JUMP To TOP           COOKING OILS:          

Most of us have a preferred staple cooking “grease” that we use on a regular basis. Cooking oils have been used as the original non-stick pan for centuries. India has used clarified butter for almost 3,000 years. It's always good to know what the best (and healthiest) cooking options for your family are. Most research and the Bible states that, “if used in moderation”, oil, butter and animal fats aren't completely unfriendly towards most diets. Below, get the basics for your next pan-handling adventure in the kitchen. Attempting to find the healthiest cooking oil can be a daunting task. On one hand, you want to cook with an oil that has a high flash (smoke) point, but, you also need to use a cooking oil that has a healthy balance of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids and even better if that oil is loaded with antioxidants and vitamins!  Knowing the smoke point of oils is important because heating oil to the point where the oil begins to smoke produces toxic fumes and harmful free radicals in the air your family is breathing.  Check out our cooking oil factoids below to help alleviate your confusion!

JUMP To TOP           COOKING OIL FACTOIDS:

With a growing world population, the demand for edible oil is also increasing year after year. Since most crude vegetable oils obtained either from expellers or solvent extraction plant contains impurities and need to be (at partially) refined for edible or technical applications, increased production volumes have resulted in a serious expansion of the edible oil refinery industry. Edible oil refinery can be carried out by either chemical refining (batch or continuous refining) or physical refining, and the main equipment involved are neutralizer, bleacher, deodorizer, heat exchanger, press filters etc.

Cooking oils are plant, animal, or synthetic fats used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and crusty bread dippings, and may also be called an edible oil. Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid at room temperatures. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oils may also be flavored with aromatic foodstuffs such as herbs, chillies or garlic.

Oils are usually classified into three separate categories: Good or OK for your health (The Good). Bad for your health (The Bad). To be avoided at all costs (The Ugly).

The sortable tables below are separated into those three Good, Bad & Ugly classifications.

JUMP To TOP           SMOKE POINT:

The smoke point is marked by "a continuous wisp of smoke". It is the temperature at which an oil starts to burn, leading to a burnt flavor in the foods being prepared and degradation of nutrients and phytochemicals characteristic of the oil.

Above the smoke point are flash and fire points. The flash point is the temperature at which oil vapors will ignite but aren't produced in sufficient quantities to stay lit. The flash point generally occurs at about 275–330 °C (527–626 °F). The fire point is the temperature at which hot oil produces sufficient vapors they will catch on fire and burn. As frying hours increase, all these temperature points decrease.[52] They depend more on an oil's acidity than fatty-acid profile.

The smoke point of cooking oils varies generally in association with how oil is refined: a higher smoke point results from removal of impurities and free fatty acids. Residual solvent remaining from the refining process may decrease the smoke point. It has been reported to increase with the inclusion of antioxidants (BHA, BHT, and TBHQ). For these reasons, the published smoke points of oils may vary

JUMP To TOP          STORING & KEEPING OILS:

All oils degrade in response to heat, light, and oxygen. To delay the onset of rancidity, a blanket of an inert gas, usually nitrogen, is applied to the vapor space in the storage container immediately after production – a process called tank blanketing. In a cool, dry place, oils have greater stability, but may thicken, although they will soon return to liquid form if they are left at room temperature. To minimize the degrading effects of heat and light, oils should be removed from cold storage just long enough for use.

Oils high in monounsaturated fats, such as macadamia oil, keep up to a year, while those high in polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean oil, keep about six months. Rancidity tests have shown that the shelf life of walnut oil is about 3 months, a period considerably shorter than the best before date shown on labels.

By contrast, oils high in saturated fats, such as avocado oil, have relatively long shelf lives and can be safely stored at room temperature, as the low polyunsaturated fat content facilitates stability

JUMP To TOP           OIL EXTRACTION:

OIL EXTRACTION:

In large-scale industrial oil extraction you will often see some combination of pressing, chemical extraction and/or centrifuging in order to extract the maximum amount of oil possible.

