Which oil ?

[starsign]

What are the recommended cooking medium / oils / fats in Lchf ?

[walkerwally1]

Actually there are several.  You will probably hear about olive oil since we have been told for years that saturated fat is harmful.  I won't go into the fallacy of that here but you can research it.  Olive oil is great and healthy but not for cooking, it has a low smoke point and can actually be harmful when heated.  Some of the best oils are bacon grease, butter ( not margarine ! ), coconut oil if it's not heated too much and my favorite is avocado oil which has a smoke point over 400°.  The main point is that we have to get over the fear of fat that has been preached for over 40 years.  I've listed a few and there are more but you can do some research and probably find how many mare there are.

[Shanny]

Wally nailed it . . . all I have to add is that I use ghee quite a lot too. It also has a high smoke point & lovely buttery flavor. 

[BobIA41]

My wife does not like this, but I use butter and lard for cooking.  Yes, lard!  It does not change the flavor of foods and is actually good for you.

[Shanny]

I've been tempted to order online to get real pure natural leaf lard . . . anything that hasn't been hydrogenated. You may have just pushed me over the line, Bob! 

[starsign]

So, no vegetable oils ?
Thank you every one. We use ghee, but I think I need to start using it more. Coconut oil is available but it leaves a strong flavour to the food. Bacon fats might not be very welcome in the family, but I'll try.

[BobIA41]

Shanny,

My mother always used pork belly fats and would render it down.  Until my father was injured and could no longer butcher, we always had plenty, and mother always obtained extra from the two lockers near us.  I get mine from from a local family that does their own butchering and I render it. 

[bigskygal]

Nope, no vegetable oils.  I use ghee and butter a lot followed by Avocado oil.  I love shrimp fried in CO (coconut oil)!  And olive oil with apple cider vinegar or organic raw red wine vinegar on salads.  I do use a bit of sesame oil for flavor when I make chinese, but just a drop or two.

[Timewise]

When following LCHF I believe that eating food that tastes REALLY GOOD, is important because we do limit what we can eat.   One of the best cooks I ever knew is Emeril....and his slogan when cooking is "Pork Fat Rules"!

And he has it right, Lard and bacon grease make most things you cook taste exceptional.   Also, putting real butter on food also adds something special....

To be successful long-term on LCHF, many of us find ridding ourselves of the "ole demons" about fats is an important first step....

Good Luck

[Grammabear]

Is it possible to find pure nature lard in the store?  I remember my Grandma used to have a container of it on her stove top along with a container of bacon grease left from frying bacon for breakfast.

[Shanny]

I would bet pure lard is available in larger markets, but out here in the Ozarks all they have is big boxes of hydrogenated lard which can be packaged in cardboard and kept on the shelves.