Frying veggies in olive oil-Is it bad for you?

[Jonndadd]

I was just reading where frying vegetables in olive oil is not good because of "free radicals". Any advice or input on this? tx, John

[flipw]

I've always done it

[chefnancy]

You cannot deep fry in olive oil because to get the oil up to the required 350 degrees causes it to break down. I don't know about the free radicals issue, but it tastes rancid when that happens. It is perfectly fine to saute in oil (frying in a small amount of oil in a pan). All Italians would be dead by now if this were a problem because half their cuisine is based in this technique.

[ebro]

I once went to a Taverna in Greece where their gimmick was to deep fry whole chickens in a huge vat of olive oil. You sat and watched while they did it before serving you.

Incidentally, if you are worried about deep frying in olive oilm why not use Canola?

[malibu]

Frying in canola oil turns it into plastic-like material. A better choice is peanut oil or better yet, coconut oil. A little internet research will yield this information.

[annie]

Peanut oil also has a higher "smoke point"....It can get hotter (before beginning to smoke) and cook your food more efficiently without making it oily or greasy.

[chefnancy]

However, many people are allergic to peanuts, and therefore the oil. For them vegetable oil is a better alternative. Even better is not deep-frying at all!! Too fattening.

[Vicky]

Dave is Italian and would probably not make it without his olive oil!!! It adds a lot of flavor to food with a lot of junk than the other oils out there.

Would olive oil Pam be a better solution for doing veggies in?

[Ottawagirl]

I think frying in any oil has some of that "free radicals" business.

Gee, now that I think of it going outside even in the sun...you get more free radicals, lol.
You can't really escape them unless you live in a cave, but then you'd have other issues....like not enough sun...wich miht also cause something to your free radicals...guess you can't win!

I thought coconut oil was bad because of saturated fats? so i hear anyways.
I did not know about frying with oilve oil as i find it too heavy for that.
I use vegetable oil as it is what the asian restaurant whose food i like uses and it works fine.

Also if you BBQ too much you get too many other free radicals in your food supposedly.

If you listen to everyones theories on food, you will end up not eating at all.

[Ottawagirl]

Originally Posted by Vicky

Dave is Italian and would probably not make it without his olive oil!!! It adds a lot of flavor to food with a lot of junk than the other oils out there.

Would olive oil Pam be a better solution for doing veggies in?

I think regular olive oil is better. Pam is full of chemicals that they use to get the oil to come out of the can.

You can always buy a refillable oil sprayer and with those it is cheaper also as you can reuse them for years and refill with any oil, seasoning even salad dressing to spray on stuff!

If you don't want to invest in a "fancy" spray (price of $10-20..bought one on amazon for $10) just get a spray bottle from the grocery store and fill with oil.

[Vicky]

I have one i fill with olive oil and pump to get the pressure up, it works great