Cooking + Storing Oils
Going back to cooking with oils again as still something people are confused about and sadly there are a lot of mixed messages out there. See my first post on this here.
Simply: Oils (/fats) go rancid/oxidise very easily. Once they go rancid/oxidise they produce free radicals, compounds that are bad for our health (including peroxides, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, and Malondialdehyde, a carcinogen i.e. causes mutations/cancer), and are inflammatory.
Polyunsaturated fats (vegetable, flax & groundnut oils) oxidise the most easily, meaning:
Do not heat them
Store them in the fridge/freezer
Store them in dark bottles (light makes them go bad)
When you use them, close the lid straight away (air oxidises them)
Most vegetable oils generally, are heavily processed and refined meaning they are effectively turned into trans-fats. (Margarine too). This means they are highly inflammatory & they should be avoided. If you do consume any of these polyunsaturated oils, make sure they are RAW & COLD PRESSED, only drizzled over cold food, and that you store them properly.
Monounsaturated fats (eg olive or avocado oil), naturally contain a lot of anti oxidants in (eg Vitamin E), and are slightly more stable than polyunsaturated fats. This means they are ok for using to cook at low temperatures (<180 deg c). Never re-heat oil a second time. Again, go ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL (in dark bottle, fridge/cool place, close lid quick). A lot of people keep their cooking oils near the stove, this is really bad as the bottle gets hot & the oil oxidises.
Saturated fats (eg coconut oil, butter, ghee) are more stable, and less prone to oxidation & have a high smoke point. They can therefore be used for cooking at high temperatures. Saturated fats get a bad name due to their links with heart disease, this is from hidden saturated fats mostly found in processed food, a little bit of coconut oil is fine.
Lastly, people ignore best before dates often, DON’T WITH OILS - go into your cupboards now and check, you might be surprised to see most are already well pass the best before date: Throw them away.
The main message: STOP COOKING WITH VEGETABLE OILS, if you do cook with oil, use coconut oil/butter or extra virgin olive oil. Best bet… get a non stick pan & don’t cook with oil at all, and, take care of your oils + how you store them.