What properties of plant-based oils such as soybean, canola, peanut, and sunflower make them so useful for cooking?

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How does something from a plant make things like breadcrumbs and meat crispy and evenly cooked, albeit much higher in calories?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Water can never get hotter than 100C while cooking (water can be superheated but that’s generally not what happens in a kitchen)

Oil can be “wet” so it can cover food while being much hotter.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Oil serves as a medium for heat transfer from the pan to the food that is partially or wholy submerged in it. Without a liquid the food would only touch the pan at a few points. Oil can be heated to a high temperature while water is limited to 100°C. The Maillard chemical reactions that makes food brown or caramelized happen above 140°. Industrially produced oils are purified to remove components that decompose at lower temperatures or under exposure to sunlight such as free fatty acids.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They are naturally very bad for cooking and easily go rancid so they go through extensive refining which involves high temperatures and some chemicals. The process removes heat-sensitive ingredients so whatever’s left doesn’t go smoking in high temperatures.

They are very unhealthy, though, despite all the marketing to the contrary. Better use Lard, ghee or tallow.