If you are a fan of frying food or making dressings, you know that the oil you use is critical in every dish that you make. However, you must choose the cooking oil that works best for the particular dish. Therefore, you need to know what good and bad cooking oil looks like. Here are a few steps that will help you to choose the best products for your baked or fried dishes.

1. Clarity

Cooking fats must have clarity whether you are using sunflower, olive, or palm oil. It must look pristine. There are several different ways that oils are purified, and they get clearer with every step in the process. For example, extra virgin olive oil comes from the first olives picked, but it is usually purified many times thus making it very smooth. Coconut oil is always thick and as a liquid it will have an off-white appearance.

2. Colour

The colour of the ingredient is vital when you start cooking. Coconut oil is an off-white colour, sunflower oil is a gold colour and palm oil is a deep transparent red. However, there are oils that simply do not meet the criteria for good quality oil. They look very pale, and they might have a reddish colour that is simply not appealing. Some of them also have items floating in them which are indications that the product has not been filtered properly.

3. Smell

Cooking oil should have an appetising smell and it needs to smell like the fruit it came from. Coconut oil has a hint of the tropics while sunflower oil smells like it came from a field. Olive oil smells like delicious Mediterranean food, and peanut oil smells like peanuts. Test the odour before use. If it does not smell like its namesake then you need to dispose of it.

4. Different Oils for Different Jobs

The option you use for cooking should be chosen based on the flavour they bring to each dish. The cooking oil adds flavour and aroma to the dish. Sunflower oil shouldn’t be used for baking but it is best for fried dishes and pastas. You cannot use olive oil for candying fruits. Choose the one that matches the dish you are making and check the quality before using it.

Each one you use to for cooking must be chosen for its quality, colour and aroma because that will be the difference in the flavour of the dish.