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Kitchen Notes: Smoke Points of Various Fats
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joe
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:49 pm    Post subject: choosing an oil Reply with quote

I am trying to choose a good healthy frying oil and dont care much for any of the olive oils, what are some of the pros and cons to sunflower oil?
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mateo
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
stirfrying, perhaps?


What about cooking in a Wok? Proper technique with wok cooking usually involves very, very high temperatures -- using amazingly high heat output burners (I've read pro wok burners are up to 100k BTUs). Yet the Chinese use oil, how does this work? How do they not consume trans-fats, and damage the oil past the smoke point?[/quote]
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GaryProtein



Joined: 26 Oct 2005
Posts: 535

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't even imagine using a burner putting out 100K btu's of energy under a wok. I have burners running off high pressure gas valves that will put out 60K and 170K btu's, and I would never use even the 60K burner on full output for a wok. I use those biggies for boiling 40-80 quart pots with water for seafood fests and cooking massive amounts of corn on the cob at BBQ's for 100 people, and I still don't use them at full blast. For deep frying turkeys I use either of the big burners, but still never on high, even to get the oil up to my starting temperature.

A 100K burner used full tilt with a wok would simply turn the wok red hot and the food would just burn after a very short period of time--and I don't mean cooking time, it would just burn on the outside and the inside would just be raw. 30K btu for a wok is way more than enough, and once up to temperature, even that can be lowered. Basically, a good stove with 15-20K btu gas burners will do a fine job with a 14-16" wok.
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JackLaBear
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:38 pm    Post subject: Chinese wok cooking Reply with quote

Yes, Chinese wok cooking involves heating the oil way past its smoke or even (I've seen this in "open kitchen" Chinese restuarants) its flash point.
This may be a factor in China having the highest rate of stomach cancer of any country in the world.
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Guest






PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Michael....you said..." The refined nature of extra light olive oil mainly affects taste and smoke point, but does not reduce the nutritional benefits of olive oil." Unsure

this is completely contrary to anything i have read. CAn you please provide a source? It is my understanding that only Extra Virgin Olive oil is healthy. All 'light' and 'pure' olive oils, in my understanding, have been extracted with high heats or solvents.
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anonymous wrote:
Michael....you said..." The refined nature of extra light olive oil mainly affects taste and smoke point, but does not reduce the nutritional benefits of olive oil." Unsure

this is completely contrary to anything i have read. CAn you please provide a source? It is my understanding that only Extra Virgin Olive oil is healthy. All 'light' and 'pure' olive oils, in my understanding, have been extracted with high heats or solvents.

Nutritionally, light olive oil and extra virgin olive oil are practically the same in terms of percentages of fatty acids. I haven't actually read a study that shows light olive oil is not as "healthy" as extra virgin - in fact, I haven't been able to find a real study showing why EVOO is considered to be a healthful oil. Most of that seems to be based around the anecdotal evidence that Mediterranean cultures consume a lot of EVOO and they appear to be healthy. There are some studies centered around the fatty acids proportions in EVOO, but if that's the case, then light olive oil is the same nutritionally. Healthfulness of a food is harder to define (especially when the other food - EVOO - isn't clear why it's healthful).
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow! Thank you so much for the information and the chart!
I love your blog and hope you'll keep blogging for a long time.
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sandra
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:06 pm    Post subject: smoke point of oils reference Reply with quote

I found your site at the bottom of the Wikipedia page on the smoke point of oils and your values are very, very different from theirs. Can you tell me your reference for this table?

Thank you
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:13 pm    Post subject: References Reply with quote

I too would like to know the references for this data.

Thanks.
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately, I don't have my sources anymore. I had built this list from various sources (written down on paper) and then transcribed them a couple years later when I started Cooking For Engineers. I suspect I will need to revisit this topic (smoke points) in the future.
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dre
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:56 am    Post subject: are polyunsats good or bad? Reply with quote

Harvard School of Public Health article (link below) says mono and polyunsats are good. Bad are saturated and trans.

Seems the opposite of what Michael says. Is there some other factors to explain the difference?

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/

Regards Don.
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jkarle1106



Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 16
Location: DeBary, Florida, USA

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Has anyone else used Olean (olestra) for frying? The smoke point is 480F and it contains nothing! No fat, no cholesterol, no nutritional components, nothing. It doesn't add any flavor to the cooked food. I've filtered it and re-used it 5 or 6 times and it never seems to "spoil".
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Dave (guest)
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jkarle1106, there are other problems with olestra.

Personally, I try to completely avoid artificial foods. They don't seem to have a particularly good track record. (Think trans-fat.)
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jkarle1106



Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 16
Location: DeBary, Florida, USA

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't believe it's an artificial ingredient, I think it's what's known as an enantiomer, or a mirror image of the fat it replaces. The body just doesn't recognize it as a fat.
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Brian (guest)
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:56 pm    Post subject: cooking oil temperatures and stove top thermostats Reply with quote

Do you have a way of telling what the temperature settings are for stove top burners (electric)?

What I mean; does the manufactures have a temperature guide for their stoves; telling me what temperature is the medium setting or medium/high; you know #7 on the dial?

And does someone manufacture a thermometer that has a flat bottom to lay in the oil in the pan or do I still use a pointed end model? With all the new technology out there what's new for cooking oils?

Since the most common house hold fires are created in the kitchen involving grease/oils.

In conclusion; please explain it to me as if I've never used an electric burner before; because I am frustrated with guessing what is the actual temperature of my stove top burners; it seems to me the "medium" setting will eventually boil water; it just keeps getting hotter and hotter; why is that?

Thanks,
Brian Sedlar
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