Bakken en braden in olijfolie! - TheOliveLabel.shop

Baking and frying in olive oil!


A question we are often asked is, can you bake and fry with olive oil? If you don't feel like reading this whole story, our short answer is: yes! A lot and often! Very healthy! But only with extra virgin olive oil!

People regularly come up to me and say; "I don't know much about olive oil but one thing I do know, you shouldn't bake or fry with olive oil! Right?" Sorry, but nothing could be further from the truth. In this blog, I will explain, and support with scientific studies, why you should indeed bake and fry with good extra virgin olive oil.

Is cooking with extra virgin olive oil healthy? Science tells us.

Most Dutch people, as a collective, are convinced that you shouldn't bake and fry with extra virgin olive oil. But, if you ask if olive oil is used for baking and frying in Spain, Greece, or Italy, everyone says yes, of course! So where does the collective idea come from that you shouldn't bake and fry with olive oil? It's a mystery. Even the Dutch Nutrition Centre has unthinkingly adopted this misconception, while science has been demonstrating for years that extra virgin olive oil is the most stable, safe, and healthy oil to bake and fry with.

Among others, this Australian study shows that extra virgin olive oil is the safest and healthiest oil for baking and frying. Even with longer heating, extra virgin olive oil remains healthy (read here) and here is a study that shows that even after 6 hours at 180 °C, olive oil is the safest, healthiest oil. But always use a premium extra virgin olive oil and nothing of lesser quality.

A premium extra virgin olive oil belongs in every kitchen and is versatile for cold and hot dishes. If you are going to bake and fry at temperatures of 180 – 220 °C, it is important to know which olive oil is best to use and how hot you can let it get. If you want to know more, then read on. Welcome to the world of olive oil!

Keuringsdienst van Waarde. Viewing tip!

The Keuringsdienst van Waarde also wanted to know about the story that you shouldn't bake and fry with extra virgin olive oil. That's great for The Olive Label, then you also hear it from someone else! 

Flessen olijfolie op tafel bij presentator keuringsdienst van waarde

Baking and Frying with Olive Oil

Baking and frying with extra virgin olive oil? Isn't that just for salads? Certainly, but a good home cook doesn't just use extra virgin olive oil in salads. It's no coincidence that you see all those TV chefs drizzling extra virgin olive oil over everything, including in pots and pans on the stove and in the oven. Look at Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, for example. Both British celebrity chefs with dozens of restaurants and just as many Michelin stars. All good extra virgin olive oil is suitable for cold and hot use!

Almost every dish tastes better when you use good extra virgin olive oil! And it doesn't have to be limited to Mediterranean cuisine or dishes from your new Jamie Oliver or Ottolenghi cookbook. Even our perfectly normal, slightly boring, Dutch boiled vegetables, like green beans, cauliflower, and broccoli, but also boiled potatoes for example, instantly get more flavor by drizzling some delicious extra virgin olive oil over them. Much healthier than gravy and you immediately enjoy more flavor. Sunshine on your plate!

But don't use olive oil from the supermarket. It's almost never good and probably unhealthy! We explain why in this blog: "Good Olive Oil from the Supermarket". Also, never use the 'olive oil' in plastic, transparent bottles, whether or not it's supposedly suitable for hot use! That's refined oil, which is almost always made from rotten and pest-infested olives (see the Keuringsdienst van Waarde video). The sludge that remains after pressing has to be heated, chemically cleaned, chemically decolorized, and then colored and diluted with a few percent real olive oil so that the producer can put 'olive oil' on the label. You don't want to eat that! See below for more.

What is baking and frying?

Baking and frying is often used as an all-encompassing term for what happens in pots, pans, the oven, and the deep fryer. In this blog, baking and frying refers to the specific temperature that usually starts at 190+ °C and then drops to 140-160 °C. This means baking and frying starts at a higher temperature than, for example, deep frying. Deep frying is best done at a maximum of 175-180 °C.

The right temperature is important because the best properties of many foods, such as meat, emerge when they are cooked at the right temperature. Above 190 °C, your fries will burn, but a steak needs 190 °C to brown nicely. And that outer layer is important.

When food is cooked at the right temperature, the sugars on the outside caramelize and the natural proteins turn into a thin skin that protects the food from absorbing the oil. It is therefore important to start at the right temperature. Not too low, because the fries will soak up the oil, and not too hot, because the outside will burn before the inside reaches the right temperature.

When baking and frying in olive oil or fat, it is advisable to use an oil or fat that can withstand at least 190 °C, and preferably a little higher, so that you have some margin and it doesn't immediately start smoking and becoming toxic if you're not paying attention for a moment.

Frying meat in olive oil

You can rub meat and fish with good olive oil before placing them in a hot pan. This is called searing.

How does this technique work?

  1. Rub meat with olive oil
    You apply a thin layer of oil directly to the meat. This ensures that:
    1. the meat does not stick to the pan;
    2. herbs and salt adhere well;
    3. the outside browns more evenly.
  2. Hot surface + short time
    Then you place the meat in a very hot pan, which causes:
    1. the outside to quickly sear (Maillard reaction);
    2. an aromatic brown crust to form;
    3. the meat to remain juicy on the inside.

Why not oil in the pan?

That can be done, of course, but oil directly on the meat provides:

  1. better contact between oil and the meat's surface;
  2. less splatter;
  3. often more even browning.

Different types of olive oil

For baking and frying in olive oil, you therefore need the right olive oil that can withstand 190+ °C. Good extra virgin olive oil contains components that protect the olive oil from burning. If you use the wrong olive oil, such as the cheap one from the supermarket, you run the risk of it becoming very unhealthy very quickly. Here's a link to our blog about good olive oil from the supermarket (spoiler alert; it doesn't exist!).

Roughly speaking, olive oil can be distinguished into 3 types: extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and refined olive oil. Refined olive oil can be made from lampante olive oil or pomace olive oil. Both are not suitable for consumption, but through heating, chemical artistry, and a few percent of extra virgin olive oil added, it can still be sold as olive oil. Bizarre but true. More about refined olive oil will be discussed below.

The only olive oil you should use in the kitchen and on the table is extra virgin olive oil! According to several scientific studies (see references), baking and frying in extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest of all fats and oils.

Extra virgin olive oil is made from the right type of olives processed in the right way. It is not the cheapest olive oil and, with the exception that proves the rule, not available in supermarkets.

By the way, "extra vierge" is the same as "extra virgin", "extra vergine", and "Vergin extra". Extra vierge is French, extra virgin is English, extra vergine is Italian, and vergin extra is Spanish. Since 'extra virgin' (literally translated) doesn't sound very appealing, we borrow the terms from abroad. Most people in the Netherlands prefer the French variant; extra vierge. But the English variant; extra virgin, is also becoming more common.

Virgin olive oil, meaning without "extra", is olive oil of slightly lower quality that does not meet the legal requirements set by the EU for Extra virgin olive oil. "Extra virgin" may have a maximum acidity of 0.8%, while "virgin" olive oil may have a maximum acidity of 3%. Acidity is the amount of acidic, and thus bad, oil that an olive oil may contain. So Extra means extra good.

Actually, you could perfectly well bake and fry in good virgin olive oil (i.e., without the extra), but it's not available in the Netherlands. In 99% of cases, virgin olive oil is oil that is not actually suitable for consumption but has been so chemically processed and manipulated that it just meets the European standard. Just like sunflower oil. Real sunflower oil, which you might buy from a farmer in France, is delicious! What we can buy in supermarkets in the Netherlands has nothing to do with that. The Keuringsdienst van Waarde made an excellent broadcast about this. Click here to watch the episode.

Stability when baking and frying in olive oil

As mentioned, the temperature of the oil (or fat) is very important when baking and frying. If your oil is too cold, whatever is in your pan will not get a crust and will soak up oil, which doesn't taste good. If the oil is too hot, your food and oil will burn. That's not tasty and very unhealthy.

The smoke point is often used to indicate when the oil burns, but a 2018 study showed that for all oils, it has more to do with oxidative stability and UV coefficients, in combination with the total polyunsaturated fat content. Click here for an article on why the smoke point is not a good indicator for determining whether an oil remains stable when heated.

