extra-virgin olive oil (low smoke point) and refined olive oil (similar smoke point to canola). That's probably the source of the discrepancy you report.
zhabsksbs 7y ago
Why bother w/ olive oil if it isn’t extra virgin?
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  Refined/light olive oil is an excellent general cooking oil, extra-virgin is a great finishing oil (especially ultra-premium varieties) and useful for a few specialized cooking applications.
- JshWright 7y ago
  If you care about the smoke point (i.e. you're heating to any significant degree), then to don't want extra virgin. Extra virgin is more for dressings, finishing, etc. If you're cooking with it, you want "pure".
  - halbritt 7y ago
    Unfortunately, with the demand for "EVOO" it's difficult to get pure olive oil consistently. When it is available, it's generally no cheaper than extra virgin.
    - ltbarcly3 7y ago
      Costco has it by the gallon in the us. Also every single grocery store, including tiny stores like Aldi. Also Target and Walmart carry them, them being evoo, extra light tasting, and regular. I don't know where you live, bit I've lived in many countries and on remote islands and olive oil is ubiquitous.
- Lazare 7y ago
  Olive oil is healthy, good to cook with, and not too strongly flavoured. Depending on where you are, it's also generally fairly cheap. As a general purpose cooking oil, it's a solid choice, and EVOO is not a particularly good replacement. It's like asking why you'd want a screwdriver when you already have a really nice hammer; they're different tools for different purposes.
  - Zardoz84 7y ago
    Here, in Spain, it's cheap. We nearly only use olive oil, and sometimes sunflower oil. It's really hard to find any other kind of oil.
powersnail 7y ago
Interesting that the posted page actually gave two very different temperature for extra virgin olive oil: 160 vs 190. Then, two rows above, refined olive oil gets a large range: 199-243. I wonder if there are too many variables in manufacturing olive oil, that the current categorization is not that informational any more (at least for determining smoking point).

dragonwriter 7y ago

There is a big difference between extra-virgin olive oil (low smoke point) and refined olive oil (similar smoke point to canola). That's probably the source of the discrepancy you report.

zhabsksbs 7y ago

Why bother w/ olive oil if it isn’t extra virgin?

dragonwriter 7y ago
Refined/light olive oil is an excellent general cooking oil, extra-virgin is a great finishing oil (especially ultra-premium varieties) and useful for a few specialized cooking applications.
JshWright 7y ago
If you care about the smoke point (i.e. you're heating to any significant degree), then to don't want extra virgin. Extra virgin is more for dressings, finishing, etc. If you're cooking with it, you want "pure".
- halbritt 7y ago
  Unfortunately, with the demand for "EVOO" it's difficult to get pure olive oil consistently. When it is available, it's generally no cheaper than extra virgin.
  - ltbarcly3 7y ago
    Costco has it by the gallon in the us. Also every single grocery store, including tiny stores like Aldi. Also Target and Walmart carry them, them being evoo, extra light tasting, and regular. I don't know where you live, bit I've lived in many countries and on remote islands and olive oil is ubiquitous.
Lazare 7y ago
Olive oil is healthy, good to cook with, and not too strongly flavoured. Depending on where you are, it's also generally fairly cheap. As a general purpose cooking oil, it's a solid choice, and EVOO is not a particularly good replacement. It's like asking why you'd want a screwdriver when you already have a really nice hammer; they're different tools for different purposes.
- Zardoz84 7y ago
  Here, in Spain, it's cheap. We nearly only use olive oil, and sometimes sunflower oil. It's really hard to find any other kind of oil.

powersnail 7y ago

Interesting that the posted page actually gave two very different temperature for extra virgin olive oil: 160 vs 190. Then, two rows above, refined olive oil gets a large range: 199-243. I wonder if there are too many variables in manufacturing olive oil, that the current categorization is not that informational any more (at least for determining smoking point).