For some reason, everybody seems to have exactly
the wrong idea about olive oil. People think
you can't cook with it a high heat. They think
that'll make it bitter, or worse — it'll
make it toxic, carcinogenic.
Now, whether high heat makes olive oil taste
bad is a more subjective question. The health
question is an empirical one, though, and
the science is compelling.
"[Extra virgin olive oil] has demonstrated
to be the most stable oil when heated, followed
closely by coconut oil and other virgin oils."
That's according to this Australian research
from 2018. Yes, this is research from a lab
that works with the olive industry, but it's
peer-reviewed, and there are quite a few a
studies from all over the world that have
come to similar conclusions.
From a health standpoint, extra virgin olive
oil is actually way less problematic at high
heat than the oils that people say you're
supposed to use instead — things like canola
oil and grapeseed oil — the so-called "high-heat"
oils. Those are actually far less stable at
high heat.
But what does that mean, "less stable"? Well,
I'll tell you one thing it's not about: It's
not about the "smoke point."
"This science are more and more pointing that
smoke point has little correlation with when
the oil starts breaking down."
This is Dr. Selina Wang, research director
for the Olive Center at the University of
California — Davis. Yes, her center works
with olive growers, but that's hardly uncommon,
and everything she's about to say is backed
up by research from lots of people.
"I think that's what people are worried about
— when the oil starts breaking down and
starts producing potential toxins. I think
that's what people are worried about, but
for some reason it's connected to smoke point,
which is not a direct correlation."
Indeed, oil that's smoking is hot, and when
oils get really, really hot and stay really
hot for a long time, they can become harmful.
But that does not mean that oils that smoke
sooner become harmful sooner. That's a notion
that you will see repeated by lots of normally
reliable sources, but Dr. Wang says it simply
is not supported by the most up-to-date research.
Smoking is just the thing that you can see.
You can't see what actually matters a lot
more, from a health perspective, and that
is the oil breaking down.
"From a technical standpoint, that's basically
when multiple chemical reactions that can
happen, such as hydrolysis, oxidation — reactions
that cause larger molecules to break down
to smaller molecules such as aldehydes, and
some of them that have neurodegenerative reactions
that could cause, for example, Parkinson's
or Alzheimer's diseases. So, the research
is pointing that oxidized lipids, which is
what's in oil, contribute to that kind of
illness."
And, potentially, the big C. Research indicates
that eating oxidized oils promotes free radicals
in the body, and that can cause cancer. But...
"The research shows that the most dangerous
situation is when you use the oil repeatedly.
So, for example, if you purchase food from
a restaurant that basically never changed
their oil, that is actually the real concern
regarding carcinogens. But I wouldn't worry
about it if it's just everyday cooking at
home."
And there's even less to worry about it if
you're cooking with olive oil. Olive oil is
primarily a monounsaturated fat.
Most of the vegetable oils that people say
are better for high-heat cooking have a lot
more polyunsaturated fat, and they are therefore
much more prone to oxidation. Olive oil is
monounsaturated.
And if you get extra virgin olive oil, it's
gonna be rich in natural antioxidants, like
polyphenols. These will counteract the oxidation
as the oil cooks.
The opposite of a virgin oil is a refined
oil — oil that has undergone various physical
and chemical processes with wholesome names
like degumming, neutralization, bleaching,
winterization and deodorization. These extend
shelf-life and reduce the bitter and pungent
flavors that some people don't like. The problem
with that is the source of that bitterness
is, to a great extent, the antioxidants themselves.
"So, during refining, basically all of the
natural antioxidants that we talked about
earlier — that's important to prevent oxidation
— are stripped away. It's the same for canola
oil, vegetable oil, soybean oil. That refining
process stripped away the antioxidants."
And that's why extra virgin oils are actually
safer to cook with at high heat. Because it's
unrefined, it's packed with natural antioxidants
that will cancel out the oxidation process
that happens at high heat.
Why do so many TV chefs say the exact opposite?
They tell us we should NEVER cook with extra
virgin olive oil at high heat. Some say we
shouldn't cook with it at all — you should
just save it for drizzling raw over stuff.
Based on the available science, there is no
valid health reason to cook with, say, canola
oil instead of extra virgin olive oil. None.
Is there maybe a valid culinary reason to
do it? Well, that's an interesting question,
and we'll do some taste-tests after I thank
the sponsor of this video.
You want to keep your body safe, cook with
virgin oils. You want to keep your data safe,
use the internet with Surfshark.