The quality of the oil determines the maximum temperature

What it comes down to is that the quality of the oil determines the maximum temperature the oil can withstand before it oxidizes and becomes unhealthy. The quality of olive oil can vary greatly, and unfortunately, the maximum temperature is often not stated on the label. Since burning oil and fat is very unhealthy, this information should be on the label. This is an issue that we (The Olive Label and Marije Passos) want to bring to the attention of the European Commission. Some olive oils already burn at 160 °C, while others only burn above 230 °C, or even higher. For olive oil, this depends on the olives used, the processing method, and for example, the freshness of the olive oil. Although most high-quality extra virgin olive oils can be used for baking and frying up to a maximum of 220 °C, not every olive oil is suitable for 220 °C. 

Olive oil too hot

When oil gets too hot, it burns. The heat changes the chemical composition of the oil, which is very unhealthy. This applies to all oils and butter, not just olive oil. Olive oil is a vegetable fat that mainly contains oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid with a single double organic bond. These fatty acids are very healthy, but when they get too hot, they decompose and form free radicals, which are precisely very unhealthy. These radicals react quickly and form incomplete combustion products such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). There is clear scientific evidence that these PAHs are harmful to health. They are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, and can lead to cancer (see studies in the references).

In industrial kitchens, the percentage of PAHs remaining in frying oil after repeated use is tested to determine when an oil is no longer safe for human consumption. International legislation in countries including France, Italy, Poland, and Spain sets a limit of no more than 25% PAH in frying oils. Repeatedly heating and reusing olive oil, even without burning it, can therefore be very unhealthy.

Olive oil suitable for baking and frying

Which olive oil is suitable for baking and frying? Very simply: all premium quality extra virgin olive oil, pressed from olive varieties with a high content of polyphenols (antioxidants). Especially if you harvest the olives early, process them correctly, package them well in airtight and light-proof packaging, and store them in a cool, dark place, then you have an extra virgin olive oil with a high content of polyphenols that guarantee stable organic compounds and a low acidity and oxidation rate.

Such an extra virgin olive oil can withstand temperatures of approximately 210–220 °C without developing PAHs and becoming toxic. It is excellent for baking and frying, and studies (see references) repeatedly show that this is much healthier than butter or any other type of fat or oil. However, this premium extra virgin olive oil is not available in supermarkets (with exceptions), and if it is available in supermarkets, you often don't know which one is good quality and which isn't.

But of course, it is available at The Olive Label.shop. All our extra virgin olive oil is of absolute top quality and certainly suitable for baking and frying. Because it is not economical to use the somewhat more expensive extra virgin olive oil as oil for baking and frying, we regularly make a selection of more affordable extra virgin olive oil, usually in larger packaging such as a 2-, 3- or 5-liter bag-in-box.

The Portuguese brand Caixeiro is used by many chefs in restaurants. That's the best reference you can get. Although we received a message from a family that their children believe the potatoes fried in Portuguese Caixeiro were the tastiest potatoes they had ever eaten! Perhaps an even better reference than that of the great chefs.

Olive oil not suitable for baking and frying

Not all olive oil is the same. Below are three different types of extra virgin olive oil that burn too quickly to be suitable for baking and frying: 

  • Moderate quality extra virgin olive oil made from olives with a low polyphenol content. These are the "extra virgin" olive oil bottles you can find in the supermarket (with exceptions). Made from bulk olive oil for a competitive price. There's a high chance that this olive oil is already oxidizing to some extent. At high temperatures, it will most likely oxidize even faster, for example, already at 160 – 170 °C, and is therefore not suitable for baking and frying at higher temperatures. This olive oil is difficult to recognize because producers naturally do their best to sell even poor olive oil in attractive bottles. 
  • Unfiltered extra virgin olive oil. A beautiful, super healthy olive oil but only for cold applications and relatively perishable. In Italy, the true "novello" is mainly available between November and April. Due to the small pieces of olives, pits, and other impurities, good unfiltered extra virgin olive oil is very healthy but totally unsuitable for heating to the high temperatures required for baking and frying. The small pieces will burn, and that is not healthy. 
  • Then there's the extra virgin olive oil that is too old or has been stored for too long or incorrectly. Over time and/or under the influence of light, air, and heat, the polyphenols and other antioxidants that protect extra virgin olive oil against oxidation will decrease. Then the organic compounds break down (faster) and the olive oil becomes an oxidant.  More on that below.

