Cooking oil: Edible oil for cooking

Cooking oil is edible oil that may be used for cooking. Cooking oils are used for pan and deep frying and in package mixes or wherever a clear, liquid oil has application without refrigeration.

Cooking oils typically are liquid at room temperature, including olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, walnut oil, and other nut oils.

Cooking oils may solidify at refrigerator. Cooking oils are defined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as follows: Edible vegetable oils are foods that are obtained only from vegetable sources.

Virgin oils are obtained, without altering the nature of the oil, by mechanical procedures, (e.g. expelling or pressing), and the application of heat only. They may have been purified by washing with water, settling, filtering and centrifuging only.

Cold pressed oils are obtained, without altering the oil, by mechanical procedures only, (e,g expelling or pressing), without the application of heat. Cooking oils are used for frying snack foods and other products with a short shelf life.

Almost all cooking oils or cooking fats, such as butter, contain some mixture of three types of fatty acids: polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated. Each has certain advantages.

Smoke point is defined as the temperature at which cooking oil begins to break down and starts deteriorating. The oil smokes and gives food an unpleasant taste. A high smoke point is a critical condition for the best use of oil in frying. The smoke point of a good extravirgin olive oil is 210 °C (410 °F).

The best oils to cook with in baking recipes, stir-fries, and sautés are the monounsaturated oils and coconut oil. While olive oil and canola oil are by far the most popular monounsaturated oils, macadamia nut and coconut oils are superior to cook with because of their lower level of polyunsaturated oil.
Cooking oil: Edible oil for cooking