Top 5 Cooking Oil Tips

Cooking oil can be confusing! Whats healthy, whats not, whats the difference, how to use it, when to use it – the list goes on and on! Here are our simple Top 5 Cooking Oil tips:

Chosen Foods Top 5 Cooking Oil Tips

1. Choosing a healthy cooking oil is important. Look for virgin or naturally refined oils (if the label doesn’t say, assume its been chemically refined) and avoid cooking with oils high in polyunsaturated fat. These include all seed oils: corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, canola, flax, etc. Polyunsaturated fats are very unstable and reactive to heat/light/air. The minute you add a polyunsaturated oil to your hot pan it develops toxins, free radicals and other harmful byproducts. Only use a virgin oil for dressings, or sauces that don’t require heat. By default, virgin oils have low smoke points and shouldn’t be used to cook with. A naturally refined oil with a high smoke point is your best bet for cooking.
   
   
2. Store your healthy cooking oil in refrigerator or in a cool dark place because both heat and light can oxidize the oil. Don’t worry if your oil becomes cloudy when cold, this is totally normal.
   
   
3. Make sure you heat your pan plenty hot BEFORE adding the oil. Too many home chefs add oil to a pan that’s not hot enough and wonder why they can’t get that great sear, or why their food sticks! Plus, the longer the oil is in the pan heating, the more damaged it becomes. If you are using a healthy cooking oil, like our avocado oil, you don’t have to worry about damaged oil! A 500°F smoke point and high monounsaturated fat content protect the oil's beneficial nutrients.
   
   
4. Buy a mister to save calories while still using your favorite healthy cooking cooking oil. Not only will this help your waist line, it eliminates the toxins, chemicals, and rancid polyunsaturated oils commonly found in those aerosol spray cans. Better yet, purchase a Chosen Foods oil spray! Our avocado oil spray has a 500°F smoke point, keeping things healthy and tasty.
   
   
5. Don’t dump your oil down the drain! This can clog and deteriorate pipes and pollute our waterways. Instead, keep an aluminum can in the freezer. When your used oil has cooled, pour it into the can and pop it back in the freezer. Throw the can out when it's relatively full.