For those of us who are seasoned cooks, we probably have our favourite type of cooking oil or know which type to use for different applications. However many of us may not realize the different uses and characteristics of the five different oils ILIOS offers: Olive oil, Grapeseed oil, Sunflower oil, Vegetable oil and Canola oil. We are here to help you understand a little bit more about all the different oils in the ILIOS family.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or EVOO, is extremely popular in Mediterranean cuisine and is enjoyed both as a cooking oil and can be used cold (or room temperature) in a salad dressing, to dip bread, as a marinade, etc...
EVOO, as opposed to refined Olive Oil, has a lower smoke point that makes it less favourable to use in high heat cooking such as deep frying. If EVOO is heated above 410–421 °F, it will burn and its taste will deteriorate. It can be used for sautéing since this type of cooking rarely reached above 350 °F.
Spain produces almost half of the world's olive oil. (including our ILIOS EVOO!) The taste of the oil varies greatly between different EVOOs and can be affected by the ripeness of the olives when they are harvested, how and what the oil is being served with and how old it is.
Check out this article to see how you can use ILIOS EVOO to pamper and spoil yourself outside of the kitchen:
Grapeseed Oil
Grapeseed Oil is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids and contains a variety of disease-fighting compounds and antioxidants. It is also high in Vitamin E which means it is great for your skin and hair and can be used as a natural moisturizer.
Grapeseed oil has a pretty high smoke point and is often advertised as a good choice for frying but because of the high polyunsaturated fat content, Grapeseed Oil is probably the worst oil you can use for high temperature cooking. At high heats, these fats react poorly with oxygen and can form harmful compounds and free radicals.
Grapeseed oil is best used in salad dressings, as an ingredient in different food staples like mayo, in baking, or as part of your beauty regimen.
Sunflower Oil
Sunflower oil has many health benefits because it is low in saturated fat and high in two types of fatty acids: polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids.
There are a few different types of sunflower oil you can choose from. It can be high in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, or it can be high in linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, or it can be somewhere in between. ILIOS Sunflower oil is a high oleic oil which is more stable for cooking.
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable Oil is an oil that can be made from the seeds of many different types of vegetables and rarely has an identical composition from one batch to another. The manufacturers use whichever seeds are available at the time of production. ILIOS Vegetable Oil is made with canola and/or soybean oil.
Vegetable Oil is refined and processed to remove colour and taste in order to keep the product as consistent as possible one batch to the next. Although it does contain healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, the quantities vary depending on what oils have been included in the blend so you won’t have as much control over the types of fats you’re eating.
Vegetable Oil has a high smoke point (450 °F), is inexpensive and has a neutral taste, making it the popular choice for commercial cooking.
Canola Oil
Canola Oil comes from the seeds of the canola plant, one of the most widely grown crops in Canada. It contains a good amount of monounsaturated fats and a decent amount of polyunsaturated fats. It has a high smoke point so can be used for frying but it is pretty highly processed which means it is void of most nutrients.
Canola Oil can pretty much be used interchangeably with Vegetable Oil. It too has a neutral taste making it a popular choice in commercial kitchens.