Oils are extracted from nuts, seeds, olives, grains or legumes by extraction using industrial chemicals or by mechanical processes. Expeller pressing is a chemical-free process that collects oils from a source using a mechanical press with minimal heat. Cold-pressed oils are extracted under a controlled temperature setting usually below 105 °C (221 °F) intended to preserve naturally occurring phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, plant sterols and vitamin E which collectively affect color, flavor, aroma and nutrient value

There are three broad types of oil extraction:

1) CHEMICAL SOLVENT EXTRACTION:

Solvent extraction is a chemical oil extraction method to process oil out from vegetables, oilseeds and nuts by solvent, and Hexane is the preferred choice. Industrial oil processing for the edible oil generally involves the solvent extraction step which may or may not be preceded by pressing. Hexane-based processes have been in commercial operation for a long time. For such processes, it is possible to achieve oil yields in excess of 95% with a solvent recovery of over 95% which in compare to 60 to 70% oil yield by mechanical expeller pressing method. The solvent extraction method will remove all but about ½% of residual oil, uses less HP, and requires less maintenance. It is relatively efficient and reliable, and this is one reason why solvent extraction is the primary means of separating large tonnages of oil from protein meal.

2) PRESSING:

Oil pressing or expeller pressing means a mechanical method for extracting oil from vegetables, nuts and seeds. by mechanical pressure, All the procedures are performed without any chemical additives. It is cost efficient, versatile and chemical-free. The most two popular oil extraction methods today are using screw press (oil press machine) and using chemical solvents, however, in order to squeeze the MOST oil out of the raw materials, usually more than one method is used to reduce oil waste, often, the two methods are used together. Usually press the material firstly by a screw type press machine and then get the rest of oil in the ground meal by using a chemical solvent.

3) DECANTER CENTRIFUGE:

Higher quality cooking (edible) oils are usually separated through the use of a cold- process decanter centrifuge. These oils include extra virgin and virgin olive oils, avocado oil and even marijuana oil (THC & CBD). Heat used during the separation process will destroy the quality if the oil. Decanter centrifuges separate fine solids from a suspension and optimally clarify the separated liquid with minimal waste (black) water.

JUMP To TOP           EDIBLE OILS REFINED:

Cooking oil can be unrefined, semi-refined or refined using one or more of the following refinement processes (in any combination).

There is evidence pointing in the direction that it isn’t animal fats causing our epidemic levels of heart disease, but vegetable oils.  Research is showing that butter consumption at the turn of the century was about 18 lbs per person per year and the use of vegetable oils was non existent.  Cancer and heart disease were rare.  Today butter consumption is just above 4 lbs per person per year while the use of vegetable oils and refined oils has soared.

Oils are refined by using chemicals that are essentially harmful to us.  In short refine means to ‘purify’. But the meaning of purify has many definitions.  It may mean the oil was treated with acid, or purified with an alkali, or bleached.  It can also be neutralized, filtered or deodorized.  All of which require chemicals like Hexane!

In the process of making and refining these types of oils, it leads to PUFa’s (rancid polyunsaturated fatty acids) which DO NOT hold up well to high heats.  In the process of being extracted from the seed these oils oxidize and turn into trans fats (BAD).  The smell is so rancid that a cleaning process has to take place using bleach to deodorize it.

Most large-scale commercial cooking oil refinements will involve performing all of the below eight steps in order to achieve a product that's uniform in taste, smell and appearance, and has a longer shelf life.

1) DISTILLING:

Which heats the oil to evaporate off chemical solvents from the extraction process.

2) DEGUMMING:

By passing hot water through the oil to precipitate out gums and proteins that are soluble in water but not in oil, then discarding the black water along with the impurities.

3) NEUTRALIZATION / DEACIDIFICATION:

Which treats the oil with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate to pull out free fatty acids, phospholipids, pigments, and waxes.

4) BLEACHING:

Which removes "off-colored" components by treatment with fuller's earth, activated carbon, or activated clays, followed by heating, filtering, then drying to recoup the oil.

5) DEWAXING / WINTERIZING:

Which improves the clarity of oils intended for refrigeration by dropping them to low temperatures and removing any solids that form.

