ISO olive oil info

[pacanis]

Now that I know what ISO stand for, I thought I'd use it I just hope I picked the correct forum.

What are the differences in olive oils and when do you use which type?
Sure, you see Rachel cooking everything with "EVOO", but when you look at the Pilippo Berio bottles the extra virgin says for dressing & marinating, the regular olive oil says for sauteing & grilling.... It makes you think using the evoo in a pan will burn or something. I've used both types when sauteing and didn't really notice a difference.

I tried search, but do you know how many posts contain the words olive oil

Thanks for any info.

 

[skilletlicker]

What are the differences in olive oils and when do you use which type?

Differences:
There are tons of analysis of this. The following is from one of the first sites the come up in a google search on "olive oil types."

Types of olive oil

Generally, olive oil is extracted by pressing or crushing olives. Olive oil comes in different varieties, depending on the amount of processing involved. Varieties include:
Extra virgin - considered the best, least processed, comprising the oil from the first pressing of the olives.
Virgin - from the second pressing.
Pure - undergoes some processing, such as filtering and refining.
Extra light - undergoes considerable processing and only retains a very mild olive flavour. When buying olive oil you will want to obtain a high quality EXTRA VIRGIN oil. The oil that comes from the first "pressing" of the olive, is extracted without using heat (a cold press) or chemicals, and has no "off" flavors is awarded "extra virgin" status. The less the olive oil is handled, the closer to its natural state, the better the oil. If the olive oil meets all the criteria, it can be designated as "extra virgin".
What is pure and light olive oil? "Pure" olive oil is made by adding a little extra virgin olive oil to refined olive oil. It is a lesser grade oil that is also labeled as just "olive oil" in the U.S.
"Light" olive oil is a marketing concept and not a classification of olive oil grades. It is completely unregulated by any certification organizations and therefore has no real precedent to what its content should be. Sometimes, the olive oil is cut with other vegetable oils.

What I use:
The only type I buy now is extra virgin which is as much a flavoring as it is a cooking fat. If I don't want or care about the flavor, or intend to cook it so long all the flavor would dissipate then I'll use soybean or canola oil. A couple years ago I counted 12 open bottles of various types of oil. Now all I keep on hand is canola, soybean, and "EVOO."

This isn't the only way to look at it but it is what presently works best for me.

 

[pacanis]

Thanks for the reply.

So.... you do cook with EVOO? Here's an excerpt I got from of the sites you Googled up:

"How many types of oil you keep on hand is simply a matter of preference. If you wanted to keep your list to two, we’d suggest an extra virgin for salads, marinades, serving with bread, and other uncooked uses, and a good-quality plain oil for low- to medium-temperature cooking. If you are willing to keep three olive oils active in your pantry, we’d add a bottle of light oil for high-temperature cooking."
How to choose olive oil

That makes it sound like you (we) are wasting our money putting the extra virgin olive oil into a saute or fry pan doesn't it? But you did mention not cooking it long enough for the flavor to dissipate....
How long is that?
Can the flavor transfer to the food before it's cooked out? I'm thinking not after I read that and from what the bottles in the store read.

 

[skilletlicker]

First of all, that google search returns nigh on two million results. You have to ignore a lot of them and decide for yourself what to accept. Some do say not to cook at all with extra virgin.

• "Can the flavor transfer to the food before it is cooked out?"

Try cooking a pot of beans and when they're tender split them into two pots keeping them both at a simmer. As soon as they're split add a couple tablespoons of good tasting "EVOO" to one of the pots. Simmer for another 20 minutes and see if you don't taste a world of difference.

But you might say it wasn't sauteed. Try a similar experiment with tomatoes. Chop or crush and then drain a can of whole tomatoes. Gently saute half of them in "EVOO" that tastes good to you and saute the other half in a flavorless oil such as canola. Can you taste the difference?

Alternatively, you could just think about what the differences might be, based on something you read on an internet site and a grocery store label.

I'm not promoting a philosophy or inviting an argument here; just responding to your original questions.

 

[BraiseMeUpBeforeYouGoGo]

Apparently, EVOO should not be used for sauteing and high temperature cooking because extra virgin olive oil has a pretty low smoke point (the lowest among olive oils). When oil smokes, it decomposes, which leads to loss of flavor in addition to production of cancer-causing chemicals. I think that is the rationale behind labeling EVOO for "dipping and dressing" and regular OO for "sauteing and grilling."


WHFoods: Is it OK to cook with extra-virgin olive oil?

 

[jkath]

good point, braise!
Last night Alton Brown was searing some scallops and said to use olive oil, but specified no EVOO, as it would burn.

