Vegetable Oil for High Heat

[Shel_B]

I need a vegetable oil that will stand up to very high heat (500-degrees F) for a Pan Seared Rib Eye I plan to make. When watching the show that described the technique, I believe that both peanut oil and safflower oil were recommended (it was 2:00am and I was not paying 100% attention when the cooking oils were mentioned), yet the web page on which the technique was posted mentioned canola oil for this project. So, what's the best oil for such high heat?

shel

[SundaySous]

I'd have to go with sunflower oil. I think my smoke alarm will back me up on this.

[Tri2Cook]

Use whichever of those you have handy. Get the pan as hot as you want it and film it with the oil at the last second. You'll be fine. Pretty much any refined oil will hold up long enough for a quick sear.

Edit: Since smoke alarms were mentioned I'll add the disclaimer that there will be some smoke no matter what you use at 500 F (possible exception of safflower or avocado if you don't let the temp go much above that and don't let it sit in the pan too long). If you oil it at the last second and toss in the beef for a sear on each side it won't be too bad with the other oils. I've never set off my alarm searing a steak and I use canola quite often.

Edited October 20, 2007 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Meridian]

You can use grape seed oil but it can be expensive. It is also supposed to be very good for you fresh ie on salads etc. All I know is that they use it alot in Europe and it has a high smoke point. If anyone knows more I'd love to know.

[Shel_B]

You can use grape seed oil but it can be expensive. It is also supposed to be very good for you fresh ie on salads etc.  All I know is that they use it alot in Europe and it has a high smoke point. If anyone knows more I'd love to know.

←

Since posting the question I found the following information. Thanks for all the replies.

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/...temid=42&id=571

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedIn...SmokePoints.htm

Shel

[qrn]

You can use grape seed oil but it can be expensive. It is also supposed to be very good for you fresh ie on salads etc.  All I know is that they use it alot in Europe and it has a high smoke point. If anyone knows more I'd love to know.

←

Since posting the question I found the following information. Thanks for all the replies.

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/...temid=42&id=571

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedIn...SmokePoints.htm

Shel

←

for searing steaks ,,,,, A cast iron pan. A light sprinksle of salt on the bottom. No oil.

Heat it up till the salt starts to "pop", (ie. really hot, at least 600ºf) you will get a great crust and an even greater steak....

(make sure your exhaust fan is on hi....)

Bud

[infernooo]

You can use grape seed oil but it can be expensive. It is also supposed to be very good for you fresh ie on salads etc.  All I know is that they use it alot in Europe and it has a high smoke point. If anyone knows more I'd love to know.

←

Since posting the question I found the following information. Thanks for all the replies.

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/...temid=42&id=571

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedIn...SmokePoints.htm

Shel

←

for searing steaks ,,,,, A cast iron pan. A light sprinksle of salt on the bottom. No oil.

Heat it up till the salt starts to "pop", (ie. really hot, at least 600ºf) you will get a great crust and an even greater steak....

(make sure your exhaust fan is on hi....)

Bud

←

I think for this to work the steak needs quite a bit of marbling/fat on it. Otherwise you end up with a weird looking crust that isn't as flavourful as when using a light film of oil.

[markk]

I've tried all the aforementioned oils, and if I can make a suggestion for the tastiest steak of all - use some beef fat. If there's gratuitous fat on the steak, you can trim a little off and heat it in the pan as you would the oil, and if there's not, ask for some - the butcher, and even the butcher department at the supermarket will give you some. Get your pan good and hot, and then throw the fat in to melt, and when it's good and hot, add your steaks. If you think about it, the tastiest parts of the steak are where the fat crisps - now you can have that crisp all over your steak.

And though you didn't ask, I'll throw in an additional trick of mine - I take some cake cooling racks and heat them up in my oven. Then I cook the steaks in the hot pan of fat until they have a fantastic char on both sides. Then I lift them up (without piercing them) with a hot spatula, and using oven mitts, slide the hot cake racks under them and turn the pan off. This gives them a good ten-twelve minutes to rest and for them to finish cooking through (I like them rare) and it works great - although people say to put them in the oven, I think that just cooking them to almost the desired doneness in the pan gets you the crispiest steak, and this method lets them rest perfectly as well.

Anyway, that's how I make my ribeyes.

I've gotten some off-flavors from oils, at least flavors that I don't like in my steak.

[Bueno]

Couldn't peanut oil work here, or am I a total twat for missing something? It'll smoke at 450, but so will everything else suggested thus far (or way sooner), including beef and other animal fats which may be delicious but not suited for those temperatures. And remember, the poster didn't ask which fat is the tastiest to cook steak with. The crucial element we're trying to address is cooking temperature, and not flavour. The poster also requested a "vegetable oil", which I assume means horse fat is out.

