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🧈 Fats & Oils

🍳 Cooking Oils

✅ With Cooking Oils, Look For

  • Grass fed butter
  • Grass fed ghee
  • Grass finished beef tallow
  • Extra virgin olive oil (authentic)
  • Extra virgin avocado oil (authentic)

⚠️ With Cooking Oils, Caution With

  • Coconut oil (due to high saturated fat content)
  • Red palm oil (minimally processed, but high in saturated fats)
  • Flaxseed oil (only cold use)
  • Sesame oil (fine in small amounts, not high heat)

🚫 With Cooking Oils, Avoid

Avoid especially for high heat cooking:

  • Canola oil
  • Corn oil
  • Cottonseed oil
  • Grapeseed oil
  • Hemp seed oil
  • Palm oil
  • Rice bran oil
  • Safflower oil
  • Sesame oil
  • Soybean oil
  • Margarine
  • Low-quality commodity butter

🫒 Olive Oil

✅ With Olive Oil, Look For

  • Date and location for the harvest; check if you can scan a QR code to trace the production chain
  • Look up for seals from a third-party certifier, tester or consortium, like DOP or IGP

⚠️ With Olive Oil, Caution With

  • Domestic (US) is typically safe from adulteration, but may not be 100% extra virgin
  • Imported (EU) may be adulterated with other low-quality oils or not 100% extra virgin
  • Greek olive oils from small farms tend to be of highest quality, while Italian or Spanish may be more difficult to ascertain

🚫 With Olive Oil, Avoid

  • Mass-produced imported olive oils (higher risk of adulteration)
  • Products without harvest date or traceability

Olive oil fraud is rampant. It used to be isolated to Italy, but now most of the EU has been affected due to increased demand and poor crop yields:

👉 Focus on brands with transparency, third-party testing, or direct sourcing.

🫒 Olive Oil Options

🧈 Butter / Ghee

✅ With Butter, Look For

  • High butterfat content (>80% butterfat)
  • Pasture raised + 100% Grass fed
  • Deeper yellow color
  • Additive free
  • PFAS-free

🚫 With Butter, Avoid

  • Low-quality butter with added flavoring or coloring
  • Grain-fed, conventional sources

💡 Dairy Tip:

🧈 Salted vs Unsalted Butter

Both can be fine, but the choice depends on use and quality.

🧂 Salted Butter

Pros:

  • Better taste for direct use (toast, vegetables, etc.)
  • Longer shelf life
  • Often more convenient

Considerations:

  • Salt can mask lower-quality butter
  • Sodium content varies by brand

⚪ Unsalted Butter

Pros:

  • More control over salt levels (especially for cooking)
  • Typically fresher (shorter shelf life → faster turnover)
  • Preferred for baking

🧠 What Actually Matters Most for Butter Types

Choose high-quality butter first. Salted vs unsalted is secondary.

Prioritize:

  • Grass-fed / pasture-raised
  • Minimal processing
  • Clean sourcing

🧭 Practical Approach to Butter

  • Use salted butter for everyday eating
  • Use unsalted butter when cooking or baking

👉 Both are fine if sourced well.

🧈 Butter Options

🧈 Ghee Options

🫒 Oils For Finishing (Not Cooking)

Not all oils should be used the same way.

Some oils are best used raw or low-heat only to preserve quality and avoid degradation.

🧠 Core Finishing Oil Principle

Use delicate oils raw. Heat destroys their benefits and can create harmful byproducts.

✅ For Finishing Oils, Look For

🫒 Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

  • Rich in antioxidants and polyphenols
  • Minimally processed
  • Best used raw or low heat

Use for:

  • Salads
  • Vegetables
  • Drizzling over cooked meals

⚠️ Optional: Specialty Oils (Small Batch)

Examples:

  • Garlic-infused olive oil
  • Chili oil (clean ingredients only)

⚠️ Use sparingly and ensure clean sourcing

⚖️ Consider These Finishing Oils

Avocado Oil (High Quality Only)

  • More heat-stable than olive oil
  • Neutral flavor

⚠️ Quality varies widely—many are adulterated.

🚫 Avoid / Limit These Finishing Oils

🛢️Seed Oils (Especially for Finishing)

  • Canola
  • Soybean
  • Corn
  • Sunflower (refined)
  • Vegetable oil blends

👉 Highly processed and prone to oxidation.

🛢️ Low-Quality Olive Oil

  • Adulterated or diluted products are common
  • Often mislabeled as “extra virgin”

⚠️ Quality matters significantly.

🧠 How to Choose Olive Oil

Look for:

  • Extra Virgin (not “light” or refined)
  • Dark glass bottle (protects from light)
  • Harvest date (freshness matters)
  • Single-origin or transparent sourcing

🧭 Finishing Oil Storage Matters

  • Keep in dark glass bottles
  • Store away from heat and light
  • Do not keep near the stove

🧭 Finishing Oil Minimalist Setup (What You Actually Need)

  • 1 high-quality olive oil
  • Optional: 1 specialty oil

That’s enough.

Focus on quality, freshness, and transparency, not quantity.

🫒 EVOO Options (Primary)

🫒 Premium / Small Batch EVOO Options (Optional Upgrade)

🥑 Avocado Oil (If Using as Finishing)

⚠️ Final Finishing Oil Thought

Oils are highly sensitive to heat, light, and processing.

Treat high-quality oils as a finishing ingredient—not a cooking workhorse.