Supermarket olive oil

Did I mention that it's better not to buy extra virgin olive oil from the supermarket? That's because the vast majority of 'extra virgin' olive oil in supermarkets is of mediocre quality and sometimes even simply bad and unhealthy. They are not suitable for baking and frying and don't taste good. In fact, there's no reason to buy olive oil from the supermarket because the taste, with the odd exception that proves the rule, is often rancid, greasy, bland, and downright disgusting. Olive oil sommelier Wilma van Grinsven-Padberg said in 2019: "good olive oil doesn't exist in the supermarket. Only less bad." More about supermarket olive oil in this blog. 

Click here for the Keuringsdienst van Waarde olive oil test

Storing olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is not wine. Olive oil does not improve with long storage. You also shouldn't save olive oil for a special occasion. Every day is special, and the fresher the extra virgin olive oil, the better.

Extra virgin olive oil is a natural product and therefore susceptible to spoilage. When extra virgin olive oil comes into contact with oxygen, it oxidizes. When this happens, the polyphenols oxidize first, which means the fatty acids in the extra virgin olive oil are no longer protected. So, as soon as the bottle is opened, the oxygen will react with the extra virgin olive oil and degrade its quality.

Premium quality extra virgin olive oil is almost always sold in dark bottles or in bag-in-box packaging. Both ensure that (UV) light cannot reach the extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil also cannot tolerate light well. An extra virgin olive oil in a transparent bottle, stored in daylight, will quickly lose its healthy profile and can even spoil within a few weeks. Place such a transparent bottle in a kitchen window in the sun, and your extra virgin olive oil may no longer be edible after just one week. It will turn slightly orange and taste rancid. This is because light will activate the chlorophyll in extra virgin olive oil, and that destroys a large number of the health aspects of extra virgin olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil also does not tolerate heat well. So, it's better not to place a bottle or bag-in-box near a heat source like the stove or next to the radiator. Also, make sure your bottle or bag-in-box is not in direct sunlight! Then you can keep your extra virgin olive oil good for a long(er) time.

Because extra virgin olive oil is a natural product susceptible to spoilage, it is wise to keep smelling and tasting your extra virgin olive oil. The moment your oil starts to smell a bit bland and musty, or tastes a bit greasy and rancid, the oil is no longer good. Not only is the oil no longer tasty, but it is also now unhealthy. It has become an oxidant for your body.

How long can you store extra virgin olive oil?

Provided it is stored in a cool (12 – 20 °C) and dark place, we generally advise the following for premium quality extra virgin olive oil:

  • To use well before the date stated on the bottle, the "best before" date. For premium extra virgin olive oil, it has been agreed in Europe that the best before date is 18 months after bottling. 
  • Bottle: preferably use within 3 – 4 months after opening. This also depends on when the bottle was opened, in relation to the best before date. The fresher, the better and the longer it can be used. The closer to the best before date, the sooner it should be used (smell and taste).
  • Bag in Box: preferably use within 6 – 10 months after opening. This also depends on when the bag in box was opened, in relation to the best before date. The closer to the best before date, the sooner it should be used (smell and taste).

Storing extra virgin olive oil in the refrigerator?

Can you store olive oil in the refrigerator? Yes, but with a caveat. The cold will preserve the quality longer and extend its shelf life, but it can affect the taste. A study (this one) shows that the polyphenol content in extra virgin olive oil decreases less over time if the oil is stored in the refrigerator (about 4 °C). At this low temperature, extra virgin olive oil will solidify somewhat. This is not a problem in itself, and your olive oil will last longer, but the cold and solidification can affect the taste. By the way, the olive oil will quickly become clear again at room temperature.

Refined olive oil

In the supermarket, you see a lot of olive oil in transparent, often plastic, bottles. The labels contain completely nonsensical terms like traditional olive oil, blend olive oil, classico, classico original, gentle, mild, light, robusto, cucina delicata, etc. All marketing and total nonsense. That is refined olive oil. It is said that the smoke point of refined oil is higher (about 230 °C) and therefore this refined oil is suitable for baking and frying. Maybe that's true, but refined oil is already an oxidant for your body and, in our opinion, is not suitable for consumption at all! Here's why.

