cooking with olive oil

**rockcrest** · 11-29-2004, 10:11 PM

will cooking with olive oil change the chemical properties of the oil once it reaches a certain temp and become less healthy of a source of fat? just curious

thanks

**sabre81** · 11-29-2004, 10:17 PM

well the boiling point is 570 degrees, and the smoking point is between 375 and 400. You probably wont get the oil this hot anyway. And even if you do, olive oil is high in monounsaturated oils and therefore resistant to oxidation and hydrogenation so the health benfits are not reduced when heated.

**Jodi** · 11-29-2004, 10:45 PM

If you reach the smoking point over 375 it will in fact turn rancid.

**Jodi** · 11-30-2004, 09:31 AM

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=56

**sabre81** · 11-30-2004, 09:34 AM

hmm what about this... http://www.oliveoilsource.com/cooking_olive_oil.htm

with a website named oliveoilsource.com, how can you go wrong?

"Leslie asks: I was told that olive oil, which I use almost exclusively, loses its benefits when heated. I understand that it becomes like any other fat when used other than in a cold state and is as "bad" as is butter or margarine. Does olive oil turn into a trans-fatty acid or saturated fat when heated. Is this fact or urban myth?

Dear Leslie: Urban myth! Excessively heating olive oil will evaporate the alcohols and esters which make up its delicate taste and fragrance. Heating olive oil will not change its health aspects, only the flavor.

As far as making a saturated fat, according to Dr. A. Kiritsakis, a world renowned oil chemist in Athens, (Book - OLIVE OIL FROM THE TREE TO THE TABLE -Second edition 1998), all oils will oxidize and hydrogenate to a tiny degree if repeatedly heated to very high temperatures such as is done in commercial frying operations. Olive pomace oil and virgin olive oil are both highly monounsaturated oils and therefore resistant to oxidation and hydrogenation. Studies have shown oxidation and hydrogenation occurs to a lesser degree in olive oil than in other oils. But in any case, the amount of trans fat formed is miniscule and no home cook would ever experience this problem.

The large refinery-like factories which take unsaturated vegetable oil and turn it into margarine or vegetable lard do so by bubbling hydrogen gas through 250 to 400 degree hot vegetable oil in the presence of a metal catalyst, usually nickel or platinum. The process can take several hours. You cannot make a saturated product like margarine at home by heating olive oil or any other vegetable oil in a pan. We don't know where this weird notion has come from. For more see our olive oil chemistry page"

**Jodi** · 11-30-2004, 09:37 AM

That looks like a biased site to me. I wouldn't trust it.

**sabre81** · 11-30-2004, 09:40 AM

eh i cant cook to save my life anyway.

how hot does olive oil get during normal cooking on a stove anyway?

**Jodi** · 11-30-2004, 09:44 AM

Cooking with Olive oil is great providing you keep your heat on medium or lower and you are fine. Just don't let it get to the smoking point. I use it to brush my pan with when cooking eggs or ground turkey. Don't ever fry with it.

**rockcrest** · 11-30-2004, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Jodi

Don't ever fry with it.

what is bad about cooking some chicken in pan on hi with some olive oil? i didnt find the oil rancid at all.
thanks for the replies.

**Jodi** · 11-30-2004, 11:16 AM

LOL, not rancid tasting............ but the oil turns rancid and its bad for your health.

**rockcrest** · 11-30-2004, 11:59 AM

so no more sautteing (sp) onions in olive oil with some chicken? i don't do it all the time but the past couple days i've been a fiend for my chicken this way:

brown the chicken with some cooking spray
add onions and some olive oil
sprinkle garlic powder and salt free Mrs Dash
cook on medium.

**BulkMeUp** · 11-30-2004, 12:07 PM

IMO, olive is ok for mild sauteeing/frying on a low/mod heat.

I tell people this "You can cook WITH olive oil, but not IN olive oil". Meaning: You can add olive oil to a dish that you are preparing (add it to a sauce, mildly sautee garlic or onions on low heat), but cant cook in olive oil (you cant do a stir fry or deep fry) on high heat. Because it has a low burning point as explained above.

**Robboe** · 11-30-2004, 01:47 PM

Well, technically you shouldn't be frying food anyway (you're a fitness enthusiast/bodybuilder dammit, the pinnacle of health and well being, right?) but if forced to i'd fry with olive oil over any other oil because of the points raised by Sabre81.

The best trick that Jodi pointed upon, is the oil the food and not the pan. Unless it's scrambled eggs or something like that which makes it quite hard.

**soxmuscle** · 11-30-2004, 05:57 PM

Excellent. I tell my mom she can cook some chicken with olive oil tonight instead of just a tiny spray of PAM and this thread comes out..

**LAM** · 11-30-2004, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by rockcrest

what is bad about cooking some chicken in pan on hi with some olive oil? i didnt find the oil rancid at all.
thanks for the replies.

depends on the oil but as alreay stated olive oil is fine to cook with. a basic rule is to not let the oil get hot enough to smoke and proteins shouldn't be cooked at high temps but at a moderate temp for a longer period of time...

**MeLo** · 12-01-2004, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

a basic rule is to not let the oil get hot enough to smoke and proteins shouldn't be cooked at high temps but at a moderate temp for a longer period of time...

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