6) DEODORIZING:

By treating with high-heat pressurized steam to evaporate less stable compounds that might cause "unusual" odors or tastes.

7) PRESERVATIVE ADDITION:

Which includes adding antioxidants such as BHA, BHT, and tocopherol to help preserve oils that have been made less stable due to high-temperature processing.

8) FILTERING:

Which is a non-chemical process which mechanically screens out larger particles, could be considered a step in refinement, although it doesn't actually alter the physical state of the oil.

JUMP To TOP           UN-REFINED:

Cooking oil intended for the health food market will often be unrefined, which can result in a less stable product but minimizes exposure to high temperatures and chemical processing.

JUMP To TOP           SEMI-REFINED:

Semi-Refining process is essentially the same as Refined, with some “unnecessary” steps eliminated. Mainly the difference between two oils is, the exclusion of the dewaxing / winterizing and the deodorizing steps outlined above. Oils affected are usually the sunflower and sesame oils. Sesame oil doesn’t contain wax. if the free fatty acids are high, then sesame oil is usually subjected to neutralization but not deodorization.

JUMP To TOP           FATTY ACIDS:

In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually not found in organisms in their standalone form, but instead exist as three main classes of esters: triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesteryl esters. In any of these forms, fatty acids are both important dietary sources of fuel for animals and they are important structural components for cells. In animals, fatty acids are formed from carbohydrates predominantly in the liver, adipose tissue, and the mammary glands during lactation.

JUMP To TOP           OMEGA-3:

Omega-3 fatty acids are a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is one of the two essential fatty acids, so called because humans cannot manufacture it and must get it from food. Omega-3 fatty acids are mostly obtained from oily fish caught in high- latitude waters. They are comparatively uncommon in vegetable sources, including margarine. However, one type of omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) can be found in some vegetable oils. Flax oil contains 30-50% of ALA, and is becoming a popular dietary supplement to rival fish oils; both are often added to premium Margarines. An ancient oil plant, Camelina sativa, has recently gained popularity because of its high omega-3 content (30-45%), and it has been added to some margarines. Hemp oil contains about 20% ALA. Small amounts of ALA are found in vegetable oils such as soybean oil (7%), rapeseed oil (7%) and wheat germ oil (5%).

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in a high concentration in fish, olive oil, garlic, and walnuts. Though these foods are common, most people don’t eat them in adequate quantities it would take to get beneficial levels. But also, the body is very inefficient at converting plant omega-3s into the omega-3s the body needs, which are EPA and DHA.

Omega-3’s are crucial for brain health. They are vital for our nerve cells and other brain cells to make and maintain the trillions of connections that our brain uses for information processing and for moving our limbs. Omega-3’s are also vital for our brain cells – and all our cells – to make the energy they need in order to function.

Omega-3’s play a crucial role in the body’s healthy inflammatory responses, which reduce the chances of having problems with your circulation, joints, and other organs. Omega-3’s are also essential for healthy hair and skin. Also, because of how important it is during an infant’s development, pregnant women are encouraged to take it in order to minimize any potential for their children to have problems with vision or brain health including learning, attention, and behavior.

JUMP To TOP           OMEGA-6:

Omega-6 fatty acids are also important for health. They include the essential fatty acid linoleic acid (LA), which is abundant in vegetable oils grown in temperate climates. Some, such as hemp (60%) and the common margarine oils [corn (60%), cottonseed (50%) and sunflower (50%)], have large amounts, but most temperate oil seeds have over 10% LA. Margarine is very high in omega-6 fatty acids. Modern estern diets are frequently quite high in omega-6 but very deficient in omega-3. The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is typically 5:1 to 10:1. Large amounts of omega-6 decreases the effect of omega-3. Therefore, it is recommended that the ratio in the diet should be less than 4:1, although the optimal ratio may be closer to 1:1.

