Some recipes call for sautéing in olive oil, preferably extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for reasons of flavor and the reported health benefits. But there is no reason to reach for your high-end, expensive EVOO.
It seems that the special, subtle flavors of high-end EVOO pretty much all vanish when the oil is heated to sautéing temperatures. If you want to use olive oil, it is fine to use the less expensive everyday oil. Save your special, expensive oil for salads, dipping bread, and other non-heated uses. If you want that lovely olive oil flavor on cooked foods, drizzle a bit of the good stuff on after cooking, preferably while the food is still warm.
Olive oil has a lower smoke point than most other oils and as a result many people think you cannot use it for deep frying. Balderdash! This would be news to many Italians including the famous TV chef Mario Batali. Olive oil’s smoke point is about 375 degrees and most frying is done below that. Also, just because an oil smokes a little does not mean it is ruined.
Using olive oil for deep frying is undoubtedly expensive. The least expensive olive oil is, in my experience, about twice the cost of other oils that are used for frying such as peanut or canola. Plus you should discard the oil after a single use because the low smoke point means that the oil degrades more during that first use. So, you may never actually want to use olive oil for deep frying, but it is most certainly possible – and can give terrific results for some recipes!