Refined olive oil is made from lampante olive oil and/or pomace olive oil. Lampante oil is made from olives that should not be used for extra virgin olive oil. These are olives from a bad harvest, that have been left too long, affected by mold, bacteria, pests, etc. Or they are overripe, or even rotten olives that were on the ground. In the past, these olives were pressed to use the oil as lamp oil. Hence the name lampante.

Pomace oil is made from the pulp remaining after pressing extra virgin olive oil. The pulp is bought by a chemical company, which will chemically extract the last bit of oil still in the olive pulp using solvents like hexane.

The brown sludge you get from pressed rotten olives and the pomace oil are both unfit for consumption! Watch the video from Keuringsdienst van Waarde. Click here to watch, scroll to 17 minutes.

This brown sludge is first heated to kill all bacteria, pathogens, and other critters, then, with chemical wizardry, the acidity is lowered, the foul smell is removed, and all color is stripped away. What remains is a pale, odorless, tasteless, greasy oil. This has nothing to do with olive oil. All the benefits of olive oil, if there were any in this sludge, have been destroyed. But the manufacturer is not yet allowed to label it 'olive oil'. For that, at least 5% real olive oil must be added. Then 'olive oil' can be put on the bottle, and the manufacturer puts "Classico" or "Mild" on the label. Scandalous and rather bizarre, but it is possible and allowed.

But it's even crazier, refined olive oil is often more expensive than extra virgin olive oil nowadays. Bizarre.

Incidentally, most, or almost all, oils you find in the supermarket are refined. Have you ever tasted real fresh sunflower oil? For example, in France? Compare that to the sunflower oil you can buy in the supermarket. The real one is a beautiful, fresh, crisp, nutty oil. Delicious over your salad.

Not the one from the supermarket. Try tasting it pure. Really just a tiny bit! It's nothing like real sunflower oil. And the same goes for rapeseed oil, rice bran oil, grapeseed oil, etc. These are heavily chemically processed during production to make them suitable for consumption.

All refined oil is unhealthy! While extra virgin olive oil consists mainly of monounsaturated fatty acids and is protected by a high content of polyphenols (antioxidants), refined oil contains many more polyunsaturated fats and no antioxidants. For this reason alone, refined oil is more susceptible to oxidation than extra virgin olive oil. These chemical treatments ensure that refined oil already has excessively high levels of oxidation even before it goes into the bottle, and thus the organic compounds easily break down when heated. Even if you don't burn the oil and the smoke point is quite high, it is already unhealthy for you before it even goes into the pan. For more on this topic, see references under point 6.

Fraud

And then there's another 'but'. There's a lot of fraud, poor quality, and little control. Especially with all olive oil that isn't extra virgin, like refined olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil must meet strict EU regulations, and the farmers and production of extra virgin olive oil are under strict (EU) supervision. Even the criminals who try to sell their shoddy oil as extra virgin olive oil do their best to make it somewhat comply with European legal standards. Olive oil subject to less stringent rules and less control is more susceptible to fraud.

Refined oil is already bad oil, so there is less control over its production and quality. Producers can mix and blend to their heart's content. It is not inconceivable that you are buying olive oil that is actually not suitable for consumption.

Deep frying in olive oil

Deep frying in extra virgin olive oil is actually very good! The ideal frying temperature is between 180 and a maximum of 190 °C, and most good extra virgin olive oils can handle that very well. Click here for an article that scientific research repeatedly shows that the (re)use of extra virgin olive oil is the safest and healthiest fat for baking, roasting, and frying.

Studies, such as those from the University of Granada and discussed here in the Olive Oil Times, show that frying vegetables in good extra virgin olive oil is even healthier than boiling them!

And it's much tastier. Precisely in Michelin-starred restaurants, finer dishes are often fried in a pan with good extra virgin olive oil. If you do this at home, make sure you have a kitchen thermometer handy (for example, found here), so you know the temperature.