If you're ever using a public WiFi network,
it's really easy for other users there to
intercept your private data, and that's one
thing you can prevent by using a VPN, or Virtual
Private Network. You just open Surfshark on
your device, hit connect, and it's like you're
on your own private network at home. VPNs
are also useful for getting around internet
censorship in certain countries. And they're
also really useful for getting around geo-restrictions
on content. Like, maybe you have an American
Netflix subscription, but you're in the U.K.,
so you can't use it. Boom, Surfshark makes
you virtually back in the U.S., or anywhere
else that you wanna be. Surfshark has some
particularly cool features that other VPNs
don't, like their HackLock system. This can
alert you if your email address or password
is compromised. There's also BlindSearch,
a private search tool with no ads and no tracking.
Do us both a favor: hit my link the description
and use promo code ADAMRAGUSEA — you will
get 83% off Surfshark plus an additional month
for free. Link and code in the description.
Thank you Surfshark.
OK, so does getting olive oil really hot make
it taste bad?
Here's one of the most expensive olive oils
they had at my store. Single source, there's
harvest and pressing dates on there — that's
important. The oil oxidizes slowly just sitting
there on the shelf, so fresher oil is gonna
be healthier oil.
It tastes — strong. Grassy. Peppery on the
back of the throat. A little bitter, pungent.
Do people like this stuff?
"I personally like the more fruity flavors,
but those tend to be the ones that have less
antioxidants."
Ah, indeed. Remember, it's the antioxidants
themselves that taste bitter. It's the same
deal with chocolate.
For my first experiment, I'm gonna heat this
in a pan for 10 minutes, but not to smoking.
Just to the point where it shimmers. It smells
really good.
I'll pour that out, let it cool down, then
I'll have a taste. Tastes basically like it
did before, but less. Those grassy, floral
notes are just gone.
Here's one reason why chefs say don't bother
cooking with extra virgin olive oil — the
heat is going to destroy or vaporize a lot
of the flavor that you're paying for. Use
a cheap, refined oil, they say, and you get
the same flavor for less money.
I think that makes total sense if you're running
a restaurant — saving a few pennies per
portion can really add up when you're working
at a very large scale. But, cooking at home,
I just don't think it's gonna save me that
much money, so I don't worry about having
multiple kinds of olive oil in the house for
difference purposes. Plus, I like the health
benefits that I get from cooking with extra
virgin olive oil only.
There's actually research indicating that
cooking food in extra virgin makes the food
itself healthier by extracting polyphenols
from vegetables.
But now let's take this fancy oil and blast
it — get it smoking for a good 10 minutes.
That smoke itself is probably not great to
breath in, so don't. I'll cool it down and
have a taste. Look how brown it turned.
That definitely tastes cooked, but I find
it no more bitter than it was before. This
makes me intrigued to try an oil that isn't
so bitter to begin with.
Here's a store-brand extra virgin olive oil.
It tastes mild, fruity, nice. Why is this
cheaper?
"If you see words that say 'buttery, smooth'
that's basically a signal that says, you know,
this oil has some refined oil in it, or this
oil was a super-late harvest that basically
has very low levels of antioxidants."
If you harvest the olives when they're very
ripe, you get more oil from them, that's why
it's cheaper. But yeah, it's not quite as
healthy.
In contrast, oils pressed from younger, greener
olives like this might be marketed with words
like...
"'Robust.' Which is such a marketing term,
right?"
For the record, I actually liked both of these
oils, just for different reasons. There's
nothing wrong with a little bit of bitterness,
especially when it's gonna be balanced out
by the food. Can be quite delicious, actually.
But back to the experiment. I'm gonna get
the 'smooth, buttery,' not-bitter oil up to
smoking and hold it there for about 10 minutes,
cool it down and...
Yeah, it tastes cooked, the fruity notes are
gone — maybe there's a slight bitter note?
But that absolutely was not the festival of
yuck that the internet tells me I'm going
to experience if I get my olive oil too hot.
And consider further that this is a very unrealistic
cooking scenario. I bring my oil up to smoking
all the time, just to make sure my pan is
really hot, but then I put food in it. The
oil instantaneously transfers a ton of its
heat to the food and the smoking stops. To
heat it back up to smoking, I'd probably have
to burn the food.
And by the way, olive oil does have some water
in it, too, so the very first wisps of smoke
that you see coming off the oil probably aren't
smoke at all — it's probably steam.
In conclusion: Cook with other oils if you
want to save money, or if you don't want your
food to taste like olive oil. But compared
to other oils, olive oil is among the healthiest,
and perhaps the healthiest, to cook with at
high heat — and high heat is not going to
instantaneously make it taste bad.
Hey, a certain Michelin-starred American-Italian
chef was well-known for searing, deep-frying,
making desserts and cooking absolutely everything
else with extra-virgin olive oil — that
is until his personal conduct cost him his
career.
He was right about the oil, though.
"Gettin' ya drank on!"
"It's olive oil."
