Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A Delicious and Nutritious Choice
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Many people choose extra virgin olive oil for cooking simply for the delicious flavour and aroma that it adds to any dish but beyond its culinary use, it is also incredibly nutritious and acts as a wonderful health supplement that helps us to feel full and satisfied for longer, which can be an important aid in weight loss.
The Governor is an early harvest oil, meaning it is produced from young, green unripe olives that are high in healthful polyphenols. It delivers a robust aroma and flavour, with fresh grass, fruity, green olives notes, and balanced pungency. It has a spicy/pepperiness kick which is a positive sign of high polyphenol content.
Despite Mediterranean cultures using extra virgin olive oil for cooking for centuries, many people still question whether it is safe to use for cooking!
It is in fact a complete myth that extra virgin olive oil should only be used for finishing, drizzling and dipping and it's a myth that isn’t backed by evidence. On the other hand, there are many scientific studies that have proven that extra virgin olive is the safest and most stable oil to cook with.
What sets EVOO apart from other cooking with olive oil is its high phenolic content, and it is this that is directly related to the stability of the oil. It is these phenols that protect the oil from oxidation which would result in the oil turning rancid.
EVOO is an unrefined oil meaning. It is completely unprocessed. It retains all of its healthy phenolic compounds unlike refined oils that have been heat and chemically treated to remove impurities and contaminants which in turns leaves the oil devoid of its healthful polyphenols. This is why choosing a EVOO with a high phenolic content is important.
These antioxidant polyphenols increase the smoke point of the EVOO to temperatures around 190c for extra virgin and up to 230c for high phenolic olive oil. These temperatures cover all methods of home cooking, everything from sauteing, oven roasting and even deep frying.
Another myth is that the polyphenols antioxidants are completely degraded when heated. Studies show that when heated, polyphenols in particular, the most important oleocanthal remains stable when heated.
A study revealed in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that the extra virgin olive oil retained most of its healthful polyphenols even after heating for an extremely long period of time, 356°F (180 °C) for 36 hours. So even under test conditions that we wouldn’t usually use in our home kitchens, such as deep frying for extremely long periods of time and reusing the same oil several times over, EVOO still remains heat stable.
Studies also reveal that smoke points do not correlate with the stability of EVOO, for example EVOO with its moderate smoke point performed better than refined olive oil and avocado oil which have higher smoke points.
No other cooking oil contains the unique anti-inflammatory polyphenols in EVOO and therefore no other cooking oils has the benefits from the wonderful synergy that happens when you cook vegetables with EVOO olive oil. Studies show that when sauteing vegetables in EVOO, the antioxidant polyphenols transfer into the vegetables increasing their nutritional value, making them even healthier for you!
Choosing to cook with this deliciously healthy Mediterranean ingredient over other vegetable and seed oils is a safer, tastier and healthier choice.
The beneficial effect for the consumer according to the health claim is obtained with a daily intake of 20g (roughly 2 tbs) less (1tbsp) for a very high phenolic like the Governor.
Please keep away from heat and light. So store away from your oven and from the window. Preferably store in a dark cupboard, and if using our premium, please keep it in its protective box.
