Here’s the skinny on all your fats and oils.
Sometimes a recipe will call for a specific oil for finishing or flavoring. Other times you run into a situation we all face: a recipe that calls for a cooking/frying oil you don’t have.
You’re preparing something stir-fried and the recipe calls for peanut oil, but you don’t have any. You’ve got some butter and some light olive oil, though: Can you use one for a substitute or do you need to go to the store?
Toasted oils or unrefined oils tend to have a lower smoke point; they’re more often used for seasoning or finishing. They also aren’t interchangeable with lighter, more refined oils, which don’t carry as much flavor and have much higher smoke points. These are more often interchangeable.
Here’s a handy list of cooking fats and oils and their smoke points. You can sort them by name or by the smoke point temperature.
Oil | (ºF) |
---|---|
Almond Oil | 420º |
Avocado Oil, Refined | 520º |
Bacon Fat | 325º |
Beef Fat (Suet) | 400º |
Butter | 300º |
Butter, Clarifed (Ghee) | 482º |
Butter, Clarified | 450º |
Canola (Rapeseed) Oil, High Oleic | 475º |
Canola (Rapeseed) Oil, Refined | 470º |
Canola (Rapeseed) Oil, Semirefined | 350º |
Chicken Fat (Schmaltz) | 325º |
Coconut Oil | 350º |
Coconut Oil, Refined | 450º |
Corn Oil | 320º |
Corn Oil, Refined | 450º |
Cottonseed | 420º |
Duck Fat (Schmaltz) | 325º |
Flax Oil | 225º |
Goose Fat (Schmaltz) | 325º |
Grapeseed Oil | 420º |
Hazelnut Oil | 430º |
Hemp Seed Oil | 330º |
Lard | 370º |
Macadamia Oil | 390º |
Margarine | 320º |
Mustard Seed Oil | 482º |
Olive Oil, Extra Light | 486º |
Olive Oil, Extra Virgin | 410º |
Olive Oil, Light | 486º |
Olive Pomace | 238º |
Palm Kernel Oil | 450º |
Palm Oil | 450º |
Peanut Oil | 320º |
Peanut Oil, Refined | 450º |
Pumpkin Seed Oil | 320º |
Rice Bran Oil | 490º |
Safflower Oil | 225º |
Safflower Oil, Refined | 510º |
Safflower Oil, Semirefined | 320º |
Sesame Oil | 350º |
Sesame Oil, Semirefined | 450º |
Sesame Oil, Toasted | 225º |
Soy | 320º |
Soy, Refined | 450º |
Soy, Semirefined | 350º |
Sunflower Oil | 225º |
Sunflower Oil, High Oleic | 320º |
Sunflower Oil, High Oleic, Refined | 450º |
Sunflower Oil, Refined | 440º |
Vegetable Oil | 400º |
Vegetable Shortening | 360º |
Walnut Oil | 320º |
Walnut, Semirefined | 400º |
Wheat Germ Oil | 225º |
Pine Seed Oil | 225º |