Modern research indicates that many people living on the western-type diet have too high a ratio of omega-6 compared to omega-3 fatty acids in their cells. There’s very little scientific evidence that having too much omega-6 compared to omega-3 in the diet is harmful to our overall health and well-being. High intakes of omega-6’s may increase tendency to less healthy inflammatory responses, which bring their own set of risks and have been linked to mood problems. The omega-6 fatty acids are essential for all our organ functions, but the important takeaway here is that they need to be balanced in the diet by adequate intakes of omega-3’s and omega-9’s.

Appropriate ratios are key. Eating too many foods rich in omega-6 fatty acids is a problem because they can cancel out the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids when the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is too high. The optimal ratio is not known, except that we need at least an Omega-3 Index of 8-12 percent. However, most Americans are running an index under 8 percent, with an average index of 5.1!

JUMP To TOP           OMEGA-9:

Any of the nonessential unsaturated fatty acids that have a double carbon bond in the ninth position from the end of their fatty acid tail. They include oleic acid (present in olive oils and many others), stearic acid, and erucic acid.

Unlike omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are polyunsaturated fats, omega-9 fatty acids are monounsaturated. Omega-9 fatty acids are essential for our cells to work but aren’t a dietary essential, because they can be produced by the body. Omega- 9 fats are found in olive oil, some other plant oils, and some nuts and seeds. Since people tend to consume more omega-6s than they may need, and the body produces omega-9’s, there isn’t a great need to supplement with either of these fatty acids. Unfortunately, most Americans are deficient in omega-3’s, and there’s a huge body of studies that indicate a majority of American adults have suboptimal levels of EPA and DHA.

JUMP To TOP           THE FATS WITHIN:

Saturated fats, which occur naturally in meat and dairy products, are OK when consumed in moderation. Most nutritionists tend to agree on the unhealthy consequences of partially hydrogenated oils (or trans fats). In the process of hydrogenation, food manufacturers chemically alter the structure of vegetable oil. Partial hydrogenation results in trans fats. This inflammatory ingredient raises your bad cholesterol (LDL) while lowering your good cholesterol (HDL), making it a major contributor to heart disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now requires all food companies to phase out artificial trans fats (or partially hydrogenated oils). The average grams per serving in reformulated products have been dropping steadily. Many products containing trans fats still sit on store shelves, and may for years, as distribution cycles through and stored products disappear. Trans fats are mostly found in packaged cookies and other manufactured bakery products, vegetable shortening and margarine, frozen pizzas, packages frozen meals, non-dairy coffee creamers, microwave popcorn, and canned frosting.

JUMP To TOP           SATURATED:

While consumption of small amounts of saturated fats is common in diets, meta- analyses found a significant correlation between high consumption of saturated fats and blood LDL concentration, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Other meta-analyses based on cohort studies and on controlled, randomized trials found a positive, or neutral, effect from consuming polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats (a 10% lower risk for 5% replacement).

The Mayo Clinic has highlighted certain oils that are high in saturated fats, including coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Those having lower amounts of saturated fats and higher levels of unsaturated (preferably monounsaturated) fats like olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, soybean and cottonseed oils are generally healthier. The US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute urged saturated fats be replaced with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, listing olive and canola oils as sources of healthier monounsaturated oils while soybean and sunflower oils as good sources of polyunsaturated fats. One study showed that consumption of non-hydrogenated unsaturated oils like soybean and sunflower is preferable to the consumption of palm oil for lowering the risk of heart disease

Replacing saturated and transunsaturated fats with unhydrogenated monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats is more effective in preventing coronary heart disease than reducing overall fat intake.

Vegetable fats can contain anything from 7% to 86% saturated fatty acids. Liquid oils (canola oil, sunflower oil) tend to be on the low end, while tropical oils (coconut oil, palm kernel oil) and fully hardened (hydrogenated) oils are at the high end of the scale. A margarine blend is a mixture of both types of components. Generally, firmer margarines contain more saturated fat.

Typical soft tub margarines contains 10% to 20% of saturated fat. Regular butterfat contains 52 to 65% saturated fats. The American Institute of Medicine and the European Food Safety Authority recommend saturated fat intake to be as low as possible

JUMP To TOP           TRANS-UNSATURATED:

Natural trans-unsaturated fats – a fatty acid with at least one trans-double bond and one cis-double bond that is formed naturally in a ruminant’s stomach.

