I have heard that cooking with olive oil is a healthier choice than some of the other cooking oils. Recently I read that some of the olive oils we buy in the store that say they are 100% are not actually 100%. If this is true, how are they getting away with selling products that are not what they claim they are?
I've more recently become a fan of the garlic infused olive oils. They're great for cooking since you don't have to worry about scorching the garlic and ruining the dish, and also I hate peeling and chopping garlic, lol. The only thing is, to try a few of them out because some of them are really strong and others are barely noticeable.
It is definitely a healthier choice than some other oils, like corn oil or "vegetable" oil, but it's not as healthy as some other choices, like safflower oil or grapeseed or coconut oil. Of course, all of those that I just mentioned are crazy expensive, and I don't buy them for that reason. But in a perfect world where I had unlimited grocery money, I'd cook with safflower and coconut oil all the time.
I don't like the way olive oil tastes when I cook with it. I like the taste of olive oil for salad dressing, but I wouldn't want to fry things in it, because my fried foods would taste weird.
It's not healthy to fry things in olive oil because the smoke point is too low for frying. That's probably why your food tastes weird.
The only thing I don't cook in olive oil is French fries - or chips, if you're English. I use sunflower oil for those, because olive oil doesn't cope well with very high temperatures. For everything else, I use extra virgin, first cold pressing olive oil. It works well for frying, saute, and also for salad dressings. It's an all round oil, and it's healthy as well.
I use Grapeseed Oil for frying. It has a higher smoke point than olive oil. Best of all, it has a light taste and doesn't over power the taste of what you're cooking. It's also great for making salad dressings.