Fun Stuff > CHATTER
A Cooking Thread?
Barmymoo:
I use Sainsburys Sunflower Spread, which I think is basically a cheap version of Pure (or one of the others, anyway). I do use butter for many things still, like 20g to fry some garlic and spinach for pasta, or for making crumble, but you can equally use spread. Linds is right, it does change the flavour but not so much that the baking is ruined.
pwhodges:
Sunflower oil is actually not one of the healthier ones, which is why I no longer use sunflower-based spreads. For frying I use rape-seed oil (is that canola in the US?), which has the additional benefit of being the cheapest! Olive oil is good, but not for high temperatures (especially the extra-virgin which my wife always buys).
LTK:
Just the other day my dad was telling me that all the common vegetable oils - sunflower, rape-seed, arachide - are extracted from the material using hexane. Olive oil is the only oil that is actually pressed. That surprised both of us.
Akima:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 23 May 2012, 00:09 ---For frying I use rape-seed oil (is that canola in the US?), which has the additional benefit of being the cheapest!
--- End quote ---
It is certainly called canola oil in Australia, and an excellent, economical choice. Its smoke temperature is quite high which is important for good stir-fry.
--- Quote from: LTK on 23 May 2012, 02:46 ---Just the other day my dad was telling me that all the common vegetable oils - sunflower, rape-seed, arachide - are extracted from the material using hexane. Olive oil is the only oil that is actually pressed. That surprised both of us.
--- End quote ---
Peanut oil, which is very common in East and Southeast Asian cooking, was traditionally produced by cold pressing, and the best quality oil still is. Cheaper grades are produced using more "industrial" methods such as hot extraction, and finally extraction with solvents such as hexane is used. Frequently the same nut meal is passed through all three processes in succession to extract every last drop of oil. According to this article a similar multi-stage process is used for olive oil.
lepetitfromage:
--- Quote from: Papersatan on 22 May 2012, 14:04 ---Did someone say oats? Oats oats oats! They are high in soluble fiber, which is good for scrubbing out your arteries. Also a bonus, they taste great!
Also for whole grains I whole heatedly recommend wheat berries. They are just whole wheat grains. You can buy them in most health food sections. You cook them like rice, but they take a bit more water and a bit longer (directions on the package). I think they are so good, a bit chewy, nutty flavor, and filling. I usually just eat them plain or with a little olive oil/butter and salt. I also think they would be good sweet. I am thinking something with honey and strawberries? I'll be playing with them when fruit prices drop for summer.
--- End quote ---
Ooooh, those sound good! I love really nutty tasting grains.
I bought Smart Balance last week! It's tasty :-) I've used Olivio as well and I like it but it's hardly ever on sale. I don't typically use butter either- expensive and I always get annoyed with it because I forget to take it out of the fridge to let it soften before trying to use it as a spread. And yep- rape-seed is called canola here too :-) I alternate between using that and olive, depending on what I'm doing with it.
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