Artificial trans-unsaturated fats – a fatty acid with no cis-double bonds and at least one trans-double bond that is formed artificially through a process called hydrogenation.

JUMP To TOP           UNSATURATED:

Consumption of unsaturated fatty acids has been found to decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels in the blood, thus reducing the risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases.

There are two types of unsaturated oils: mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, both of which are recognized as beneficial to health in contrast to saturated fats. Some widely grown vegetable oils, such as rapeseed (and its variant canola), sunflower, safflower, and olive oils contain high amounts of unsaturated fats. During the manufacture of margarine, makers may convert some unsaturated fat into hydrogenated fats or trans fats to give them a higher melting point so they stay solid at room temperatures.

JUMP To TOP           TRANS-FATS:

Unlike other dietary fats, trans fats are not essential, and they do NOT promote good health. The consumption of trans fats increases one's risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more harmful than naturally occurring oils.

Several studies indicate a link between the consumption of high amounts of trans fat and coronary heart disease, and possibly some other diseases. The United States Food and Drug Administration, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association have all recommended limiting your intake of trans fats. In the US, trans fats are no longer "generally recognized as safe", and cannot be added to foods, including cooking oils, without obtaining special permission from the federal government.

JUMP To TOP           MONO-UNSATURATED:

Monounsaturated fats – a fatty acid that contains only one carbon-carbon double bond

A fatty acid is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. This simple difference in chemical structure leads to a significant change in how our body metabolizes it and how it affects our health. The most common monounsaturated fat you’ll consume is oleic acid. In fact, it is the most widely distributed and abundant fatty acid in nature. Olive oil, macadamia nuts, and avocado are the best sources of this monounsaturated fatty acid, which is responsible for many of the health benefits these foods can provide us.

JUMP To TOP           POLY-UNSATURATED:

Polyunsaturated fats – a fatty acid that includes more than one carbon-carbon double bond

Polyunsaturated fats are consumed as either omega-6 or omega-3 fatty acids, which differ in where their first double bond is found from the end of the carbon chain (i.e., from the methyl group). Linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid) and α-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) are two commonly consumed PUFAs. They are also known as essential fatty acids because we cannot synthesize them.

JUMP To TOP           HYDROGENATION:

CAUTION: Partially-hydrogenated oils are MUCH WORSE for you than fully hydrogenated oils!

Vegetable and animal fats are similar compounds with different melting points. Fats that are liquid at room temperature are generally known as oils. The melting points are related to the presence of carbon-carbon double bonds in the fatty acids components. A higher number of double bonds gives a lower melting point. Oils can be converted into solid substances at room temperature through hydrogenation.

Commonly, natural oils are hydrogenated by passing hydrogen gas through the oil in the presence of a nickel catalyst, under controlled conditions. [federal citation needed] The addition of hydrogen to the unsaturated bonds (alkenic double C-C bonds) results in saturated C-C bonds, effectively increasing the melting point of the oil and thus D"hardening" it. This is due to the increase in Van Der Waals' forces between the saturated molecules compared with the unsaturated molecules. However, as there are possible health benefits in limiting the amount of saturated fats in the human diet, the process is controlled so that only enough of the bonds are hydrogenated to give the required texture. Margarines made in this way are said to contain hydrogenated fat. This method is used today for some margarines although the process has been developed and sometimes other metal catalysts are used such as palladium. If hydrogenation is incomplete (partial hardening), the relatively high temperatures used in the hydrogenation process tend to flip some of the carbon-carbon double bonds into the "trans" form. If these particular bonds are not hydrogenated during the process, they remain present in the final margarine in molecules of trans fats, the consumption of which has been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. For this reason, partially hardened fats are used less and less in the margarine industry. Some tropical oils, such as palm oil and coconut oils, are naturally semi-solid and do not require hydrogenation.

JUMP To TOP