The oils you use?

[Susie]

Very good piecrust...

Rub together a pound of flour with half a pound of sweet butter, a teapoon of salt, and two reaspoons of baking powder. Mix maybe a half cup of cream with two egg yolks and sprinkle over, a bit at a time, the flor mixture, tossing the mixture gently with a fork, til it holds together. Knead it gently once or twice and let it rest for half an hour, then roll out and use.

[Susie]

Originally Posted by Misty

I've never seen coconut oil of any sort in a grocery store but that could be because I've never looked for it. Where do you buy it and is there a certain brand that's good?

I can find palm oil in solid blocks in the refrigerated section of my supermarket, by the butter.

[Nightfall]

Dependant upon what I'm trying to whip up I use olive oil, spray-on canola oil, butter, margarine, or solidified coconut oil ("Copha" trademark in Australia).

[Susan4]

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/

For online ordering. I've also seen coconut oil in the grocery store sometimes, not often. I think the brand was LouAna.

[mixin]

Walmart carries the LouAna brand, iirc. My healthfood store carries virgin coconut oil; it's kind of pricey but a little goes a long way.

[Samen]

Originally Posted by Therese

Why get away from using olive oil? It is the healthiest oil there is!

I'm sorry I didint express myself well.
I meant I am trying to get away by using only two oils / fats and they are olive oil and butter.

Reading the thread and some of the exotic oils available in some countries I must say I'm amaised. I am well trawled and lived on all the continents but have just 2 months ago started to make food and practice baking at the age of 44, I am on a long sick leave with enough energy to make home, laundry (new) food (new).

The baking thread is good and I have learned from it (don't post photos yet!!!), buns I can make and wheat bread is eatable by family if warm, sometimes. Usually 80% goes into the trash but im learning, more heat maybe? The darn resepies never have the know-how to in them.

The oils available here are limited to a derivate of canola oil (definitely not canola), olive oil, margarine (urgh) and butter, from the wholesale outlet one can get lard.

I have learned that extra virgin olive oil is the best one can get here and can be used for frying also, if one wants a brown color on what one is frying I use butter. The olive oil I buy I test by taking a sip of it, if it tastes green and fresh I will buy it.

The health effects of different oils used in different temperatures is something I want to learn more of. Well known brands of extra virgin that i have tested taste and fridge test start at 6.80 Euro a liter at the wholesale and 12 at the supermarket. The Canola oil derivative mostly used here for cooking and i can run my boat diesel engine on after preheating costs less than diesel oil at 0.95 €uro a litre when bought in 200 litre barrels.

[Ben Franklin]

Originally Posted by Susie

Ben, please tell me about rinsing your fats.

Well, let's say you make some chicken soup. Refrigerate it overnight to solidify it, then scrape off the layer of fat and put it into a container of cold water. Stir it gently until the jelly stuff dissolves in the water, then strain out the fat and put it on paper towels to drain the water - it can be kept at room temp if it's been rinsed properly.

If you want to do an especially good job, take it and melt it down to let any remaining gunk settle at the bottom, refrigerate again, scrape off, rinse again, blot dry.

[Susie]

Thanks, Ben. But the jelly part is SO good to eat...cook vegetables with it, smear it on bread, use in soup....

Ok, I'll compromise....scrape just the fat and save the jelly.

[Ben Franklin]

I don't throw away anything, Susie, unless it's turned aromatically rotten. This whole idea is simply to save the chicken/bacon/beef fat for later use. You don't want to make the chicken soup or bacon just for the fat!

[Deborah]

Extra virgin olive oil, unfiltered. Delicious in many things, and makes a pretty fab caesar dressing. Grapeseed oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, canola oil, chili oil, butter (salted and unsalted depending on the use, and sometimes ghee), lard, bacon fat, chicken fat (wish I could get some good goose fat *cry*).

Some of these are to cook foods in and some are as an addition for flavoring purposes. There are other things I use that have fat as its main caloric ingredient, such as cream, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. These can also be used for multiple purposes. A good example is Mayonnaise...it can be spread on sandwiches as a condiment, used as a binder in things (tuna, macaroni salad, chicken salas, fruit salad, etc), spread on bread on the outside (use instead of butter to brown your grilled cheese sandwich), and can be used to make other dressings/dipping sauces (ranch dressing, aoli mayonnaise). You can even use it to condition your hair.

The thing to keep in mind is the smoking temperatures of the various fats and oils, and the flavors they impart. You probably don't want to cook your pancakes in olive oil but if you are making pecan pancakes using the walnut oil would be mighty tasty! Would probably be a really nice ingredient in banana nut bread too. But sesame oil wouln't really work in those. On the other hand, a couple drops of sesame oil really perks up the flavor of asian foods, and so does chili oil.

[andy]

I feel pretty bland on this thread....

I tried making biscuits with chicken fat; no difference.

I eat lots of peanut oil every day. I mix it with peanuts and unsalted butter and put it between two slices of freash bread. Sometimes I toast the bread for a completely different sandwhich. Never use sayed butter. Tastes horrible.

No pork fat or beef fat what ever.

[spinnerholic]

I just ordered my first coconut oil today. Can't wait to try it out. It has a higher smoke point than olive oil and butter, my two staples, so it should be better for frying.

I too save all fats cooked out of chicken, beef, pork and bacon. Use them in countless ways from frying morning eggs to well, you name it. I also save all the dark crunchy bits for flavoring veggies. Wouldn't dream of rinsing away any of those fats, or parts there of!

I also keep and use lard for baking. Lard makes all the difference in the world in tender biscuits, rolls and other such.