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Info for Chefs & Restaurants
COMPARE COMMON CULINARY OILS: One dietary message
for consumers has not changed in a decade: eat less fat. This advice
aims to help millions of North Americans reduce their risk of overweight,
obesity and diabetes. In recent years, a new message about fat has emerged
- the type of fat in the diet is also important. Canola oil is the best
blend of fats for good health.
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING AN OIL FOR YOUR
KITCHEN
With dozens of different cooking oils on store shelves, choosing the
right one for each culinary application can be confusing and intimidating.
Here's what to keep in mind...
1. Functionality: For high heat applications
such as sauteing, grilling, wok cooking and deep fat frying,
choose oil with a high smoke point. Canola oil and peanut oil have smoke
points of 396-414oF. Extra virgin olive oil, on the other hand,
may burn if heated above 325oF, and flaxseed oil should not be exposed
to heat at all.
2. Flavor: If you want oil to contribute flavor
to the dish, you may want to try sesame, walnut, or extra virgin olive
oils. If you don't want the ingredients in your recipe to be overshadowed,
choose a mild tasting oil such as canola oil.
3. Versatility and Affordability: Many home
cooks don't have room to store a dozen different oils or want to spend
$20 or more for specialty oils. Canola oil will meet many needs in the
kitchen but two or three different oils are useful to have on hand.
Choose canola oil for high heat cooking, vinaigrettes and baking. Look
to extra virgin olive oil for oil dips and vinaigrettes, and sesame
oil for Asian dishes.
4. Nutritional Value: All oils contain the
same number of calories but they deliver very different levels of nutrition.
Check out the chart to compare the fatty acid profiles of popular culinary
oils. You'll see that canola oil is the most nutritionally balanced
oil - lowest in saturated fats, high in heart-healthy monounsaturated
fats, and second only to flaxseed oil in alpha-linolenic (ALA) omega-3
fats.
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