What oils do you use and when?

[Michael_in_TX]

With everything still being so ridiculously expensive, I'm starting to take a good hard look at my cooking oils and when I use them. I go through a lot of oil...I pretty much don't use butter unless a recipe explicitly calls for it.

So here is what I have been using:

• California Olive Ranch Global Blend EVOO -- this has been my go-to everyday oil. I like the taste of it, both as a raw oil and even when 'cooked' (i.e. heated beyond its smoke point).
• HEB Avocado Oil -- This is my go-to neutral oil. I typically use it in place of EVOO in Asian dishes or when I truly want a neutral oil. I used to use Chosen's avocado oil, but abandoned that when I couldn't taste the difference and realized how expensive it was.
• HEB Vegetable Oil -- I rarely use this and really only in situations in which I need a great deal of oil....like a large marinade or frying.

Thankfully, as far as EVOO goes, California Olive ranch is decently inexpensive. I could go cheaper, but then you start getting into the olive oil "blends" that might have just a very small fraction of actual EVOO in them. So I probably will stick with the California Olive Ranch brand for EVOO. What I really do need to start looking at is using it less, perhaps using a neutral oil unless I really want the taste factor there.

Avocado oil....it's not cheap, even with HEB's store brand. (And I cringe on the days I buy both EVOO and avocado oil!) Ignoring the price, it is a good all-purpose neutral oil, especially with its really high smoke point, but given the cost, maybe I should look into canola or peanut oil for neutral unless I really need that high smoke point protection.

And HEB vegetable oil (which is basically soybean oil)....you really can't get any cheaper than that. What actually got me thinking about rethinking my oils is I fried those pork schnitzels in vegetable oil awhile back and they were fine. No need at all to use a more expensive oil.

So what are yall using and when?

[58limited]

I use mostly avocado oil. I use peanut oil for deep frying, often with a good dollop of lard added. Olive oil for sauteing onions and such as I build a tomato sauce or when a recipe calls for it. Good olive oil as a finishing/drizzling oil.

[SheilaAnn]

What a great question!

Olive Oil: single country origin from Costco or Grazie brand for sautéing veggies or staring a sauce and making salad dressings. I do have some higher end olive oils for finishing that are mostly gifts.

I do have a bottle of avocado oil (gifted) that will most likely be used for dressings.

Grapeseed oil for high heat cooking when I want more neutral. I do not use canola or vegetable oils.

Peanut oil for deep frying and I just learned I can use grapeseed oil as well (see that fish and chips post I just did).

coconut oil (refined) for popcorn and about a couple teaspoons for finishing a homemade mayo. Because it firms up when chilled, it really give the mayo extra body.

[RonB]

Have you ever tried ghee for popcorn? It's great for a change.

[SheilaAnn]

RonB I have not…. But will soon!

[DavidNorcross]

I use olive oil. No vegetable oils. Butter is it aside from olive oil for me.

[tstalafuse]

Basically, we do the same as you but substitue Costco for HEB. Although, we basically don't do any deep frying so things that are fried get a spritz of oil before going in the air fryer. We probably use more vegetable oil, but that is mostly because we season CI and CS after they get used and cleaned.

[HawkerXP]

Motorcraft 5 W 30 Every 5000 miles.

[Huskee]

How many batches of wings do you get before you have to change it? 5000?

[Michael_in_TX]

I was so waiting for someone to do this.

[texastweeter]

Can't forget kroil

[realdocBBQ]

I use mostly avocado oil for most of my cooking - neutral, high heat, etc. I use it for seasoning my cast iron and my Blackstone because of the high smoke point. Sometimes I use olive oil, if it's a dish I think calls for it, but mostly avocado.

Wife uses whatever cheap generic s*** oil they have at WM. I've tried to start getting away from seed oils - am I a fervent believer that 'seed oils are the debil'? No, but I don't think it's a bad thing to try to avoid them.


Oh, reminds me, I need to order some more wagyu tallow to keep handy. I use that sometimes with BBQ, say, wrapping a brisket (hehehe, yeah, like I can afford that s***) or whatever.

[dpearce]

Same here on the seed oils, which is why I stopped using them a few years back.

[Huskee]

I don't freak out about seed oils like veg or corn (I actually really like corn oil for toasting my tortillas) but I try to avoid because like you say it's not a bad thing to try to avoid them based on what we read from science.

[bbqLuv]

$$$$ avocado oil $$$$, but good stuff.

[Huskee]

Here it's avocado oil for frying and griddling, and olive for certain things like green beans and broccoli. We keep coconut on hand too.

