Olive Oil Smoking Point

During an easy run , a friend and I were chating about the benefit of olive oil.

Somehow he told me that he "fried things" with the olive oil. I thought may be
it wasn't such a good idea.


Sure, there were some sites on the net telling that heating olive oil wasn't that bad, and it only changes the flavour and not its chemical property.

Well, I would not take that for granted.

Here what I extract from a site about heating olive oil.



One of the main things to consider when evaluating whether it is OK to
heat oil is the smoke point of the oil, which is the temperature at
which visible gaseous vapor from the heating of oil becomes evident.

The smoke point of the oil is traditionally used as a marker for
when decomposition of oil begins to take place.
Since decomposition incurs chemical changes that may not only result
in reduced flavor and nutritional value but also the generation of
harmful compounds, it is important to not heat oil past its smoke point.

The smoking point for various oil is as follow:

Canola oil, unrefined 225°F
Canola oil, semirefined 350°F
Canola oil, refined 400°

Soy oil, unrefined 320°F
Soy oil, semirefined 350°F
Soy oil, refined 450°F

Sunflower oil, unrefined 225°F
Sunflower oil, semirefined 450°F
Sunflower oil, refined high-oleic 450°F

Before we discuss the specifics of the smoke point of olive oil,
let's clarify some terms used to define olive oils
since these terms are often a source of confusion for many people:

Extra-virgin: derived from the first pressing of the olives (has the most delicate flavor).

Fine virgin: created from the second pressing of the olives.

Refined oil: unlike extra-virgin and fine virgin olive oils,
which only use mechanical means to press the oil,
refined oil is created by using chemicals to extract the oil from the olives.



The information on olive oil smoke points is, unfortunately,
not very clear or consistent since different companies list
different smoke points for their olive oil products;
this variability most likely reflects differences in degree of processing.


Generally, the "smoke point of olive oil" ranges from 220-437°F.

Most commercial producers list their pure olive smoke points in the range of
425-450°F , while "light" olive oil products (which have undergone more processing) are listed at 468°F.

Manufacturers of extra virgin oil list their smoke points in a range
that starts "just under 200°F" and that extends all the way up to 406°F.

Again, the variability here is great, and most likely reflects
differences in the degree of processing.


In principle, organic, unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
should have the lowest smoke point of all forms of olive oil
since this form of the oil is the least refined.

Thus, for a natural, very high-quality extra virgin olive oil,
200-250°F is the "safer range" that reflects the most likely upper limit for
heating without excessive damage. In other words, this would allow the use
of extra virgin olive oil for making sauces, but not for 350°F baking or
higher temperature cooking.

It is best to add it to the dishes after they have been
cooked to enjoy the wonderful flavor and nutritional value of olive oil.