I use very little oil and use canola. I buy olive oil but dont use it bc I dont like olives. I also have Spectrum canola, which I think is for high heat. I like bland, neutral canola as I want to taste the purer taste of the food. A bottle lasts a long time here.

I most often use Olive oil as well. I also buy "light tasting" Olive oil when I want a lighter taste. For the times I want to do a deeper fry, I use canola. I used to use corn oil, but it now seems heavy to me and adds a definite taste to what is cooked with it.

I love olive oil but never heat it. I use it in dressings and stuff,never for cooking. For cooking,I use canola. Usually I just get the store brand.

I like California Olive Ranch EVOO for everyday use. I like their Arbequina for salad dressings and fresh uses.

https://californiaoliveranch.com/home-cooks/

I stir fry and pop corn with LouAna peanut oil or their coconut oil.

http://www.louana.com/product-categories.aspx

Have toasted sesame seed oil in the fridge for marinades and various Asian dishes.

I use avocado oil as a neutral oil, and it also has a very high smoke point. My second choice would be grape seed oil, which is a bit cheaper. Both have very neutral flavors.

Evoo mostly, a little canola when oo won't do. Pistachio, walnut, almond, sesame, peanut for salad dressings, to drizzle on veggies, Chinese cooking. I like mixing butter and evoo.

Grapeseed is my general purpose oil of choice for baking and no added flavor. I do like avocado oil, but it is a bit expensive for frequent use. I also like peanut oil for stir-fry or the very rare deep fry but do not keep it on hand because deep frying is so rare and there is only so much room in the pantry. I do use coconut oil a lot for stir-fry but it is definitely not a neutral oil.

We might deep fry once a year, and I'll buy oil just for that special occasion, and I use the neutral oil more for baking or for a very light salad dressing. And I have sesame oil, but that's a flavor thing, not an oil thing. Oh, and I think that I might need to give the dog a spoonful with his meals because his coat seems dry. And like many of you, no room in the pantry for assorted oils. Thanks for all the responses!

The LouAna peanut and coconut oils I use are both neutral. No aroma or taste.

Always EVOO....mostly everything but high heat frying and then I use canola. I keep coco nut oil....for cooking and for a cosmetic and chili oil and a couple fo different sesame oils.
Olive oil doesn't taste like olives......and extra light olive oil doesn't taste like much of anything.

I use Extra Light Olive Oil for most general cooking tasks. It doesn't have the solids that make EVOO special, and thereby has a higher smoke point and a neutral flavor, at least with vegetables. For frying, the only oil I really like is safflower, though I'll use sunflower in a pinch. For Middle Eastern food, I use sesame oil, but it's the opposite of neutral.

Coconut oil all the way! Healthy option. I have noticed a really big difference in my health since i have added coconut to my diet.

Avocado oil mostly (especially since Costco started carrying it). It's great for frying and salad dressings. And coconut oil and olive oil...depending on what I'm making. And good old butter from grass-fed cows, but that's not very neutral, lol.

For high heat cooking, coconut oil or home rendered lard. For cooking with low heat, olive oil.

I use LouAna coconut oil or their safflower oil, and TJ's Kalamata olive oil for everything low heat. I wish we had the LouAna peanut oil here, but that's one our Publix doesn't carry.

I've been using grape seed oil for high heat. EVOO for low heat/no heat. Canola was my go-to but I'm buying smaller bottles now, and I don't seem to even get through those before they go rancid. The coconut oil discussions here made me dizzy so I was never clear on what to buy that's healthy and no coconut taste.

We mostly use a blend of 70% rice bran oil and 30% safflower oil. Also, some EVOO - either 365 California or TJ's Greek.

Canola for high heat and baking, olive oil, organic coconut oil from Aldi for popcorn and some stir fries where I want the coconut flavor (shrimp & cabbage). DH likes to use coconut oil & honey on his toast in the mornings. I like peanut oil for fried chicken. Toasted sesame oil for flavoring. I have a bottle of grapeseed oil that is infused with hot peppers so it's mainly used for flavoring. Also have a can of walnut oil in the refrigerator but don't know what to use it for.

I have been using avocado oil a lot for a neutral oil (that can also take heat). I have used grape seed oil for high heat, but some of the research indicates that the avocado may be better, but I'm not 100% on that page at this point. So, both are in my house.

Coconut oil is here too for high heat, but I tend to use it more for foods where the flavor is not dominating due to the other ingredients being potent in their own right (and I do have one friend who is highly allergic to coconut, so it certainly does not come out then!) Sesame is for a splash of flavor in Asian foods, and extra virgin olive oil is for quick cooking or salad dressings. I look for brands of EVOO that have been declared REAL EVOO.

As always, your milage may differ. But I don't buy "vegetable oil" or canola any more.

Someone gave me a can of walnut oil, and I don't know what to do with it, as I have problems eating tree nuts. I do not know if the oil itself would be a problem, and I haven't been in the experimental mood... I should probably just pass it on!

Yes, pass it on. Walnut oil has a very short shelf life, incidentally.

