Olive oil

[bigbuglv]

Anyone can advice how do i know when should i use extra virgin or the normal olive oil ? Thanks.

Vinz

 

[recipequeen]

For cooking purposes always use extra virgin olive oil. In cooking also if you are using for dressing purposes then use extra virgin and if you have to heat the oil then may be you can use normal olive oil.

 

[GB]

There are a few different schools of thought on this, but here is the general idea.

Use a good extra virgin olive oil when you want the flavor of the oil to shine through, especially when you are not heating the oil, such as dressings and oil to drizzle over finished food.

Use regular olive oil when cooking at higher temperatures (extra virgin has a lower smoke point than regular) or when the flavor is not important.

That being said, I use extra virgin for almost all my cooking needs. For high heat cooking I will use something else so the oil doesn't burn, but I do not keep regular olive oil in the house. I can find my extra virgin for a good price so I do not mind that some of the flavor of the extra virgin is destroyed when I cook with it.

 

[licia]

Just don't make brownies with extra virgin. My grandaughter made them when she was a youngster and they were indeed NASTY! I use it in much of what I saute. A couple of tablespoons doesn't stand out that much in the veggies, etc, but is still better than some other oils for our health. I use canola when deep frying or baking, etc.

 

[BH51]

I'm under the impression that Extra Virgin is a higher
quality oil with a better taste....Regular olive oil is not
nearly as refined & cheaper...used in place of canola
or other oils for the health benefits but is slightly bitter.

I generally use extra virgin olive oil on my pasta dishes,
pizza's and canola or sunflower oils in simple frying or
other applications because of price per quantity...BH51.

 

[jennyema]

I'm under the impression that Extra Virgin is a higher
quality oil with a better taste....Regular olive oil is not
nearly as refined & cheaper...used in place of canola
or other oils for the health benefits but is slightly bitter.

.

Actually regular olive oil is more refined and refined by chemical and mechanical means -- something EVOO is not.

Personally, I don't find it bitter at all. Bland, actually.

I use extra virgin pretty much exclusively, with the exception of canola and peanut oils for frying or when I want a completely neutral taste.

 

[BH51]

Bland is probably a better word to describe it, as it's
been a while since I've purchased any regular olive.
I new it was something less desirable about it in
comparison...Bitter came to mind but was probably
that particular brand name which was really, really
cheap...Thanks for the imfo, Jen......................BH51.

 

[GB]

I would not actually call bland a less desirable quality. It depends on the application. There are some times that I do not want the olive oil taste in my food. in that case, bland would be welcome.

 

[ChefJune]

When it comes to olive oil, I only use Extra Virgin. However, there are different grades of Extra Virgin.

For all cooking tasks, and sometimes for salad dressings, I use the Whole Foods 365 Extra Virgin Italian that I buy in a 3-liter can for $22.95. For salads, and for drizzling on fish, or other dishes, I use an artisan Extra Virgin, that has been hand pressed. These come from various places: Provence, Spain, Greece, several different regions in Italy, and also California.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Extra-virgin olive oil has been my oil of choice for nearly all my cooking requirements for many years now. While I do usually have a bottle or two of pricey artisinal types on hand for special salads, etc., my "go to" brand is Filippo Berio's Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. It has a nice olive fragrance & flavor without being too overpowering for everyday dishes. I buy it by the gallon from CostCo.

 

[Mark Webster]

Just be wary of the Olive Oils you buy. Even though many countries use Olive oil to cook with (such as frying) their olive oil is considerably different than what you would be here in the US.TheEuropean Union and Italy The European Commission have much stricter requirents if they sell the oil in Europe than is required when they export to the US. Their oil taste a lot different then ours do. Plus some of the oils that our sold in the US can add items to the oil and if they did that in Europe the commission could shut down their production.

 

[Scotch]

I don't think that stores around here carry anything BUY extra virgin.

 

[onelove]

I use extra virgin olive oil for everything

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I've used the "Light" version of olive oil in my baking. Right now I think I have Bertolli's...whatever BJs sells in the 3 liter. It's not lighter in calories, just flavor...as in it doesn't taste/smell like olives. Mr. Wonderful has never commented on it being a cranberry-olive muffin, so I'm safe.

 

[Scotch]

I've used the "Light" version of olive oil in my baking. Right now I think I have Bertolli's...whatever BJs sells in the 3 liter. It's not lighter in calories, just flavor...as in it doesn't taste/smell like olives. Mr. Wonderful has never commented on it being a cranberry-olive muffin, so I'm safe.

This 20-year-old article from the New York Times describes one company's marketing campaign in which it handed out samples of pound cake made with olive oil, apparently to very positive reactions from consumers:

MARKETING OLIVE OIL THAT'S LIGHT ON THE OLIVES - The New York Times

I'm a little skeptical -- someone else try it and let me know what you think.

 

[Tuscan Chef]

Just in case someone wants to know the difference.
The graduation of oil is from worse to better
Olio di sansa e di oliva
Olio di Oliva
Olio sopraffino di Oliva
Olio vergine di Oliva
Olio Extra vergine di Oliva.
The grade depends on the "acidity" of oil. Acidity (not the normal ph acidity in water) is the number of lipids broken, freeing glicerine and fat acid. This depends on the exposure to UV, but mostly oxigen and heat. So the more free acids you have the worse the oil it is. No one here would even consider using nothing else than extra virgin. The non extra virgin also have less protection to oxigen, because the acidity withness that part of the oil is already oxydated. Smoking point is lower yes, because it is less "fat", meaning that extravirgin also has lower saturated fat.
The anti-radicals, which are a help against cancer, are gone in olive oil as these are very reactive coumpounds and first to go....
So......go only for extra virgin, if you fry and want to increase smoking point, add a little butter to it, just a little, or even ....a little lard.

 

[merstar]

Extra-virgin olive oil has been my oil of choice for nearly all my cooking requirements for many years now. While I do usually have a bottle or two of pricey artisinal types on hand for special salads, etc., my "go to" brand is Filippo Berio's Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. It has a nice olive fragrance & flavor without being too overpowering for everyday dishes. I buy it by the gallon from CostCo.

That's my favorite also - Nice, light, fruity flavor with a peppery finish - very well balanced.