https://drcate.com/list-of-good-fats-an ... ersus-bad/COOKING TIPS FOR HIGH HEAT:
STIR FREQUENTLY:
The higher the heat, the more you need to be stirring unless you’re going for a specific effect, like char flavor or crispy skin.
HEALTHY OIL COMBINATIONS:
BUTTER+OLIVE: Add a pat of butter to olive oil when cooking at high heat, the saturated fat in the butter protects the olive oil and the antioxidants in the olive oil protect the protein in the butter that might otherwise burn.
SESAME+PEANUT: Add sesame to peanut oil for Asian dishes. The ratio should be roughly 4-8:1 Peanut:Sesame. Sesame is high in PUFA, but it has powerful antioxidants that, when added to low PUFA peanut oil, protect all the PUFAs.
Should I make sure to use a high smoke point oil for pan frying, wok cooking or other high-heat applications?
No. Here’s why:
Smoke point is a sciencey sounding selling point that vegetable oil salesmen use to ooze their way into busy restaurants. If you’ve read about smoke points, you’ve probably read something like this “Refined oils have higher smoke points and typically a more neutral flavor than unrefined oils, which makes them better for sautéing, frying or even deep-frying.” I think the concept of smoke point is bunk. First of all, what chef is going to literally wait for food on the stove to start smoking before stirring it? Have you ever seen that on a cooking show? Secondly, and this is the more important point, the molecular degradation that occurs in these high smoke point oils both during their manufacture and then again when they’re exposed to high heat during cooking invisibly degrades the oil, generating molecules that are dangerous to our health.
If the food you order has black char on it, you’ll probably realize someone in the kitchen wasn’t paying attention to your dish, and send it back. The higher smoke point oils enable chefs to stir less often and in so doing to overheat your food without leaving any evidence.
I’m not saying theres no such thing as smoke point. Of course there is. But the myth is that the product is somehow superior because it has a high smoke point. You can increase the smoke point of any fat by removing proteins, antioxidants, and free fatty acids. For example, ghee has a higher smoke point than butter because the clarification process reduces the protein content.
I recommend using high-quality oils and fats like butter, lard or tallow, and yes, even EVOO, for stovetop frying. But be sure to stir! It should go without saying that overcooking your dishes not a healthy practice. Who needs high smoke points? Just eat properly cooked food.
So at HOME.....
So if I do want to pan fry or bake vegatables in good quality olive oil - and like cooking in olive oil - does anyone know what is conisdered "high heat"? How often to stir? Should we APOE4s use butter as Dr Cate suggests? I use a ceramic pan at a low setting of "3" on my gas grill that goes to "7". Is that high or how do we know?
And then in RESTAURANTS....
what is the best strategy here? Of course we can request them to use olive oil but will they stir enough? Is the olive oil good quality? Is it safer to just ask for butter to be used for we APOE4s? Do I have to personally visit their kitchen?!? What do folks do?