How to choose the right oil

Olive oil (extra virgin, virgin or pure?), vegetable oil, butter, lard...the choices of fat for cooking or dressing are almost endless. The Cooking Coach profiles the main varieties and explains which are best for the job in hand

Oils
The best oils for cooking and frying are those that have a high smoking point – that is, they can be heated to high temperatures before burning. Corn, grapeseed, groundnut (or peanut), rapeseed and sunflower oils are all good for cooking and frying.

Oils such as walnut, hazelnut, sesame, pumpkinseed, almond and macadamia nut are not so suitable for cooking and are best reserved for flavouring foods such as salads and stir-fries. Olive oil is good for either purpose, depending on the dish.

Olive oils can come labelled as extra virgin, fine virgin, ordinary virgin and plain or pure olive oils. The surge in popularity of olive oil in Britain over the last 10 years has meant that some oils are treated almost like fine wine, and with a price to match. Extra virgin is the best and is the first cold pressing of high-quality olives. Although expensive, a little goes a long way. It's also a necessary ingredient in many dishes of the Mediterranean and can be used as a salad dressing or for dipping crusty bread.

Fine virgin and ordinary virgin oils follow in quality, respectively, and plain or pure olive oil is a blend of refined and virgin oils. At a lower cost, these can be used for frying without breaking the bank.

Solid fats
Butter is the preferred fat for baking as it adds the most flavour. It's not ideal, but can be used for frying - although it will burn at a lower temperature than most oils. To prevent this, you can add regular butter to oil for frying as this gives you the flavour benefit of butter and the higher temperature range of oil.

Clarified butter is butter that has had the water, milk solids and salt removed, leaving pure butterfat. It's best for shallow frying and sauteing.