Peanut Oil

[Franci]

We were talking about this in the Italian forum. Italians just use two oils for frying: extra virgin (I don't want to get into this topic ) and peanut oil.

Peanut oil is very cheap in Italy, it withstands higher temperature than other veg oils and has a pretty neutral taste. So, I am very curious to know, why is so expensive in the States or even here in the UK?

In the past, I bought peanut oil from Asian stores in the States and to me it has a strong peanut taste, I am guessing it depends on how the oil gets refined.

Any toughts?

Edited September 19, 2006 by Franci (log)

[annanstee]

I am not sure why it would be more expensive here, but I do know that there has been a decrease in production in most edible oils- an exception being soy.

I would also guess that soybean and corn production is huge in the US, and packs some economic lobbying punch if the HFCS stranglehold on the processed foods mkt is any indication. There may be some subsidies of corn/soy/canola as a result too making peanut oil able to compete price wise. Also, the above three crops are GMO modified, which may makes it more efficient production wise. Of course, GMO's are a whole other can of worms.

[johnsmith45678]

Good question -- peanut butter isn't expensive (maybe it's cheaper elsewhere too?) here. You'd think the production of peanut butter and oil is related...

[annanstee]

You would think,

Although Peanut Butter as a product is not competing with the Corn/Soy/Canola juggernaut...

Its a conspiracy

[srhcb]

supply & demand

[annanstee]

But then why would it be cheaper in Italy?

[srhcb]

I'm not an expert on the cooking oil markets, but in Italy the ready availability of olive oil could help to constrain the price of peanut oil, although I doubt if it would be a significant amount.

Also, do we have current Italian pricing, or are we maybe comparing last year's price in Italy to current prices elsewhere?

More likely the US has controls on peanut/peanut oil imports. (the peanut lobby is pretty strong) In years of tight supply this would tend to exaggerate price discrepencies.

Goverments can screw up supply and demand pretty badly, ie: this

SB (sugar is a good example)

Edited September 19, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[gfron1]

Has anyone else had the LeBlanc roasted peanut oil...absolutely incredible! I'd pay the price for that stuff.

[Gabriel Lewis]

While I find that peanut oil is more expensive than other basic oils such as corn, soy, canola etc, I do not find it overly so. Peanut oil is one of my primary oils so I buy it in bulk, I can get a 2700mL carton of peanut oil for about 15$ canadian, which I think is very reasonable.

I suspect that the reason that peanut oil is more expensive is related to simple processing costs as well as supply and demand and lobbying. Nuts are expensive to grow and process, and while peanuts lie on the cheap end of the spectrum, they are still much more expensive to produce than mass grown crops like corn, soy, or canola.

There are many different types of peanut oil. European/western peanut oils tend to be lighter in color and blander, with a very neutral taste. I believe this is because they are pressed at higher temperatures and go through a greater refining process than many asian peanut oils. Chinese peanut oil tends to be darker with a strong peanut taste. My favorite brand of peanut oil is Lion & Globe from hong kong, it has a rich peanutty colour and fills the kitchen with the aroma of peanuts when heated.

I am curious as to anyone knows the details of processing peanut oil? It doesn't seem that some of the oils I've used could come from raw peanuts.

My personal feeling is that peanut oil should taste and smell like peanuts. I prefer peanut oils that are pressed at low temperatures and refined minimally. If I don't want a peanut taste in a certain dish but am looking for a neutral oil, I tend to prefer corn or perhaps canola. In her book Classic Indian Cooking Julie Sahni talks about peanut oil in India. Apparently at one time (and perhaps still) people would bring sacks of peanuts to a specialized oil-pressing shop and have the peanuts pressed in front of them. They would then take the oil home in glazed jugs.

[miladyinsanity]

There are many different types of peanut oil. European/western peanut oils tend to be lighter in color and blander, with a very neutral taste. I believe this is because they are pressed at higher temperatures and go through a greater refining process than many asian peanut oils. Chinese peanut oil tends to be darker with a strong peanut taste. My favorite brand of peanut oil is Lion & Globe from hong kong, it has a rich peanutty colour and fills the kitchen with the aroma of peanuts when heated.