 

[pacanis]

I appreciate the response and I wasn't trying to promote an argument either, just trying to get a good banter going so I can weigh all that's said and draw my own conclusions.
Enough people I see (on TV) use it, so it must make a difference, but you take a guy like me just trying to add a little pizzaz to his home fries or mushrooms and I start to dissect the labels as I'm looking at 10 different kinds on the shelf wondering which one to get for what I use it for.

I've got both kinds, the EVOO for dressings and marinades and the regular (plain) olive oil for sauteing and grilling in my cupboard right now. I'll have to devise a simple taste test for myself using both to cook with. But it's good to know the extra virgin doesn't break down or anything when used for cooking. That was one of my concerns, too.

edit: Ackk! I just type my response after two more replies and now I'm really confused... So it does breakdown and really shouldn't be used for any type of frying or sauteing?
I love this site! It's really good to try and learn from reading all your replies and past posts.

 

[skilletlicker]

I really feel like I'm being sucked into a quagmire of nonsense. The prevailing argument seems to be:

1. Don't use olive oil for any cooking because, like other oils, it tends to breakdown with exposure to heat.
2. If you add it to a screaming hot pan and then sear protein in it, the surface of the meat will char to some extent causing carcinogens in both the food and the atmosphere. It will likely trigger every smoke detector in a typical household, and do unhealthy things to the oil.

Does 2 logically follow from 1? If that is what you gather from the information at hand, so be it. Like I said earlier, I'm not recruiting disciples.

 

[Andy M.]

I keep just EVOO as my only olive oil. It works well for light saute as well as other cooking and non-cooking uses. I don't use it for high temp sears or deep frying. For those uses, I go to canola.

Mario Batali, a chef whose opinion I respect, uses evoo for all his cooking.

 

[Andy M.]

I really feel like I'm being sucked into a quagmire of nonsense. The prevailing argument seems to be:

1. Don't use olive oil for any cooking because, like other oils, it tends to breakdown with exposure to heat.
2. If you add it to a screaming hot pan and then sear protein in it, the surface of the meat will char to some extent causing carcinogens in both the food and the atmosphere. It will likely trigger every smoke detector in a typical household, and do unhealthy things to the oil.

Does 2 logically follow from 1? If that is what you gather from the information at hand, so be it. Like I said earlier, I'm not recruiting disciples.

You can cook with olive oils with no issues. in some applications, you can cook with EVOO. You just have to watch your temps.

Searing meats does not generate carcinogens. Searing makes meats brown. Burning makes meats black. Black is not a desireable color in cooking. Brown is to be coveted.

Charring meats over a charcoal fire is known to introduce carcinogens into the food.

 

[Franca]

I keep just EVOO as my only olive oil. It works well for light saute as well as other cooking and non-cooking uses. I don't use it for high temp sears or deep frying. For those uses, I go to canola.

That's pretty much what I do. Although I don't do any deep frying. I can throw a steak onto a naked sizzling hot cast iron pan but I'm too wimpy to deep fry.

Anyway, I keep ordinary EVOO (Star), somewhat tastier EVOO (Colavita) and Canola oil around. (We are occasionally gifted with more "gourmet" EVOOs which we use for bread dipping. Unless we decide they're not really any better than the Colavita, which I quite like - in which case we use those gourmet EVOOs up the same way we use the Star EVOO.) I cook with the Star EVOO all the time, even on fairly high heat - I just don't let it smoke. I often don't use oil when I sear; I use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. We use the canola oil when we cook Chinese and for stuff like popcorn where we really don't want any olive flavor.

 

[Candocook]

kPretty much what Andy said, especially about not being cancer causing.

I have probably 3-5 olive oils at any one time--all EVOO, and all different prices. They are different flavors--not "flavored", but "flavors". Some are floral, grassy, spicy. I have a big bottle of DaVinci (I think, and designated EVOO) that I fill a small bottle from for the stove. If I am getting something screaming hot (Chinese stir fry) I use vegetable oil. But for sauteeing chicken for chicken marsala, it is olive oil.
Costco has a Kirkland brand (in a square litre bottle) from Tuscany that is lucious. Their other Kirkland brand in the big bottles are also good, but the latter is a very nice dipping oil--and better quality oil.
Sam's has begun carrying Star brand which is also very good EVOO.
And "green" has nothing to do with the quality/extra virginness of olive oil.

