The other night my husband and I went on a date to our favorite Thai restaurant…possibly our last date as a married couple with no children as I’m due to have a baby sometime in the next couple weeks!  The fan in the restaurant kitchen was broken, which caused waves of smoke to billow out into the eating area.  I thought something was on fire, but then realized that the smoke is a normal occurrence in many restaurants because the frying areas are at such high heat that the cooking oil is constantly smoking so the fan is an absolute necessity.  Yikes!!! 

When an oil is heated to its smoke point, that means it is highly damaged and full of free radicals (molecules that cause aging and disease).  Below is a link to a list of oils and their smoke points, apparently compiled by an engineer that also likes to cook.  I don’t completely agree with his definition of refined oils (he defines them as oils with impurities removed, where in actuality refined oils also have nutrients and healthy fats removed and may be rancid prior to processing) but it is still very interesting info.  Enjoy reading, and happy new year!

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/50/Smoke-Points-of-Various-Fats

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