Which olive oil is best for cooking?

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Which olive oil is best for cooking? There are
reasons why olive oil has thrived since almost
the beginning of human civilization as an
essential element of the kitchen. Other than
adding a beautiful smell and flavour to the dish,
it also packs a punch when it comes to health
benefits. Preventing diabetes, fighting cancer,
keeping cell degeneration and cancer at bay
the list of the crucial benefits that organic
olive oil brings to the table is
endless. However, it is not an easy task to
choose a particular olive oil for cooking,
without having prior knowledge about their
taste, smell and intensity of flavours. There are
quite a few options available in the
market. Here are the different kinds of cooking
olive oil available and the kind of cooking they
are best suited with. Extra Virgin Olive
Oil This is the king of all the types of olive
oil the absolute best of its kind, the
crème-de-la-crème of the lot separated from the
batch before the rest of it turns into refined
olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil comes in a
light golden-green shade, a peppery, pungent
flavour to taste and smells of freshly picked
olives. EVOO is suggested by experts,
nutritionists and health practitioners alike as a
great addition to everyday diet. It is made from
crushing the olive fruits and extracting the oil
from them directly via cold press, rich in
natural polyphenols and antioxidants and less
than 0.8 acid content. The oil leaves quite an
aftertaste in the mouth, thanks to the strong
flavours of EVOO, which can be best experienced
as a salad dressing and marinades. It is also
used in making dips and breads, and light
sautéing in EVOO will add a dash of delicious
savour to the dish. But it can lose its flavour
if heated too much, which is why deep frying or
heavy cooking is best avoided with EVOO. Virgin
Olive Oil The closest you will ever get to a
perfect alternative of vegetable oil for basic
cooking and sautéing is virgin olive oil. It has
a slightly higher percentage of acidity than that
of extra virgin olive oil, and less intensity in
flavours. You can expect it to be a great base
for any home cooking. Pure Olive Oil After the
removal of virgin oil, the rest of it is further
processed and combined with refinery chemicals,
therefore taking away its natural essence. Pure
olive oil is basically a carefully concocted
mixture of refined oil and virgin oil, together
creating one with a higher burning point, thereby
facilitating easy cooking option. Pomace Olive
Oil Pomace olive oil is made by cold-pressed
extraction of oil from the fruits once they are
done with pressing for the first round. The
remaining few percentages of oil is pressed and
extracted from the leftover olive pulp to be
sold as an olive oil idea for frying and heavy
sautéing purposes. But on the other hand, it
retains much of the original health benefits of
olive oil so wit is a win-win situation. You
walk into any departmental store, and a series of
olive oil products, with different names on
their labels, are found standing one after
another in the respective section. To decide
which olive oil you want, you first have to
determine its future culinary purpose.