Advice: Which cooking oil should I use for my children?

ngando

New Member
Hi,

I am expecting my second child this September and I am really worried about the increasingly unhealthy food offered in Singapore. Thus, I am thinking of cooking home instead. Any advice on what oil to use?

Came across this website but am not sure about the credibility of it.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/RiceBranOil.htm

Please let me know what cooking oil you use and why you use it?

Thanks!
 


I use non roasted sesame oil as it contains calcium and it can withstand high heat. Rice bran oil is not bad too. I add a little bit of roasted sesame oil to porridge for flavour. Most importantly, try to avoid deep frying food. Steaming is the best, next is stir fry or sautéing. Hope it helps.
 
The type of oil should depends on what and how you are cooking.

For cooking, I use olive oil for western cuisines and sunflower/sesame oil for asian cuisines.

Olive oil has a taste, and I find that it changes the taste of asian spices and condiments. I will only use extra virgin for salads dressing, as cooking (heat) destroy the antioxidants called polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil.

Sesame oil is not suited for high heat cooking as it smokes (low boiling point) and becomes bitter.
Generally I cook iwth sunflower oil and add sesame oil for fragrance just before switching off the heat and plating.

Contrary to common beliefs, deep frying is actually healthier than stir frying, as long as it is fried with healthier choice of oil (sunflower, pure palm oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil). The oil has to be properly drain off the fried food and also what are you frying?

When you stir fry or sauteing, the amount of oil that you cook with stays in the food and you actually consumed the oil with the food/gravy.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
 
Pls refer to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_oil. Under uses, you can find the info below:

"Light sesame oil has a high smoke point and is suitable for deep-frying, while dark sesame oil (from roasted sesame seeds) has a slightly lower smoke point and is unsuitable for deep-frying. Instead it can be used for the stir frying of meats or vegetables, or for the making of an omelette. East Asian cuisines often use roasted sesame oil for seasoning."

Just to share, I hv been using light sesame oil for stir fry and high heat cooking for a long time. It doesn't leave a bitter taste like what roasted sesame seed oil does as it is already roasted before the oil is extracted from the seeds. It doesn't leave any taste on the food too. Occasionally, I use roasted sesame oil to cook omelette as it makes it more tasty. Roasted sesame oil makes a very good seasoning oil.

As for deep frying, coconut oil is the best as it has a very high smoke point so the oil doesn't oxidize due to the high heat. I am speaking from experience as I hv tried it, however, some people may not like the coconut taste that is in the food. The next best choice would be rice bran oil (tried and tested). For deep frying. look for oils that has very high smoke point. Ngando, you can read more on Internet and compare the oils. Coconut oil has a lot benefits to our health, you can read more in the Internet to educate yrself. You can also add tiny amounts of coconut oil to oat cereal, if you like coconut taste. Most of all, try cooking with different oils and you will find a few favourites.

If you want to know more abt oils, you can search on Udo Erasmus. I learnt more on usage of oils through reading his book. Deep fried food is best avoided for good health, which I agree with Udo Erasmus.
 
I would say for cooking is grape seed oil.

but for salad and stuff - olive oil
happy.gif
 
Hi,

I am expecting my second child this September and I am really worried about the increasingly unhealthy food offered in Singapore. Thus, I am thinking of cooking home instead. Any advice on what oil to use?

Came across this website but am not sure about the credibility of it.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/RiceBranOil.htm

Please let me know what cooking oil you use and why you use it?

Thanks!

I think it is important for us to treat each cooking oil as a tool just like we would when we are using technology to improve our productivity - each one has its advantage and disadvantage.

My take is: use different cooking oils for different purposes.

My suggestion is to use extra virgin olive oil to fry vegetables, eggs or other meals that required low to medium temperature frying so that we could reap the benefits of both ingredients used in preparing the meals.

And use other cooking oils for high temperature frying - anyway we should try to avoid deep- frying food as generally it may not be good to our health though deep frying may give out good taste.

Extra virgin olive oil is a major part of the Mediterranean diet, which has been proven health-enhancing and heart-healthy because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidants. It is cold extracted and no chemical and heat are used to extract the oil. In the west, they call it "olive juice". Good quality extra virgin olive oil is non greasy.

Rice Bran Oil is a healthy oil too, and has a higher smoke point. Good for deep frying, i.e. high-temperature cooking/frying. But use it with care. Explanation is below.

It has Vitamin E more than extra virgin olive oil. Both have the antioxidants needed by our body. The health benefits are very much similar to extra virgin olive oil.

However, Rice Bran Oil has high polyunsaturated fatty acid, about 35% versus the polyunsaturated fatty acid in extra virgin olive oil which is only about 11%.

Polyunsaturated fat consists of omega-3 and omega-6. Too much of omega-6 is not good to our health - it is pro-inflammatory, especially if we are taking meat at the same time, this will increase the intake of omega-6 in our body and hence causing problems. Whereas omega-3 is anti-inflammatory.

The best ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is 1:1 but 1:5 or in between is considered good or balanced, and in US, it is 1:10 according to studies.

The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 in Rice Bran Oil is 1:35 because it virtually does not have omega-3 in it. Whereas the ratio for extra virgin olive oil is about 1:10.

Moreover, Rice Bran Oil is not cold extracted being a seed oil. Hence, chemical refining and high heat are involved in the extraction process where good nutrients are likely lost. Being a seed oil, we also have to be careful that it is not a genetic modified seed, like canola oil. For reading http://draxe.com/canola-oil-gm/

Extra virgin olive oil has one advantage that other cooking oils do not normally enjoy, besides its health-enhancing and heart healthy benefits, and that is, it has aroma and flavour that could enhance our meals.

For reading about Rice Bran Oil, here is one article you may refer to http://preventdisease.com/news/13/0...sadvantage-Outweighs-All-Its-Advantages.shtml

To read more about the health-benefits of extra virgin olive oil, you can refer to http://onlyoliveoil.vas.com.sg/health

To read more about the use of extra virgin olive oil: http://onlyoliveoil.vas.com.sg/use/
 
I am using olive oil currently. Personally feel that olive oil is healthier compare to other oils that i had used previously.
 
omega.jpg omega.jpg smokepoint.jpg How to choose cooking oil

Nowadays we are consuming too much omega 6 vs Omega 3. omega 6 can cause inflammation. what we need more is omega 3 over omega 6. hence this is one consideration when we choose oil

2nd consideration is the smoke point. some oil become rancid when they exceed smoke point. for Chinese we like to fry at high heat and hence the oil have to have high smoke point.
 

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