Which is the best cooking oil? Is it cold pressed oil, organic oil or refined oil? Oil is a versatile ingredient and it is time to make a right choice in choosing the best cooking oil.
Ever wondered what is a cold pressed oil? Here is why you should choose an organic cold pressed oil over commercial refined oil.
Ingredient, ingredient, who are you?
you make it crisp
you make it soft and moist
you let the flavors release
you bring it together
you enhance the flavor
you make it non-sticky
you make it grainy
you are married to a kadai
and not to forget, you add lots and lots of calories!
Ingredient, ingredient, who are you?
Well, I am sure you would have guessed the answer by now. Cuisine, especially in Indian cooking is almost hard to imagine without this wonder ingredient – oil.
I would consider oil as the secret fat that is almost impossible to do without. The calorie count can be a huge saving grace if you eat home cooked meals on most days. When oil is something unavoidable in daily cooking, we might as well have it in its best form and hence the search for best cooking oil.
There was a time when I was on a very conscious and wholesome, only-nutritious diet to loose weight. As part of many other changes in my diet and exercise, my dietitian asked me to cut down on oil consumption. She asked me not to have it more than two spoonfuls a day. Now it depends on my creativity whether I try to make vada (I know it is impossible with 2 spoons!) or stir fry veggies or just drizzle on my salad. Wow I had the freedom to choose what can be done with two spoonfuls!
When you feel you need to cut down on fats, you might as well have that meager quantity in the most rightful way. In spite of the fat content associated with all oils, there is no denying the fact that they are a kitchen’s best friend. So how do we make the best use of it? The best form of an oil is when it is an organic cold pressed oil. Now the real question pops up – why? Well, stay with me for the rest of the post to know the best cooking oil.
What is organic cold pressed oil?
Let us divide the term ‘organic cold pressed oil’ into organic + cold pressed oil. The base ingredient, whether it is a seed or a nut which is used for oil extraction here is organically grown one. As per wiki, while there are many processes for extracting oil, the cold pressed method neither uses chemicals nor extreme heat in the process. This will make sure that the oil retains all its nutrients and essential qualities and will not end up as a mere fat.
Why should one consume organic cold pressed oil?
Here are some more reasons to go for organic cold pressed oil and why it is the best cooking oil.
Being organic
As with any other organic food, there is no use of fertilizers in growing the base ingredient of oil, be it sunflower seeds, groundnuts etc.
Concentration
Oil is a concentrated form of the base ingredient and hence it is better to avoid regular refined oils. This is because, whatever the remains of chemicals in oil – either from base ingredient or from the process of refining – might be present in concentrated form too.
Nutritious
As the process is a cold pressed one, there is no refining done and the oil has all its nutrients intact, making it pure, much tastier and flavourful.
Prompts you to eat healthy
We all know that deep fried food consumes more oil and hence it is not recommended as a daily diet. The smoking point of most cold pressed oils is less, which means that a cold pressed oil can get heated in a lesser time than a regular refined oil. For this reason, often cold pressed oils are used for all other kinds of cooking and not much for deep frying, as deep frying requires you to cook at high heat. Once you develop the habit of eating organic cold pressed oils, it will also indirectly prompt you to reduce the habit of eating too much deep fried food – blessing in disguise, isn’t it?
How to consume organic cold pressed oil?
It is best to use organic cold pressed oil for low heat cooking or to top it on your salads. Otherwise, it can be used in regular cooking that you do. Safflower cold pressed oil is usually recommended in case you want to use some oil for high heat cooking.
How about shelf life?
As regular refined oils get treated at high temperatures, naturally they will have more shelf life when compared to cold pressed oils. But what is the use in storing and consuming something unhealthy for such long periods in the first place? It is the same case with other organic staples – the chances of organic staples catching bugs happens more often than non-organic staples. As they say, even the bugs would refuse to eat certain foods (read presence of chemicals), but many of us consider the same to be edible and fit for eating for all the wrong reasons. If you are concerned about the shelf life of your organic foods and even cold pressed oil, I would suggest you to buy them in lesser quantities and more frequently to serve the purpose, rather than consuming chemically treated food.
Other uses of edible organic cold pressed oil
Organic cold pressed oil can also be used in certain ways, other than cooking. Personally, I use organic cold pressed coconut oil as a moisturizer during winter. A drop of organic cold pressed castor oil mixed with few drops of water works effectively on extreme dry skin. Organic cold pressed sesame oil is rich in vitamin E and works effectively on your hair and scalp. For these reasons often these oils are mentioned as the ingredients in the preparation of cosmetics.
Best cooking oil – some favorites!
Somehow organic cold pressed groundnut oil has struck a chord with me. I love the aroma and the flavor that it brings to my food. Unlike other refined oils, the cold pressed one looks much thicker and is translucent, proving it to be more purer. I also use organic cold pressed sunflower oil in my occasional baking. And when I want something light and with less flavor which blends well with any food, safflower oil is my best bet. What is your favorite organic cold pressed oil?
Ingredient, ingredient, who am I?
I make it crisp, when you roast the nuts
I make it soft and moist, when you bake a cake
I let the flavours release, when you do the tadka
I bring it together, when you knead the dough
I enhance the flavour, in whatever you make
I make it unsticky, when you steam idlis
I make it grainy, when you cook pulao
I am married to a kadai and even a salad bowl!
and not to forget I add lots and lots of calories, so choose me right!
Ingredient, ingredient, who am I?
I am a cold pressed oil
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