Ghee is another option (clarified butter) and would be my fat of choice for high-heat application.

The only fat I'm aware that won't be smoking over 500F is Avocado Oil.

[Shel_B]

Couldn't peanut oil work here, or am I a total twat for missing something?  It'll smoke at 450, but so will everything else suggested thus far (or way sooner), including beef and other animal fats which may be delicious but not suited for those temperatures.  And remember, the poster didn't ask which fat is the tastiest to cook steak with.  The crucial element we're trying to address is cooking temperature, and not flavour.  The poster also requested a "vegetable oil", which I assume means horse fat is out.

Ghee is another option (clarified butter) and would be my fat of choice for high-heat application.

The only fat I'm aware that won't be smoking over 500F is Avocado Oil.

←

And certain safflower oils. See the charts I posted.

The "original poster" was happy to read all the suggestions for preparing rib eye steak, and got some ideas for, perhaps, future adventures cooking that cut of meat.

The technique that I'll be using does not create much smoke, even with canola oil, at least not on the two test pieces of meat I tried. Very little oil is used in the method I've chosen, in fact, one piece of meat was made with almost no oil at all. In any case, no oil is used in the pan, only a very, very small amount is used on the steak.

Ghee might be worth looking into as a possibility. I'll investigate that.

Kind regards,

shel

[Shalmanese]

I need a vegetable oil that will stand up to very high heat (500-degrees F) for a Pan Seared Rib Eye I plan to make. When watching the show that described the technique, I believe that both peanut oil and safflower oil were recommended (it was 2:00am and I was not paying 100% attention when the cooking oils were mentioned), yet the web page on which the technique was posted mentioned canola oil for this project. So, what's the best oil for such high heat?

shel

←

I've switched to cooking my steaks at a medium temperature in a generous amount of butter. Great crust, great flavour and no smoking up the kitchen.

[rlibkind]

for searing steaks ,,,,, A cast iron pan. A light sprinksle of salt on the bottom. No oil.

Heat it up till the salt starts to "pop", (ie. really hot, at least 600ºf) you will get a great crust and an even greater steak.... 

(make sure your exhaust fan is on hi....)

Bud

←

I think for this to work the steak needs quite a bit of marbling/fat on it. Otherwise you end up with a weird looking crust that isn't as flavourful as when using a light film of oil.

←

Shel_B plans to cook a rib eye. A rib eye isn't worth cooking unless it's well-marbled and has sufficient fat. I vote for the no-fat/cast-iron pan method (if you can't use a grill). Just let the meat sit undisturbed for two minutes on the first side, then you can move it around if you must.

[Mikeb19]

I need a vegetable oil that will stand up to very high heat (500-degrees F) for a Pan Seared Rib Eye I plan to make. When watching the show that described the technique, I believe that both peanut oil and safflower oil were recommended (it was 2:00am and I was not paying 100% attention when the cooking oils were mentioned), yet the web page on which the technique was posted mentioned canola oil for this project. So, what's the best oil for such high heat?

shel

←

I've switched to cooking my steaks at a medium temperature in a generous amount of butter. Great crust, great flavour and no smoking up the kitchen.

←

Agreed. For a steak cooked in a pan, nothing beats butter. Heat up some butter in a pan until its brown and frothy (which will happen at medium-ish heat, just give it some time), toss the steak in, baste constantly.

I also like cooking steaks under a broiler, it's nice and easy, great crust.

[Bueno]

Agreed. For a steak cooked in a pan, nothing beats butter. Heat up some butter in a pan until its brown and frothy (which will happen at medium-ish heat, just give it some time), toss the steak in, baste constantly.

I also like cooking steaks under a broiler, it's nice and easy, great crust.

←

Agreed on both counts. But if I want a higher heat (thinner steak) I use Ghee (clarified butter).

[paulraphael]

I've always used clarified butter. Works great at high or medium heat.

The beef fat idea is an interesting one; I'd be inclined to render it first into tallow, so you won't have any of the parts in the pan that might burn and cause off flavors.

I agree with doing all the cooking in the pan at high heat, and allowing the meat to cook through to rare while resting. But when I'm cooking for myself or close friends, I always want rare. I can see how finishing in the oven could be a valuable step for restaurants, where they need to prepare steaks at different levels of doneness. They can brown them all the same on the stove, and just have oven times dialed in for different cuts and different results.