What Type of Fat Should You Use in the Kitchen?
Learn more about fat, how we use it in cooking - and why you should know about the "smoke point".
When you've read this article, I'm sure you'll agree that fats are a fundamental part of your cooking that both taste fantastic and serve a practical purpose.
Here you get tips on choosing the right fat for the right task in the kitchen - and you'll get a complete understanding of what the "smoke point" actually means for cooking.
See our selection of pots and pans here
Why do we fry with fat?
While water evaporates at high temperatures, fat can withstand higher temperatures - and this is precisely where we can achieve the delicious searing crust during frying.
Fat is water-repellent - and thus contributes as a lubricating layer between the frying pan and the food you're frying. It's the protein content in meat and vegetables that normally causes food to stick.
With a bit of oil, you avoid eggs sticking and burning - and the right fat can function as a fantastic flavour enhancer.
What is a "smoke point"?
Fat can withstand high temperatures compared to water. Nevertheless, there is a limit that - when exceeded - can cause the oil to burn.
That is the "smoke point".
Oils, lard, and butter withstand heat differently, so it's important to know what temperatures your frying pan or oven should have to complement the fat's properties. Regardless of the recipe, you should choose your fat and cooking temperature with that knowledge in mind.
Quick overview of fats and their smoke points:
Clarified butter: 250°C
Refined olive oil: 240°C
Refined sunflower and corn oil: 232°C
Grapeseed oil and virgin olive oil: 216°C
Refined rapeseed oil: 204°C
Butter, extra virgin olive oil & coconut oil: 160-180°C
Notice that the more processed, refined, and thus "neutral" the ingredient is, the better it withstands heat. This is due to the processing process.
Fats that are unrefined and cold-pressed still have their natural minerals and enzymes intact, which provides fantastic flavour - but not particularly good heat tolerance. This is typically the case with the olive oil many have at home - tastes and smells fantastic, but is actually not very good for frying.
So in short: Stick to the flavourful unrefined oils at lower temperatures - e.g., in a salad. And use clarified butter or refined oil for browning, and when you want to create the perfect searing crust.
Note - regular butter does not have the same high heat tolerance as clarified butter. Therefore, you should never use regular butter at very high frying temperatures, as it burns - instead use butter when you fry at lower temperatures or add a good dollop of butter to your steak shortly before it's done, and use the butter (possibly with a few sprigs of thyme and a clove of garlic) as a flavour enhancer.
How to use knowledge about smoke point with carbon steel and cast iron frying pans
Oil is absolutely essential when you have a carbon steel or cast iron frying pan.
Because then the pan needs to be treated - and a natural non-stick coating develops when the oil hardens on the pan's surface.
You can use your knowledge about oil's smoke point when you need to season your frying pan. And here you should actually go for a refined product with a high smoke point - e.g., grape seed oil.
A more unrefined product like extra virgin olive oil, which many have in the kitchen, will give a sticky result when you season your frying pans - this is due to both the low smoke point and the high content of natural minerals and aromatics.
The hardening process with oil is caused by a chemical process - polymerisation - where the fatty acid chains combine into long polymers. In short, this means that the many fat molecules are bonded together by oxygen at high temperature, which means that it is no longer liquid, but instead forms a hard water-repellent surface.
Polymerization occurs right around the smoke point - so in the case where we season our carbon steel pan with grapeseed oil, we just need to make sure to do it at more than 216°C.
Read more about how to season your carbon steel frying pan with oil.
Enjoy in the kitchen!
Explore more
Didn't you get answers to all your questions?
One of our product experts is ready to assist you:
