It's one of the most common things people believe about olive oil: extra virgin is too delicate for cooking, so save it for salads and fry with something else.
It isn't true. Cooks across Spain, Italy and Greece have sautéed, roasted and fried in extra virgin olive oil for centuries, and modern research backs them up.
The smoke point myth
The worry usually comes from smoke point, the temperature at which an oil starts to smoke. Good extra virgin olive oil typically smokes at around 190–210°C. Fresh, low-acidity oils sit towards the top of that range.
Compare that with what you actually do in the kitchen:
- Gentle frying and sautéing: about 120–170°C.
- Roasting: the oven may be at 200°C, but the food and oil on it stay cooler.
- Deep frying: about 170–180°C.
Almost all home cooking happens below extra virgin olive oil's smoke point.
Smoke point isn't the whole story
What matters more is how stable an oil is: how well it resists breaking down when it's heated. Extra virgin olive oil does well here for two reasons:
- It's mostly monounsaturated fat, which is more resistant to heat damage than the polyunsaturated fats that dominate many seed oils.
- It contains natural antioxidants, including polyphenols and vitamin E, which protect the oil itself while it cooks.
In laboratory tests that heated common cooking oils for long periods, extra virgin olive oil has been found to be among the most stable of all, despite not having the highest smoke point.
What happens to the flavour
Heat softens bitterness and pepper and mutes the fresh, grassy aromas. A robust oil like ours keeps a warmth and depth that you'll notice in the finished dish, but if you want the full fresh flavour, add a little raw oil at the end as well.
That's the Italian way: one oil, used twice. Cook with it, then pour a little more over the plate.
Practical tips
- Don't let it smoke. That's true for every oil. If it smokes, turn the heat down.
- Frying: extra virgin olive oil makes wonderful fried potatoes, fish, vegetables and eggs. For deep frying, strain and reuse the oil only a couple of times.
- Roasting: toss vegetables in oil and salt before they go in. The oil helps them brown and crisp.
- Baking: use it in place of butter in many cakes, especially citrus, almond and chocolate ones.
Is it too expensive to cook with?
Not if you buy it the right way. A tablespoon of olive oil is about 13–15ml. From one of our 5 litre bag-in-box packs, that works out at roughly 30 cents a tablespoon, about the same as many supermarket "premium" oils, for fresh, single-estate organic oil.
That's why we offer large sizes. Cooking with great oil every day shouldn't be a luxury, and bag-in-box keeps it fresh while you work through it (see how to store olive oil).