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Avocado Oil

My boss is going to start juicing.  He bought a super fancy pantcy juicer device.  Thanks to my recommendation.  So, he's going to start that.  We're all talking super healthy stuff in our office at the moment.

Actually, it's interesting... So, I usually cook in EVOO, that's Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Apparently, there's an ongoing debate about that I wasn't aware of.

So, as we were chatting I started Googling.  See, he was saying that flax seed oil can't be made by any other means but cold pressing because the heat turns the fat into free radicals and trans fats.

Then, I found something called "smoke point".  I'd never heard of it!  So, smoke point is when you're cooking oil... The temperature at which the oil starts to burn, goes sour...

Then the oil basically goes from being good for you, to bad for you.  It becomes free radicles and trans fats and what have you.

Apparently different oils have different smoke points.  EVOO is only around 300 or maybe 325 to 350 degrees max.

Avocado oil is significantly higher.  Somewhere around 400+.

So, EVOO is healthy, as long as you keep the cook temp under 300 degrees.  This is why it works better for dressing and such.  As well it works for just sautéing vegetables.

The question is how many times have I cooked above 300?  I don't think I've gone beyond it too much... Most of my cooking is done at number 2 out of 10 on the stove.

From what I can tell 2 of 10 means it's around 275 degrees.

I'm fairly certain that I mostly stayed under the 300 degree limit.

Now that's only for extra virgin olive oil.  Light or regular olive oil has a higher smoke point, so that's much more suited for cooking with.

EVOO is mostly supposed to be used on salads, or with baguettes.  Which is how I'll be using for the most part from now on.  I may still cook with it, but I'll make sure to keep the temps on the lower side.

That means, instead, for most of my cooking I'll be using avocado oil.

It has one of the highest smoke points and apparently is just as healthy, if not possibly healthier than EVOO.  Just do a quick search on Google about avocado oil health benefits and you'll find a menagerie of results.

Oh, and I might also buy a juicer.  I found a cool website that I showed my boss that has all kinds of neat juicing recipes.  It's www.juicerecipes.com.

I've always wanted to try juicing.  Mostly I just make blended smoothies.  But just as EVOO has its limitations, and avocado oil picks up where it leaves off...

Juicing as well has certain advantages over plain old blended smoothies.  Turns out as well there's two different kinds of juicing machines... One of them uses a blade and spins at a high rate to make a centrifuge... the problem with this is that it destroys some of the nutrients... If you use a masticating or slow juicer... Or a cold press juicer, you get higher quality nutrients.

The thing is that the slow juicers are a bit pricier than the spin blade juicers.

I'd say, when it comes to health though, paying a higher cost is worth it.

So, those are my two new health things... avocado oil and a slow juicer.  Neat stuff!