For many years, various publications have been telling us that you can’t fry with olive oil. Now it has been proven that you can – though not with any, but with some of its types and varieties. We’ll tell you how to choose the right product that’s suitable for frying.
About the product history
Biologists and archaeologists claim that wild olives grew on the planet 10,000–14,000 years ago. About 6,000–7,000 years ago, people mastered the cultivation of olives and established the production and use of olive oil for cooking, as well as for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
It is usually said that the birthplace of oil is Greece and Crete, but in the 20th century, scientists found out that this product was successfully used in more ancient states. Long before the ancient Greeks, the Minoan civilization existed on Crete. It was this civilization that produced and exported olive oil until the Bronze Age Catastrophe.
By the way
Historians and Minoan enthusiasts reconstructed the Mediterranean diet as it existed on Crete around 2700 BCE in 2012. Almost 5,000 years before the healthy eating craze, the Minoans ate a simple, healthy diet consisting of seafood, olives, vegetables, and fruits.
According to many sources, 4,000–5,000 years ago olive oil was known and used throughout Eurasia, and today it is most often associated with Spain, Greece, and Italy. This is understandable:
- Spain is the largest exporter of olive oil in the world;
- Greece is the birthplace of perhaps the most popular variety of “Kalamata”, whose olives are especially large and juicy, and therefore considered the standard;
- Italy – Some experts believe that this country produces the largest number of varieties and types of olives, and it seems that no national culture has done more to popularize them than the Italian one.
Many believe that the expression “to catch an olive” – to get a gunshot wound – came to us from the Italian criminal world. It is easy to believe, judging by the films about the mafia – it seems that their plots cannot do without the presence of olives and olive oil in the frame, as well as espresso, lasagne, cannoli, and tiramisu.
What olive oil can be used for frying without harming health
Of course, butter has its advantages, but many today are convinced that olive oil is much healthier. At least because in addition to vitamins, it has a high content of oleic acid, which helps remove bad cholesterol from the body and fight atherosclerosis.
But until recently, there was an opinion that it is not advisable to fry in olive oil. This idea is correct if you look at the smoke point – indeed when it is exceeded when frying food, the oil begins to burn. Losing its rich tastes, aromas, and useful properties.
Important
The smoke point of unrefined olive oil is +180…+190 °C. The refined product has a higher threshold – about +200…+240 °C.
However, recent studies convincingly prove that temperature, or smoke point, is not the main factor in the possible spoilage of a dish. The frying method is much more important! For example, when frying in a frying pan, direct access to oxygen to the products leads to harmful oxidation – the study emphasizes that olive oil is worse than sunflower oil in this regard.
There is another important fact: when fried at the right temperature, olive oil enriches the dish with various useful substances. For example, it supplements products with carotenoids.
Types of pressing
The way in which the oil is pressed from the olive fruit largely determines whether it can be used for frying.
- Cold pressing method. The fruits are placed under a press and the oil is squeezed out of them. The press heats up a little during operation, but the temperature does not exceed +25…+27 °C. If the resulting product is not further processed thermally, it becomes unrefined cold-pressed oil, suitable for cold dishes and salads. However, it is not suitable for frying.
- Hot pressing method. The fruits are crushed with special shafts and then fried in industrial frying pans at a temperature of +105…+120 °C. After that, the product is squeezed out of the resulting mixture under high pressure, which is then further processed and deodorized. This is refined hot-pressed olive oil, which is suitable for frying.
What olive oil is suitable for frying
The best oil for frying is refined and deodorized oil, that is, oil that has undergone a certain processing. And unrefined oil, which will give an exquisite aroma and a characteristic bitter taste, can be added to the finished dish.
To ensure that the product you choose does not burn and retains its beneficial and flavorful properties, use it based on the already mentioned smoking temperature.
Important
Just in case, let us remind you that the same rules apply to refined and unrefined sunflower oil.
Unrefined olive oil
The unrefined product undergoes minimal processing and is pressed at low temperatures. Therefore, it retains useful substances, a bright aroma, and exquisite taste. However, these same properties make it vulnerable to heating – such oil does not tolerate high temperatures well.
Here are two types of unrefined oil that you will find in the supermarket.
- Unrefined oil of the highest quality – Extra virgin olive oil (international name), Olio di oliva extra vergine (Italian version of the name), Aceite de Oliva Extra Virgin (Spanish version).
- Unrefined oil – Virgin olive oil (international name), Olio di oliva vergine (Italian name), and Aceite de Oliva Virgen (Spanish name).
The first grade, Extra virgin, can be heated to 160°C, so it is usually not suitable for frying or baking, except perhaps in the sous-vide mode. But this oil can be added to a dish that is already cooling down after cooking to complement it with a bright taste and aroma.
The second grade, Virgin, can withstand heat up to +180…+190 °C, which also makes it of little use for standard frying in a frying pan. However, it is suitable for cooking products on coals – the usual frying temperature in such cases is +180…+200 °C.
Unrefined oil is more expensive than refined oil but has a brighter taste and aroma. It is stored for up to two years, and in conditions of bright light or heat, its shelf life is reduced to 6-12 months.
By the way
Extra virgin is obtained by pressing absolutely without adding “chemicals”, and it is called cold-pressed oil – this means that the raw material was heated to no more than +27 °C. The product is 100% olive juice, sometimes diluted with water using a special technology .
Refined olive oil
Refined olive oil is ideal for frying, especially deep-frying. This type of oil is resistant to high temperatures because it undergoes several stages of specific processing during its creation.
True, this processing reduces the content of useful substances. In addition, the refined product has almost no unique aroma that unrefined varieties have. But such oil is stored longer – up to three years.
Here are the varieties you can use for frying:
- Refined olive oil – Olive oil (English name), Olio d’oliva (Italian name), Aceite de Oliva (Spanish name).
- Refined olive oil with the addition of unrefined olive oil – Olive-pomace oil – is essentially a mixture of two varieties.
- Second pressing olive oil, also known as Pomace in the international naming system and Aceite de orujo de oliva in the Spanish version.
- A product marked Refinado on the label is the name given to extra virgin oil that was supposed to be Virgin but for some reason didn’t work out. However, it wasn’t thrown away but turned into a refined product by additional processing.
The varieties described tolerate higher temperatures: +200…+240 °C. Thus, the smoke point of the Pomace variety is +238 °C. When choosing a product for frying, look for the smoke point of this variety on the label.
Interesting fact
Olives are harvested in October-December, regardless of their degree of ripeness. This ensures that the harvest retains the optimal combination of vitamins and oils. Although ripe olives contain more oil, they contain fewer vitamins, which is why producers consider them to be of lower quality.
What oil should not be used for frying?
From all of the above, it is clear that you should not fry in unrefined olive oil. Vitamins A, E, D, K, carotene and many other compounds at temperatures above the smoke point begin to burn and enter into chemical reactions that lead to the formation of carcinogens.
Of course, if you fry food in Extra virgin olive oil once due to the lack of refined olive or sunflower oil
, nothing bad will happen. But you may not like the result – the dish may noticeably change its taste.
If you have a choice, you should avoid frying with olive oil that:
- is distinguished by a distinct color ranging from golden yellow to dark green – refined oils, which can be used for frying food, have a pale golden color;
- packed in transparent or light-colored containers – light and air trigger oxidation processes and age the product faster, making it tasteless or even harmful;
- does not have a harvest date indicated on the label or, judging by the indicated expiration date, is older than two years;
- It has clearly been open for a long time – remember that the shelf life of an unopened bottle or jar of olive oil is reduced by two to four times.
There is also an opinion that if unrefined olive oil has frozen, for example, during transportation, it cannot be used. The fact is that at a temperature of +3…+4 °C the oil thickens because fats and natural wax from olive fruits freeze in it. They turn into needle-shaped crystals, flakes, or cubes – the specific form depends on the type of olives.
However, such cooling, as well as the white sediment at the bottom of the bottle, does not affect the properties of unrefined olive oil in any way – it can be defrosted naturally and used for food.
It is worth remembering other oils that are not suitable for frying. These are vegetable oils with a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids – corn, soybean, and rapeseed. When heated, they change their structure, and toxic substances can form in them. In addition, they significantly change their taste, so it is better to add them to already cooked and cold dishes.
What can be done?
Use aromatic unrefined oils as soon as possible after opening the package – like natural coffee, they can quickly lose their taste and aroma.
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