We all have many staples in our pantries and in our kitchens. While we may have different cultural diets or dietary restrictions, there are many things that we just all use, whether it's for our main ingredients, or even to add as a garnish.
From salt and pepper to different oils and vinegar, I bet if we came into your kitchen we would find that we have a lot in common.
Olive oil is one of the most popular oils that people use in the kitchen. A lot of people use it to coat their pan before they fry something, that way they don't have to use butter.
From salad dressings to pasta, many use olive oil for a "final finish" on a meal. Mixing a salad with some olive oil and vinegar is a sure-fire way to class up a homemade salad. Or, if you want a lovely bowl of pasta but don't have sauce, people chop up some garlic, and then mix it with oil before pouring it over the pasta.
It's not only easy to cook with, but it's also vegan and accessible for everyone. I've never really gone into someone's kitchen and found that they didn't have olive oil. However, there are some people who apparently do not use olive oil at all in their kitchen.
Reddit user u/Suspicious-Account-9 asked Reddit users what is the one "cooking rule" that they choose to always ignore. That is to say, what is a rule in cooking that everyone follows that you don't follow at all—despite everyone else doing it.
Reddit user Robotick1 responded that while many recipes call for olive oil to cook with, he refuses to do so.
"I really don't see the point. It cost a lot more and it as such a low smoke point, its way too easy to burn your oil and then everything tastes weird," he wrote.
"I use vegetable oil for cooking. I keep a bottle of very nice olive oil to drizzle on top of things to finish them after they are cooked or to make marinade, but I don't cook with it," he continued on the Reddit thread.
squishybloo agreed that olive oil can make things taste strange at the temperature that they usually cook things at.
"Olive oil tastes weird at the temp that I fry things at, and canola oil smells weirdly of fish - even with a brand new bottle! Corn or peanut oil it is," they said.
"I use a cheap refined olive oil for most cooking (other than high-temperature stuff). I find it gives a warming and gentle background flavor whereas sunflower or vegetable oil can give food an unpleasant aftertaste.
Definitely wouldn't use olive oil for deep frying - not just due to its smoke point but also far too expensive," said teekay61.
"Sounds like you're using extra virgin olive oil - that's not meant for cooking.
In terms of smoke points - butter (302F), canola oil (400F), "normal, non-extra virgin" olive oil (400-470), vegetable oil (450), peanut oil (450)," shared Whites11783.
"Vegetable oil and other seed oils are very bad for your health. They are literally spoiled rotten but they process them in a way that hides the rancid smell," shared greenpoe.
If you do plan to cook with olive oil, a good rule of thumb is to research what temperature you need to cook your recipe at and then go from there. If you are frying at a high temperature, you may need a specific type.
The more you know!