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It's for this very reason that I dislike peanut oil.

It annoys me to no end when my mom buys peanut oil without me knowing, and when I fry something, or make...say, scrambled eggs and my eggs have a peanutty taste!

[Parmhero]

Peanut oil and extra virgin olive oil are pretty much the only ones I use. I go through a fair amount of peanut oil. It is actually hard to find sometimes. Stores that do sell it tend to sell only Mr. Peanut brand in 24 oz. plastic containers. And it costs $4.29 to $4.99 for 24 oz. (1.5 pints). There used to be a Hollywood brand peanut oil sold, but it's disappeared. I can also get more obscure brands of peanut oil in larger containers in some Asian food stores.

Edited September 21, 2006 by Parmhero (log)

[cliveb]

Peanut oil and extra virgin olive oil are pretty much the only ones I use. I go through a fair amount of peanut oil. It is actually hard to find sometimes. Stores that do sell it tend to sell only Mr. Peanut brand in 24 oz. plastic containers. And it costs $4.29 to $4.99 for 24 oz. (1.5 pints). There used to be a Hollywood brand peanut oil sold, but it's disappeared. I can also get more obscure brands of peanut oil in larger containers in some Asian food stores.

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I buy Chinese peanut oil, which has a pronounced nutty flavour.I often use it with Canola oil ( which has no flavour at all) to stir fry Chinese food or to make Indian Pickles ( Mustard oil would be the natural choice, but it is completely unavailable here).

[ghostrider]

Peanut oil and extra virgin olive oil are pretty much the only ones I use. I go through a fair amount of peanut oil. It is actually hard to find sometimes. Stores that do sell it tend to sell only Mr. Peanut brand in 24 oz. plastic containers. And it costs $4.29 to $4.99 for 24 oz. (1.5 pints). There used to be a Hollywood brand peanut oil sold, but it's disappeared. I can also get more obscure brands of peanut oil in larger containers in some Asian food stores.

←

Some supermarkets have their own house brand of peanut oil - Shaw's does (or did a couple years ago). It was a bit cheaper than the Mr. Peanut brand but not a substantial bargain. I recall it being a bit lighter in color & flavor.

Haven't found any house brands here in Jersey. If Trader Joe's has one it might redeem them.

[adegiulio]

I just bought 35 lbs of pure peanut oil from Sams Club for 27 bucks. At 7.7 pounds per gallon, that's 5.94 a GALLON. That's not expensive at all. Of course, the container is huge and unwieldy, but pouring it into a smaller container and leaving the rest in the garage is simple enough...

[cdh]

Isn't peanut oil one of the prime things that go into those 10 Gallon turkey fryers? I can recall seeing gallons of the stuff in sporting goods stores next to the turkey fryers at a price that did not shock me. What is interesting is that despite this clear abundance, grocery stores do only carry peanut oil in the little expensive bottles. Do they just not want the turkey fryer business, or do they think that people who shop in grocery store and people who fry turkeys are mutually exclusive?

[adegiulio]

Isn't peanut oil one of the prime things that go into those 10 Gallon turkey fryers?  I can recall seeing gallons of the stuff in sporting goods stores next to the turkey fryers at a price that did  not shock me.  What is interesting is that despite this clear abundance, grocery stores do only carry peanut oil in the little expensive bottles.  Do they just not want the turkey fryer business, or do they think that people who shop in grocery store and people who fry turkeys are mutually exclusive?

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You are exactly right, they do suggest using peanut oil. It is for that reason that made me look at Sam's club for it. True, in our local supermarket it is sold in small bottles and is quite expensive. In this case, it is purely marketing at work.

[srhcb]

A supermarket item must sell x number of units, in y amount of time, at z markup in order to justify it's shelf space.

While it's quite possible a person might pick up peanut oil on their same trip to the store to buy a turkey to deep fry, it's quite unlikely a normal shopper would ever toss a 35 pound jug of oil into their cart in the course of regular shopping?

(x x z)/y = less than the cost of space

Edited September 24, 2006 by srhcb (log)