People ask often about cooking with extra-virgin olive oil. It depends on the quality of the o youre buying. All oils have a smoke point-the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke and break down. High quality EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)-the kind chefs use at restaurants-has a medium smoke point. Since the average stove top reaches about 266 degrees to 293 degrees when heated on medium, its completely safe at that temperature. That being said, that is NOT true of the EVOO commonly found on supermarket shelves for $8 to $15 a bottle. Those oils are generally processed through poor extraction methods, which results in a harmful breakdown of fat chains into free fatty acids, or fats that are not connected to a chain. These free fatty acids decrease the smoke point of EVOO significantly, making it unable to withstand stove-top heat above low. Unless youre willing to invest in the high-quality stuff, its best to reserve EVOO for low-heat cooking or in cold salad dressings and dips. This is a very important part of healthy eating.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:43:34 +0000