Cookbook:Oil and fat - eMyTextBooks

Cookbook:Oil and fat

Cookbook | Basic foodstuffs | Nutrition

Oils and fats, also called lipids, are one of the three basic types of calorie sources (with carbohydrates and proteins). With 9 calories per gram (38 kJ/g), lipids have the highest food energy content of the three.

For culinary purposes, the difference between oils and fats is that fats are solid at normal room temperature.

Which fat for what purpose

Not all fats are the same in taste or suitability for cooking.

Fats

• butter
• cocoa butter
• lard
• margarine
• shortening (including Crisco)
• spek
• strutto
• suet

Oils

• coconut oil
• corn oil
• cottonseed oil
• garlic oil
• ghee (India) = clarified butter (US)
• grape seed oil
• groundnut fruit oil (peanut oil)
• olive oil
• palm oil
• low erucic acid rapeseed oil (LEAR oil, marketed as Canola)
• safflower oil
• sesame oil
• soybean oil
• sunflower oil

See also

• For more in-depth discussion about fats and oils, see the module Biochemistry - Lipids in the Biochemistry textbook.