A number of our customers know that deep frying in sunflower oil, refined olive oil, or any other oil offered in the supermarket for deep frying, is super unhealthy. They prefer to fill their deep fryer with 3.5 liters of extra virgin olive oil. It costs only a little more, but you are sure to get much, much healthier fries.

How often can you reuse extra virgin olive oil in your deep fryer? Research shows that the better the quality of the extra virgin olive oil, the more often you can heat it. This is because the polyphenols, tocopherols, and other antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil protect the fatty acids from oxidation. The article already cited above (click here) goes into more detail.

While reuse for frying will eventually reduce the number of polyphenols and antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil, it will only partially affect the extremely important, anti-inflammatory substance found only in extra virgin olive oil, namely oleocanthal.

Oleocanthal is one of the most interesting phenolic components of extra virgin olive oil. Its impact on health is the subject of much ongoing research. These studies show evidence of very significant effects, from anti-cancer properties to the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.

Even with prolonged heating at very high temperatures, such as 240 °C (464 °F) in a laboratory experiment, oleocanthal only partially degrades its biological activity.

The small remnants in frying oil

Although extra virgin olive oil still contains important antioxidants even after being heated multiple times, making it the healthiest option for baking, roasting, and deep-frying, it is wise to be careful when reusing all frying oils and fats. It is particularly the repeated heating of the small food remnants left in the oil that poses a health risk. These small remnants will soak up oil after cooling and then burn each time they are reheated.

The repeated burning of these small food remnants makes it unhealthy because it increases the percentage of PAHs each time. The best thing would be to filter these small food pieces out of the frying oil as carefully as possible each time. You can buy special fat filters for this.

In short, frying in fresh extra virgin olive oil is much healthier than in any other oil or fat. Reusing extra virgin olive oil in your deep fryer is perfectly fine, but make sure the oil doesn't get too contaminated with remnants. These small pieces are partly why frying oil becomes unhealthy. And after about 8 to 10 uses, it loses its effectiveness.

Conclusion

Extra virgin olive oil is your great friend in the kitchen and the darling of all great chefs. Use extra virgin olive oil liberally in a wide range of cold and hot dishes! From breakfast to desserts (try olive oil in your yogurt and over your vanilla ice cream) and from salad to baking and roasting.

But always do a little research yourself. As a rule, good quality extra virgin olive oil is a stable oil that does not oxidize quickly at higher temperatures. But know that not all olive oil is created equal and not all olive oil can withstand high temperatures. Always use fresh, premium quality extra virgin olive oil and be aware that you cannot trust cheap olive oil. Even if it's in a beautiful bottle with all Italian terms on the label.

Always make sure that oil and fat, no matter which, do not burn, but also know that oil may have already oxidized due to heat! If you want to bake and roast with good olive oil, buy a good extra virgin olive oil and don't heat it more than necessary. Then baking and roasting with extra virgin olive oil is fantastic and the healthiest choice!

Finally

Superior quality extra virgin olive oil is almost a miracle. It is pure nature and super healthy. It contains unsaturated fats and antioxidants such as tocopherols and polyphenols, and vitamin E, among others. It has anti-inflammatory properties, and it would be good for us to use it daily. It is no coincidence that the Mediterranean diet, with its daily use of good extra virgin olive oil, is widely known as perhaps the healthiest diet in the world!

Many people take at least a few tablespoons of olive oil every day. Often pure and on an empty stomach. They choose to do so because it has been known for quite some time and scientifically proven that extra virgin olive oil is very good against, for example, cardiovascular diseases, and that it helps you live a healthier life for longer. See here.

But don't try that with supermarket olive oil! Instead, choose our Greek extra virgin olive oils with a health claim; the Olithea and the Cultura. Both have an EU-certified health claim because these oils have a much higher polyphenol content than average extra virgin olive oil. Polyphenols are antioxidants that, among other things, counteract inflammation.


Premium extra virgin olive oil is wonderful and belongs in every kitchen, especially in the Netherlands. Of course, no salad or Mediterranean dish is complete without really good olive oil, but you can use delicious extra virgin olive oil for many more dishes. It is also excellent for spicing up Dutch dishes. Pour it generously over your boiled potatoes or your Dutch boiled vegetables and you have instant happiness!

Extra virgin olive oil is for everyone. It combines the power of the sun with the best the earth has to offer.