[dpearce]

EVOO (California only, unless I can verify it's pure) for when a recipe specifically calls for it, or if I want those flavors (think pizza). Avocado oil rarely, but it's always on hand, just in case.

Zero Acre for everything else. I make salad dressings, or add it directly on salads with balsamic vinegar and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I use it to make my own mayonnaise and any other recipes that call for vegetable oils. Frying (but it's pricy, so I don't normally do a deep fry). Neutral flavor, high smoke point.

Also been using Irish butter, beef tallow, and bacon fat where possible (mostly when smoking meats). Reminds me, I need to check the dates on the rendered fats I have...

[ssandy_561]

I use olive oil when cooking is not involved, salad dressings, final drizzles, bread dipping. It’s usually Trader Joe’s or Amazon EVOO for us.

I use Avocado oil when I want the taste of what I’m cooking to shine through. Simply seasoned chicken or pork in a pan, fish and seafood, vegetables quickly sautéed. This is usually Trader Joe’s.

I use vegetable oil for everything else. Brownies, cake, waffles, stir fry and fried rice, chili crisp, meat marinades for grilling, heavily seasoned vegetables and potatoes for roasting. This is usually Wesson or Crisco.

I still use butter. Can’t get away from the flavor. I’ll stock up when it’s on sale and freeze it. It holds so well in the freezer.

[cruiseplanner1]

Canola oil for most everything. Even cooking my Asian dishes. For them will put a swirl of Sesame oil in with the Canola. Sesame is too overpowering in my taste. Do purchase restaurant fryer oil in the 35 lb container for my fish deep fryer.

[jfmorris]

My primary oils are:

• Cobram Estates California EVOO - either Classic or Mild.
• Members Mark Pure Avocado Oil
• LouAna Pure Peanut Oil
• Toasted Sesame Oil (for Asian recipes, as a flavoring component)
• Virgin Coconut Oil

The top two (EVOO and Avocado) are the most used. The peanut oil is reserved from deep frying. I use avocado oil for skillet and griddle cooking, and the EVOO in recipes, or as a drizzle on veggies or meat that is going to the grill. The coconut oil is used for making kettle corn in a Whirlypop popcorn maker.

[SheilaAnn]

I can only get LouAna in 5 gallons. And I have no where to store it 😔

[jfmorris]

SheilaAnn that would be a huge bucket of oil, haha. That is what they sell it in at Sam's, in a box, and the reason I got a gallon jug at the grocery store instead, at a higher cost per gallon. I fry once in a blue moon here.

[Pobeque]

Olive oil mostly, avocado for high temp searing, whenever I have some rendered tallow I use that specifically for roasted taters, cheap neutral oil for deep frying, butter for eggs/basting/whatever else

[Mosca]

Avocado oil for anything Southwestern, but I’d substitute canola without noticing. La Tourangelle olive oil was on sale last month; I bought some and really liked it, so I bought a second one. (As an aside, it’s also pretty cheap at Target.) But it’s kinda wasted for cooking, so I bought some store brand olive oil to sauté onions and peppers etc..

For the griddle, it’s canola oil. It’s relatively cheap, and the griddle uses a lot of it.

I’ll go a month without using a stick of butter, then I’ll use a couple sticks in a few days. It all depends, I don’t track it. I’ll use it so quickly that it stays on the counter, then one day I’ll think, “That’s been sitting out a while, I’d better refrigerate it.” Then a few weeks later, I’ll leave it out, thinking that I’ll need it soft for the next day.

I use Wagyu tallow for beef. But a little goes a long way. Sealed, in the fridge, I’ve probably had that can for a couple-three years, and there’s about 40% left.

I bought a couple sticks of lard, I forget why. Used it once. Then I was looking at a recipe that called for lard, and it specified rendered lard and pooh-poohed leaf lard, and I looked and saw that I had leaf lard, and I thought to myself, “You (freaking) bastards,” and I shut the refrigerator and looked at a different recipe for something that didn’t use lard at all.

I don’t deep fry anything, so I don’t use peanut oil. Or any shortening. I got nothing against those, but the last time I bought peanut oil it went rancid before it was even half used, so I didn’t buy it again. I like it, but I don’t chase that nutty taste like I sometimes chase the flowery taste of a good olive oil, even a cooking one.

[texastweeter]

Uh, vegitable or EVOO, other than that, its butter, tallow, bacon grease, chicken schmaltz, bear grease, lard, or duck fat.

[texastweeter]

Oh and ime a Hoppes man myself...

[realdocBBQ]

Hoppe's No. 9 FTMFW

[Oak Smoke]

I’d use Hoppes for cologne. I’m a Break Free CLP man in my old age.