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By Solvie Karlstrom | All Posts

Smoke-Free Cooking

2:18 pm - October 2, 2006

Photo: Smoke-Free Cooking

As cooler temperatures lead us to keep our doors and windows shut all day, toxic pollutants can get trapped inside. Heating cooking oils to their "smoke point" can be a source of unwanted air contaminants.

One way to avoid the problem is to choose your oils carefully and cook with oils that can handle high heat without smoking." A friend and mentor, Annie Berthold-Bond referred me to Spectrum Organics Kitchen Guide for more information about cooking oils.

There are oils that you should never heat, I learned. These typically have such intense flavors, they are best enjoyed by drizzling directly on to food. "High heat" (445-510F) oils include sunflower, sesame, canola (super high heat) and almond. Walnut, grapeseed and soy oils are considered "medium high heat" (360-425F) and corn, olive and peanut oils are best used at medium heat (280-350F). See the Spectrum guide for individual smoke point temperatures.

If you overheat cooking oil, do ventilate the kitchen as best as you can to remove the pollutants.

For more simple secrets to healthy home cooking, purchase The Green Guide to Healthy Homes - Grilling Guide and 8 Simple Steps to a Safer, Greener Diet.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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Cooking oils
posted by Delicia on 2006-10-04 11:16:10  

Coconut oil and palm oil and lard are very stable at high heat. These oils have unfortunally gotten a bad rap. See www.westonaprice.org

Heating Oils
posted by rebekahew on 2006-10-25 10:51:28  

Most of the oils listed as OK to heat are the ones that, when heated, turn carcinogenic! Oils high in polyunsaturated fat, such as sunflower and corn oil, form free radicals when subjected to heat and become polymerized. Olive and canola oil are OK with some heat, but flaxseed and, I think, walnut oil should never be heated. Saturated oils like coconut and palm and animal tallows are the safest to heat, as Delicia commented. Sesame oil contains some heat-activated antioxidants, so when combined with coconut oil and olive oil, will make a good, stable cooking oil. westonaprice.org and anything by Mary G. Enig are great references on cooking oils and fats.