Enjoy! O'Lives Great!

What are the temperatures?

  • Boiling: 100 °C (duh)
  • Pan-frying: 130 – 220 °C. Can you use extra virgin olive oil: Yes!
  • Baking in the oven: 140 – 240 °C. Can you use extra virgin olive oil: Yes!
  • Roasting in a roasting pan: 150 – 225 °C. Can you use extra virgin olive oil: Yes!
  • Deep-frying: 160 – 180 °C. Can you use extra virgin olive oil: Yes!
  • Stir-frying (Chao technique): 160 – 240 °C. Can you use extra virgin olive oil: Yes!
  • Stir-frying (Bao technique): up to over 650 °C (!). Uh, no. Do not use olive oil!

References (among others):

  1. Dispelling the myths of frying with olive oil: Olive Oil Times
  2. Heating olive oil, by EVOO sommelier Marije Pessos
  3. The effect of cooking on olive oil quality attributes, by Food Research International
  4. International Olive Council: Frying with olive oil
  5. Studies and scientific evidence that polar compounds can be harmful to health. They are associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease and can lead to cancer:

    • Matveychuk D, Dursun S, Wood P et al. Reactive Aldehydes and Neurodegenerative Disorders. Bull Clin Psychopharm. 2011;21(4):277–88

    • Pizzimenti S, Ciamporcero E, Daga M et al. Interaction of aldehydes from lipid peroxidation and membrane proteins. Front Physiol. 2013;4:242. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2013.00242.

    • Cruz-Haces M, Tang J, Acosta G et al. Pathological correlations between traumatic brain injury and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Transl Neurodegener. 2017; 6:20.doi: 10.1186/s40035-017-0088-2.

    • Jinwei L, Xiaondan L, Wenci C et al. Comparison of different polar compounds-induced cytotoxicity in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. Lipids Health Dis.2016;15:30. doi: 10.1186/s12944-016-0201-z.

  6. Studies on refined oil:

    • Cicerale S, Conlan XA, Barnett NW et al. Influence of heat on biological activity and concentration of oleocanthal, a natural anti-inflammatory agent in olive oil. J Agric Food Chem.2009;57(4):1326–30.

    • Allouche Y et al. 2007 How Heating Affects Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality Indexes and Chemical Composition. J Agric Food Chem. 55: 9646–54.

    • Casal S et al. 2010 Olive oil stability under deep-frying conditions. Food Chem Toxicol. 48: 2972–7.

    • Gomez-Alonso S et al. 2003 Changes in Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Virgin Olive Oil during Frying. J Agric Food Chem. 51: 667–67.

    • Jiyeong L, Dong A, Jung K, et al. Influence of extra virgin olive oil on the formation of heterocyclic amines in roasted beef steak. Food Sci. 2011;20(1):159–65.

Other studies:

  1. Ramirez-Anaya J, Samaniego-Sanchez C, Castaneda-Saucedo M, Villalon-Mir M, Lopez-Garcia de la Serrana H. Phenols and the antioxidant capacity of Mediterranean vegetables prepared with extra virgin olive oil using different domestic cooking techniques. Food Chem. 2015;188:430–8.)

  2. Perez-Herrara A. et al. 2013 The antioxidants in oils heated at frying temperature, whether natural or added, could protect against oxidative stress in obese people. Food Chem. 138; 2250–2259

  3. Gray S. Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. ACNEM J. 2015;34(2):8–12

  4. International Olive Oil Council. Frying with olive oil:http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/estaticos/view/85-frying-with-olive-oil

  5. Verela G, Ruiz-Roso B. “Some effects of frying on dietary fat intake”. Nutr Rev. 1992;50:256–262.

  6. Nieva-Echevarria B, Goicoechea E, Manzanos M et al. The influence of frying technique, cooking oil and fish species on the changes occurring in fish lipids and oil during shallow-frying, studied by 1H NMR. Food Research International. 2016; 84:150–159.

  7. Moreno d, L ́opez-Berenguer c, Garcia-Viguera c. Effects of Stir-Fry Cooking with Different Edible Oils on the Phytochemical Composition of Broccoli. J Food Sci. 2007;72


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