Cooking Fats and Oils

Butter is used widely in cooking, for frying, baking and as a spread. It is therefore considered a staple food in many countries. Butter is most commonly made from cow’s milk, although can be produced from the milk of other mammals, like goats and buffalo. It is therefore not suitable for vegan diets.

Despite being an animal fat, chicken fat contains more monounsaturated fats than saturated. Chicken fat is used for its flavour to make chicken stock, which in turn is used in soups, sauces and gravies. Chicken fat can be a rich source of omega fatty acids, especially omega-6. As an animal fat, it is not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Extracted from the flesh of the coconut, the seed of the coconut palm tree, coconut oil is very high in saturated fat (92%). There is some suggestion that it has health benefits when it is eaten as part of the coconut. However, there is much less evidence of any benefits when it is extracted and used as a cooking oil. It also has a very low smoke point, so is easily oxidised. Coconut oil is often used in curries and other dishes from The Caribbean and Southern Asia, especially in Thai food.

Corn oil is relatively low in saturated fats and a good source of omega-3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. It is therefore a popular choice for cooking. Corn oil also tends to be inexpensive and has a high burn or smoke point. It is therefore commonly used for fried food, especially deep-fat frying.

Cotton seed oil is common in many foodstuffs from salad dressings and mayonnaise to many processed foods, especially in the US, where it is an inexpensive alternative to other oils. Most famously, cotton seed oil is traditionally the main component of Crisco vegetable shortening.

Ghee is a type of clarified butter commonly used in, and associated with, the cuisine of the Indian sub-continent. The quality of ghee can vary considerably depending on the type of butter used and the production method. Unlike butter, ghee does not need to be refrigerated and has a long shelf-life when kept in an air-tight container.

Hemp oil has a low smoke point, and is therefore not really suited for frying food. However, it has a pleasant nutty taste, and is often used in salad dressings. Quality hemp oil is extracted from hemp seeds by cold pressing, meaning crushing the seeds at an ambient temperature. Heavily processed hemp oil loses a lot of its natural flavour and beneficial qualities.

Olive oil is generally considered to be a healthier alternative to many other types of cooking oils and fats. However, the beneficial qualities are only found in ‘extra virgin’ olive oil: the oil from the first pressing of the olives. Blended and processed olive oils do not have the same benefits, and you are better off buying sunflower or vegetable oils.

Extra virgin olive oil has a low smoke point and many people therefore suggest that you should not use it for frying food. However, it is quite feasible to use it, provided you are careful with the heat and timing.

Palm kernel oil is extracted from the kernel of the oil palm tree. It shares similar qualities with, but is not the same as, palm oil, which is extracted from the oil palm fruit. Palm kernel oil is high in saturated fat. Its low price and high smoke point mean it is frequently used in fast food and other commercial cooking.

However, there are serious environmental and economic concerns about the farming of the oil palm tree, and particularly the effect on tropical forests and other habitats in Southeast Asia.

Palm oil is commonly used in tropical countries for cooking, especially in Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of South America. Naturally, palm oil is a rich red colour because it contains high levels of beta-carotene, although it is often processed to remove a lot of the colour. Palm oil is found in a lot of processed foods because it is cheap and extremely functional as an oil. However, recently environmentalists have been suggesting that we should try to avoid its use because of the impact of farming practices on tropical forest habitats in Southeast Asia.

Groundnut oil is commonly used in Chinese cookery, and is derived from refining peanuts. Usually, in the West, commercially available peanut oil has been through a rigorous refining process, which removes allergens from the oil. This means that it is usually safe for people with peanut allergies to use. However cold-pressed peanut oil, a less refined alternative, can be potentially dangerous to peanut allergy sufferers.

Pork fat, commonly known as lard, was traditionally used as a cooking fat or alternative to butter in a similar way to beef fat or dripping. Lard is less frequently used today as vegetable oils are usually preferred. However, lard is still used in parts of Europe and favoured by some cooks because of its flavour. It is more likely to be used in baking, especially for pastry, than as a fat for frying. As an animal fat, lard is not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Oilseed rape is a member of the brassica family of plants, which also includes cabbage, broccoli, turnips and mustard. The word ‘rape’ is derived from the Latin for turnip. In the UK, rapeseed oil has become very trendy over recent years, with increasingly large parts of the countryside taken up with growing oilseed rape. Rapeseed oil is often a key ingredient of the generically termed ‘vegetable oil’ in the UK because of its unfortunate name. In North America the oil is usually referred to as ‘canola’, the name deriving from a cultivar of the rapeseed plant.

Rice bran oil is extracted from the husk of rice, and is commonly used in Asian cookery, especially in Chinese and Japanese dishes. Rice bran oil is rich in complex compounds with a good balance of types of fats. The oil has a high smoke point and is often used for deep fat frying and stir frying.

Safflower oil comes from the seeds of the safflower plant, which resembles a thistle with a yellow flower. There are two main types of safflower oil, one that contains mainly monounsaturated fat and one that contains mainly polyunsaturated. The polyunsaturated version is most commonly used for cooking. Despite its long history, dating back at least as far as the ancient Egyptians, the plant and oil are not common although there has been renewed interest in recent years.

Sesame oil is used as a cooking oil and flavour enhancer in Southern India, China, Korea and other parts of Asia, and extracted from sesame seeds. Sesame oil has high levels (40%) of omega-6 fatty acid and can also be a valuable source of vitamin E.

Soybean oil is extracted from the seeds of the soya bean, and accounts for around 80% of all commercial oil used in the US and around a third of all edible oil worldwide. Soybean oil is commonly hydrogenated and used in a variety of processed foods; the hydrogenated oil has much more saturated fat than the un-hydrogenated version. Soybean oil is usually used in baking and in the production of commercial, processed foods.

Sunflower oil is produced by pressing sunflower seeds. Sunflower oil contains a high proportion of polyunsaturated alpha-linoleic acid (Omega-6). It is versatile, with a high burn or smoke temperature and is relatively inexpensive, especially in the West. Commercially, sunflower oil has become more widely used in recent years, especially in the production of potato crisps (chips).