Frying wth olive oil

I use lard to fry things and olive oil in salads and on tomatoes and peppers when I roast them in the oven.

I don't know why we were told to stop using lard, probably when all those lies were told about margarine lowering cholestrol. I now use butter and even use that to pre fry rice for risotto.
in Germany everybody has a cellar so the potatoes are there together with the onions.

Yes, I do.......used to live in Spain and all the Spanish do as well!

It's not about the taste but about the fact that potatoes roasted in a coating of it don't absorb the fat as much as happens if you roast them in vegetable oils. This is because animal fats like goose fat (lard, beef fat, etc) are stable to higher temperatures than vegetable fats.

So the thing that tastes better and has a better texture is the potato. The goose fat is just the ennabler. The taste of goose fat is not the issue.

Overthehill, I am with you on the goose fat,it doesn't taste of anything special like they say.

I also keep my potatoes in the fridge, I was sick of them going soft or chitting and having to throw them away. I have tried the Lakeland bags too but didn't find they helped either. There is nowhere cold enough to keep them in my house sadly so I will stick with the fridge for now.

These days you follow the advice out there but is it always correct?

Lakeland sell a good potato bag made of thick brown cotton, breathable but dark–exactly the conditions spuds need to stop them going green or chitting too soon. You could keep the bag in your fridge or, if you live in a cool climate like me, in your washhouse (posh people call it a utility room, I believe).

I also keep spuds in the fridge, still here to tell the tale so far lol

Bluebelle I think there was a link to an advertisement from a person not previously known on the site.

I have been thoroughly confused about what oil is best for frying - I used to use sunflower oil - have now settled on rapeseed oil and it is fine. At least until I read that it is bad for me and I change again.

Not quite the same but I happily stored potatoes in the fridge
- it meant they lasted longer, but now find out it does something dreadful to them? Oh dear, has that done something dreadful to me?

My diabetic nurse recommended not frying with Olive oil - its perfectly fine cold, but heating changes it to a 'bad fat' apparently. She recommended rapeseed oil.

Which I didn't like.

Then I watched Trust me I'm a Doctor and in their test it turns out that the best was lard !

Back to the old ways then?

I have used olive oil for years now mind you I never deep fry but all my stir fries and eggs etc are cooked in olive oil
Just out of curiosity what is there to report in the thread ?

I use gallons of the stuff, never anything else. I even fry eggs in Olive Oil

I don't like the taste of food cooked in olive oil. I always use groundnut oil.

I thought I'd try goose fat after all the hullabaloo about it.

What a disappointment, couldn't really taste any difference to usual olive oil that I use. Expensive to, as is coconut oil.

I find that any oil burns if used to 'grease' trays etc for baking/roasting - I have gone back to butter/lard/goose fat/coconut oil for this. I now do most of my frying using coconut oil - chips are great and I use it in my Actifry - just melt it before adding the chipped potatoes. Some brands now make a variety of Olive oil specifically for frying in a pan. I often use walnut oil in salad dressings as a change from olive oil .

cherrytree if you're on the mobile site, click on the 3 little red buttons in the bottom right of the post.
Various options then come up, one of which is 'report'.

has been deleated by GN on another thread for olive oil.
Not sure how to report this one

Extra virgin olive oil is the oil which keeps better with high temperatura and it can be used even until 9 times, when it is a variety picual. If you want more information, you can visit www.aceitecsb.es

That's a good link, Anya.

If I have other fats I use them, I'm not fussy, I just really like olive oil. I even make lardy cake on occasion, and Eccles' cakes, with real lard. But peppers and onions and garlic fried in olive oil is a completely different animal from the same ingredients fried in rapeseed oil.

I have been talking about this change in "fashion" with my very aware DIL and as far as we both can see (in Australian and UK) we are being told to go back to the fats of old for cooking. I must admit I have never completely left them although I use olive oil in dressings, etc.

(I think salt is creeping back too).

Olive oil (not virgin) and Rapeseed - I fry with whichever comes to hand! I also use olive oil in bread making.

I use sunflower oil for frying, and in bread dough. Also in some baking, eg biscuits.
I find the flavour of olive oil too strong for those things, but do use it in salad dressings.

Rape seed oil is great for roast potatoes.

this might help

I use it all the time. Certainly agree with the wedged spuds - I have just had them for my dinner! They are slightly sweet. I use it because I prefer the taste, ever since on holiday in Greece as a teenager I discovered that greek chips are nicer than English ones. [ducksswiftly] If it's good enough for the greeks and Spaniards and Italians to fry in, and their diet is better than ours, then why would we not? Baby octopus fried in oil, anyone?

There's some good basic information here. In a nutshell, vegetable oils are less stable at the high temperatures one uses for frying than animal fats. That is the reason cold pressed olive oil is supposed to be better than heat treated oil. Heat destroys some of the benefits of olive oil so frying in it is pointless even if not actually harmful. I only use olive oil for salad dressings and the like. I cook with lard and beef fat and goose fat (not all at once!).

Wedged spuds roasted in proper beef fat are delish.