This is the million dollar question. What is better, olive oil or sunflower oil? Much debate has been raised about it though, the majority of chefs and experts agree that olive oil is superior to sunflower oil. Opinion that, from my humble point of view, I share. And then I explain the because
As already said, I share the opinion that olive oil is superior to sunflower. Yes, I also share the idea that the sunflower oil is the best oil that there is, after the olive, and much better without a doubt that the seeds.
Why I think olive oil is the best one of all? To begin with, by their taste. Its gastronomic quality is superior to that of any oil. There is No comparison when it comes to take to a salad a good olive oil, with one sunflower. Or a slice of bread spread with olive oil or sunflower oil. The taste of sunflower oil is much more neutral. More off. Will make our development more soda. The same thing happens with fried foods. A few good potatoes, (or practically any other fried) made in a sunflower oil or in olive oil, give a completely different outcome.
And possibly you are saying “but the olive oil, it burns and degrades in the frying”. And you do not lack reason. All oil brought to a boiling point, you lose beneficial properties for health and gains in other properties that, with time, can become cancerous. But even in this wins the olive oil. In many places of the world, it is believed that olive oil withstands relatively low temperatures. I don’t know the reason of this belief but the fact is that, the olive oil, it withstands much higher temperatures before they begin to deteriorate. About 200 ° C approximately, in front of a 160 that hold up the oils of other seeds. It also degrades to a lower speed to the rest of the oils, making that it can be reused more times. The seed oils, it is advisable to use them only once. The sunflower oil can be used a few more times. The olive oil, you can reuse even more than the sunflower oil, before having to dispose of it. In addition, the olive oil expands more than other oils,when heated, making it necessary to use less amount of the same
But, what about the amount of oil absorbed by the food? In this, it also wins the olive oil. Although I think it is tied with the sunflower, so yes, only if it is high oleic. The food inevitably always absorb a quantity of oil during frying. The least amount they are going to absorb is olive oil, followed by sunflower oil high oleic, after the oil of sunflower to conventional and finally to the seed oil. With this, the olive oil wins in two things. First, in that to absorb the food a lesser amount of oil, it will be less fatty and more healthy and second, that we will have greater amount of oil for future frying.
The final conclusion which bag is that, although the olive oil is somewhat more expensive than the sunflower, in the end it’s worth it. And by a lot. Due to its gastronomic quality, which degrades less slowly than other oils and foods absorb less amount of olive oil than other oils.
If you are interested in how to take care of the oil of the fryer, I recommend you to read an article where I talk about it by clicking here
