Best Type Of Olive Oil To Use When You're Cooking

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Olive oil is a culinary staple that always deserves a spot in your kitchen (and room in your budget). But there’s one thing we need to discuss — the difference between extra virgin olive oil and olive oil. And if you don’t think there is one, think again.

The main difference between the two has nothing to do with the type of olive used. Instead, it all depends on the extraction process used and what kinds of ingredients are added during production.

If you put a bottle of olive oil and a bottle of extra virgin olive oil next to each other, you’d notice a strong difference in flavor between the two. Regular olive oil is refined before it’s bottled, which means it might be treated with additives and preservatives to give it a light yellow color.

Extra virgin olive oil, on the other hand, is the purest form of olive oil. It’ll taste a little fruity and bitter with a delicate yet pungent peppery flavor. With a golden and green hue, EVOO is the actual shade of the olive fruit. You’ll get EVOO after the first cold press of the olives and pits. (Cold-pressing means that neither heat nor chemicals are part of the process.) Extra virgin is higher in antioxidants than regular olive oil and full of all the good fats.

Culinary Uses

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From a culinary point of view, there’s also a difference in smoke point when you’re comparing the two oils. The smoke point — the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke — for regular olive oil is a little bit higher, which makes it more versatile in the kitchen. You can use regular olive oil with anything from baking to stir-frying.

When it comes to EVOO, you should look for labels that say “cold-pressed” or “unfiltered.” Use it in dressings and in cold dishes. That way, you won’t have to stress about burning your food and you’ll be able to enjoy all of those fruity and peppery flavors that might be cooked off otherwise.

At the end of the day…

It’s always worth it to spend the few extra dollars on EVOO. It tastes better, it’s better for your health and it can pretty much make anything taste high-quality. Go ahead and treat yourself. You won’t regret it.

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