Paleo Cooking Oil Chart by Activity?

[querida]

Little by little, I'm reforming my activities in the kitchen. Right now I'm thinking about which oils are appropriate for which heat levels.

 

Has anyone found a Paleo cooking oil chart organized by activity?

 

So far all the charts I've found are organized by oil (ie. X oil = X activity or temp). This is the nutritionist's perspective. I'd like a chart that is organized for the cook (ie. X activity = X oil). Knowing I was about to roast some veggies, I could glance at the chart to see what my options were, rather than have to scan the entire thing and make a mental list of the oils that say they are good at high oven temps.

 

I would have loved to have seen this chart in ISWF.

 

 

[missmary]

do you mean something like this? http://www.balancedbites.com/PDFs/BOOK_EXTRAS/PracticalPaleo_GuidetoCookingFats.pdf

[GrannieD]

Thank you querida for asking this question!

And thank you missmary for posting that link! I now have it saved on my iPad! I am still trying to fully grasp the concept of the mufa, pufa, and sfa profiles that are so important.

[querida]

missmary: Something kind of like that. I am looking for something that lists cooking activities in the left column, not fat types. Smoke points are helpful, but I rarely know what temperature I'm cooking at. I can think in terms of temperature when I'm using the oven, but not when I'm cooking on the stove top.

 

But in the absence of my ideal chart, and looking at the Practical Paleo chart, am I right to think that I should only use fats in the green section when cooking using anything higher than a very low flame? So no more sauteing veggies in olive oil?

 

And if avocado oil has such a high smoke point, why shouldn't it be used at high heat? It looks like my best option for roasting veggies at 400+F temperatures, since my coconut oil is unrefined and I don't cook with animal fats (other than ghee, which I suppose I could use instead...).

 

[sorry for the delayed response-- vacation!]

[missmary]

But in the absence of my ideal chart, and looking at the Practical Paleo chart, am I right to think that I should only use fats in the green section when cooking using anything higher than a very low flame? So no more sauteing veggies in olive oil?

 

And if avocado oil has such a high smoke point, why shouldn't it be used at high heat? It looks like my best option for roasting veggies at 400+F temperatures, since my coconut oil is unrefined and I don't cook with animal fats (other than ghee, which I suppose I could use instead...).

 

Although she lists smoke point, I don't think smoke point is the factor that is putting these oils in each category--it has more to do with the damage to the oil once it gets to that high heat. More saturated fat=more stable=better for high heat cooking. 

 

Personally, if you are sautéing at medium to low heat, I wouldn't object to olive oil. Anything higher than that I would start using an oil from the green category. I have had the best luck with coconut oil (refined or not) for roasting veggies, although duck fat is fantastic if you can find it.