I'm really skeptical of EVOO because so much of what we buy isn't even though it's labeled as such.

IAC, I do use EVOO, but don't like it for high-heat applications. I do use sunflower oil, peanut oil, coconut oil and ghee.

I use a mix of California Olive oils, Grapeseed oil, Sunflower Oil and Palm Oil. I don't like coconut oil at all so I avoid it. Even de-scented coconut oil has a lingering smell. I use Avocado oil when I can find it.

Even de-scented coconut oil has a lingering smell.

FWIW, the LouAna that I use is a totally neutral kind of oil--no smell, no taste.

We switched to canola oil about 17 years ago, when I ran out of plain vegetable oil while in Canada. Canola oil was cheaper there, and I remember being pleasantly surprised as to how light it was in comparison to plain vegetable oil. We've never switched back, which my RD (and hubby's cardiologist) says is a good thing. I also use olive oil. Whenever a recipe calls for butter or margarine, I examine it to see if olive oil would be a good change.

Donna

Writersblock,

I have smelled the LouAna and it does have a coconut scent that is sweet and heady. I have a very strong sense of smell so I can still smell it. It is okay, I love coconut milk and coconut water without the overly heady smell of coconut.

1. Olive 2. Canola 3. Peanut (for frying) 4. Nut oils for some salad dressings, at least in part.

We went minimal a few years ago. No longer tempted by various nut oils or too many choices. I need longer shelf life that coconut has. But the Costco avocado is so good and really does cook at high heat better than any other....very neutral. So it is Avocado for most searing and sautéing. A good olive oil for dressings, hummus, minimal tossing on some roasted just-out-of-the-oven steamed or roasted veg. Nice flavor if sourced from good suppliers.

Toasted sesame oil, tiny bottle, in the fridge door for asian meals/dressings.

Good butter in the freezer when we want that flavor.

We just don't use much oil so i don't look at price. I don't make my dressings with all that oil recipes require. Don't care for oily salad.

Before buying into any study of EVOO, find out what the methodology is. Some just measure the solids and don't take into account that improper storage (light and heat) can turn EVOO into plain old OO. While there is fraud in oils just as there is in wine, most companies are just trying to put out good products. Just like wine, however, EVOO can easily be ruined by bad handling.

I haven't tried the fridge crystal test mentioned in AD's link, but there's a much easier way to tell if it's EVOO, unless you're a smoker or otherwise aroma-impared. Open the bottle and smell it! If it smells strongly floral, it's probably EVOO. Pour out a little. If it's a rich, dark, almost velvetty looking, green or gold-green, it's probably EVOO. Taste it. If it tastes of fruit and flowers, smells of flowers and is a color rich with all the olive solids that make EVOO what it is, it's EVOO. As it ages, before it goes rancid, it'll lose the floweriness and just taste olivey, and if it isn't stored in the dark and coolth it may lighten in color. Call it olive oil and use it up, and get a new bottle for dressings, etc.

Regular olive oil is a clear, green-olive color, has much less scent, and the scent it has is olive. They make it from light olive oil and EVOO, or the solids from EVOO. Light/Extra light, olive oil is a light green/gold color with very little scent. What scent it has is mostly just kind of "green" (i.e., vegetation). It has none of the solids and is just oil.

I keep small bottles of Italian and Spanish EVOO for salads, pizza and gazpacho. Small, so they'll be used up before they lose their oomph.

I have smelled the LouAna and it does have a coconut scent that is sweet and heady.

That's incorrect! LouAna coconut oil has no aroma or taste.

http://www.louana.com/product-detail.aspx?productID=75

CindyMac,

We will agree to disagree. I have an extreme sense of smell and can smell alcohol on someone who had a drink 24hours before. Coconut oil is not for me.

Forgot about other oils like Sesame Oil (Toasted and Untoasted), Mustard Seed Oil and Pistachio Oil for salad dressing.

I have an excellent sense of smell as well. There is no scent to LouAna's coconut oil. Other coconut oils, yes. LouAna, no.

Thank you CindyMac. That's certainly my experience.

I too decided to simplify. Peanut oil for deep frying, light olive oil for baking and grilling and sauteeing, and coconut oil for skin lotion and once and a while for frying. EVOO for salads. Oh yeah, I do have some of that sesame oil for a flavor for Asian dishes. I've been using an organic palm oil margarine for cookie baking, I do half margarine and half butter or 2/3 butter 1/3 margarine. I'd use lard for pie crusts if I made them, but I usually use a store bought crust.

I like Sciabica's olive oil from California, so I don't worry that it's not really olive oil, plus I'm buying from a farmer and not a big corporation, so that makes me happier.

I do render my own lard and use that for a lot of things. Yes, I have one of those "grease jars" too, an old aluminum with a black lid that says "grease" on it. I also like butter.

I use coconut oil occasionally, and got away from canola oil and blends entirely when I started becoming more concerned about genetically engineered/genetically modified ingredients. Like sleevendog, I also buy avocado oil.

So, I use a mix of various oils, but tend to just grab whatever is close at hand.

Annie