Cooking with olive oil

The most repeated sentence about olive oil in the kitchen is: "Don't fry with olive oil, its smoke point is too low." This is a generalisation built on partial information.

What is the smoke point?

Extra virgin olive oil generally smokes at 190–210 °C. In a home kitchen, sautéing, roasting and pan cooking mostly happen around 180 °C, and even deep frying usually sits in the 175–190 °C band. The ceiling is not as low as people assume.

What really matters: oxidative stability

How an oil behaves under heat is determined less by its smoke point than by its resistance to oxidation. Olive oil does well here: it is mostly monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) and carries natural antioxidants — polyphenols and vitamin E. An oil high in polyphenols holds up better under heat.

Practical guidance

• Raw: salads, mezze, finishing soups, bread. Aroma and polyphenols are fully preserved — this is the most valuable use.
• Sautéing and roasting: use it without hesitation.
• Frying: possible, but don't overheat the oil and don't keep using it once it smokes.
• Economy: save your high-polyphenol early-harvest oil for raw use and choose a more economical oil for frying.

One more thing

Every heated oil degrades over time. Reusing frying oil again and again is not healthy, whatever the oil.

The information on this page is general in nature and is not a substitute for medical advice.