 

[boufa06]

Late as I may be, let me join the fun anyway. To begin with, I agree completely with Skilletlicker on all of his/her posts. Just like Andy, I also use EVOO in all of my dishes that call for olive oil. What I find to a good extent irritating is the statement that EVOO should be used only for dressings, salads etc. but not for cooking. Now I could possibly go along with such a statement if the suggested substitute was anything else but olive oil. What on earth is the chemical difference between EVOO and olive oil? How did the latter acquire its higher smoking point and what have you that make it a superior alternative for cooking? Isn't it supposed to come out of the same olives that EVOO comes from? As such, it should be chemically identical to EVOO. The only justification for olive oil's lower status is that it has undergone some chemical treatment or another to improve some of its properties that were not too impressive at the time of pressing. Now if this chemical processing has changed its chemical nature to the point of having physical properties significantly different to those of EVOO, should we eat it at all?

I can understand why cost factors may make using olive oil in cooking the preferred alternative, especially for commercial establishments. However, to say that using olive oil in cooking is hygenically correct smacks of misinformation, perhaps deliberate as well.

 

[BraiseMeUpBeforeYouGoGo]

What on earth is the chemical difference between EVOO and olive oil? How did the latter acquire its higher smoking point and what have you that make it a superior alternative for cooking? Isn't it supposed to come out of the same olives that EVOO comes from? As such, it should be chemically identical to EVOO.

Olive oil (just virgin, etc.) comes from either the second pressing of olives (EV olive oil comes from the first pressing) or from chemical agents used to extract the oil from the olives. In the sense that it comes from the same olives, it's still olive oil but it has different chemical properties. The fact that olive oil does not taste as good as EV olive oil is evidence of this. When oil is refined, the smoke point is increased. EV olive oil is the LEAST refined (first pressing), giving it its delicate flavor and aroma.

The science of the matter is that when oil smokes, it begins to decompose which can mean the introduction of carcinogenic chemicals (Alton Brown's deep frying episode had a good explanation of this using toy trains).

EV olive oil is probably the best tasting oil one can possibly consume, not to mention it's healthier, too. However, care has to be taken when cooking with it because of its low smoke point, that's all.

Again, I point you to this article: WHFoods: Is it OK to cook with extra-virgin olive oil?

 

[Lizannd]

If I only used extra virgin oil for salads it would go

rancid before I finished it. I just buy a large can(less than 1 gallon) of a
good tasting, decent quality olive oil and use it. Not the best but far from the worst. It is much cheaper to buy in quantity, and I would rather use often instead of seldom and throw it away. I use other oil for stir frying, or other ethnic foods where the olive flavor isn't wanted. But the extra virgin olive oil is what I use most.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I only use extra-virgin olive oil for everyday use. Buy the Berio brand by the gallon at CostCo. Has a wonderful fragrance & great taste. Perfect for everything from salad dressings & marinades to sauteeing.

While I do use peanut &/or vegetable oil for wok stirfrying, & butter for certain recipes, my gallons of Berio work perfectly for me in all other applications.

 

[jennyema]

Apparently, EVOO should not be used for sauteing and high temperature cooking because extra virgin olive oil has a pretty low smoke point (the lowest among olive oils). When oil smokes, it decomposes, which leads to loss of flavor in addition to production of cancer-causing chemicals. I think that is the rationale behind labeling EVOO for "dipping and dressing" and regular OO for "sauteing and grilling."


WHFoods: Is it OK to cook with extra-virgin olive oil?

I use evoo for sauteeing and everything else but stir frying. Like Cando, I have several good bottles going at once, with different flavor notes. I usually buy mine by the liter at Fairway.

It's a myth that you can't use it for high temp cooking.

It's smoke point really isn't that low and depends on its acid content. See here

Alton Brown himself says it has a smokepoint of 406. Here's his Good Eats smoke point chart.

Mario Batali deep fries in it.

The classifications of olive oils as "extra virgin, "virgin," etc also depend on the acid content of the oil.

 

[pacanis]

Very interesting reading. I appreciate all the feedback!

 

[skilletlicker]

Searing meats does not generate carcinogens.

I suspect you are right Andy. Since you quoted me before making this statement did you think that I was claiming it did? My point was that heating oils to temps above the smoke point is claimed by many serious people to release carcinogenic substances into both the air and the oil but that it is a a pretty silly reason not to cook at all with extra virgin olive oil. Rereading the post I see how I caused the confusion with careless wording.

 

[moonglowlady]

I know the topic is olive oil, (which I also put in my bath), but I wanted to add that there is a definite role for sesame oil, toasted or not. A few drops of this oil, added to the olive oil of choice, adds that fuller-bodied taste to a quick saute or stir fry. On it's own, it's the base for many Asian recipes. That is my third staple oil, after any good vegetable oil used for deep frying or other rudimentary needs such as rubbing down grills.