Choosing the Right Cooking Solvent

Oil? Check.  Heat? Check.  Veggies, chicken, stir-fry sauce? Check. Check. Check.  Kitchen full of smoke!?  Fire alarm!?!?

We’ve just learned about the smoke point, the hard way.

There’s nothing as cool as the frantic run around the apartment trying to open as many windows as possible while pillow-fanning the fire alarm…

Just like choosing the right solvent can make or break a reaction, the selection of the proper cooking oil can make or break a great dish.  Beyond fat and flavor, there are two other components to consider: the smoke and flash points.

The flash point is the temperature at which the oil will ignite and burst into flames.

As the name implies, the smoke point is the temperature at which the oil will start smoking (usually profusely).

So how do we know which oil should accompany which techniques?  Take a look at this table of smoke points provided by Cooking for Engineers.

But let’s face it, this is probably one table more than most of us need.  If we’re lucky enough to have pantry space in our places, we certainly don’t need to take up an entire shelf with twenty different types of oil.

The easiest way to ensure a smoke-alarm and grease-fire-free zone in the kitchen is to grab a bottle of Refined Extra Light Olive Oil next time you’re at the store.  In addition to it’s high smoke point, it’s still rich in nutritional value.  So we got that goin’ for us, which is nice…

So next time you’re whipping up some stir-fry, or cooking up Bill’s Submission Salmon, reach for the right kitchen solvent…