Kitchen and practical use

In this guide

1. The rule that simplifies everything
2. For everyday cooking: stews, grilling and stir-frying
3. Can you fry with extra virgin olive oil?
4. For salads and raw dishes
5. In sweet dishes
6. If you can only have one bottle
7. How long it lasts and how to store it
8. Choosing without making mistakes

The question we hear most in the oleoteca isn't about polyphenols or designations. It's this one: "Can I use this for cooking?". The short answer is yes — a good extra virgin olive oil is suitable for everything. The long answer is that not all oils behave the same, and choosing the right oil for each use is the difference between cooking properly and cooking something that tastes like something.

The rule that simplifies everything

Always cook with extra virgin olive oil. And don't use the same oil for everything: that's the most common mistake we see, by far more than buying the wrong oil. An oil that's perfect for salad is wasted in the frying pan, and the one that withstands frying doesn't do justice to a carpaccio. With two well-chosen bottles —one for everyday use and one for raw dishes— you can handle almost any cooking.

For everyday cooking: stews, grilling and stir-frying

Below 150-180 °C, extra virgin olive oil offers a balance of flavour and stability that is difficult to match: stews, stir-frying and grilling are its natural domain.

The variety makes the difference. Picual brings intensity: grilled meats, oven dishes and stews with bold flavours — and for stews, it's best to avoid oils that are too mild, as they disappear when cooking. Hojiblanca, balanced and versatile, goes with almost everything, especially stir-fries. Cornicabra, aromatic and stable, is the oil of traditional cooking — try frying an egg with it. And Arbequina, mild and barely bitter, replaces sunflower oil in sauces and mayonnaises, giving them a touch that no seed oil can provide.

A grilling tip: sear the meat, let it cook in its own fat and finish with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil. The oil reaches the plate intact.

Can you fry with extra virgin olive oil?

Yes, and it's also the most stable fat you can use for it: its smoke point is between 190 and 215 °C, and domestic frying does not exceed 180. For everyday frying, a Picual in a jug, tin or bag-in-box is the sensible choice: maximum stability at a good price per litre.

Three things that matter: do not exceed 180 °C (if it smokes, you've gone too far); if you use a deep fryer, do not fill it to the top —olive oil expands more than others when heated and can overflow—; and regarding reuse, the science is more generous than is believed: the frying studies carried out by IFAPA —with Marino Uceda at the helm— showed that extra virgin olive oil withstands repeated frying much better than any seed oil. When properly managed —without overheating it and filtering out the residue— it lasts between 10 and 15 home fryings; when it darkens, foams or smokes at a low temperature, it has reached its limit. The long version, with the studies that debunk the myth, is in cooking with extra virgin olive oil.

For salads and raw dishes

When served cold, the goal changes: you are no longer looking for resistance, you want the oil to express itself. Arbequina, sweet and slightly fruity, lets the ingredients take centre stage. Frantoio, aromatic and elegant, complements without overpowering. A Hojiblanca with its hint of chilli puts the spotlight on the dish without masking it. And Picual —with its notes of tomato vine and pepper— is the natural dressing for a rustic salad and tomato in any of its forms. Which oil for each salad, the correct order of dressing and the mistakes that ruin a good oil when served cold, in which olive oil to use for salads.

In sweet dishes

Mediterranean baking has been made with oil for centuries, not butter. How to replace one with the other without ruining the recipe is in Arbequina in baking.

If you can only have one bottle

A balanced early-harvest blend can handle almost any kitchen. Why, and when is it worth switching to two bottles, in an oil for all your cooking.

How long it lasts and how to store it

Oil does not expire: it degrades. The date on the label is a best-before date, and those who really rule are light, heat and oxygen. How long it lasts unopened and once opened, with the specific mistakes that ruin it, in does extra virgin olive oil expire?.

Choosing without making mistakes

All the oils we recommend for everyday use are in the Selección collection: oleoteca quality for cooking without looking at the price per spoonful. Each oil comes with its sensory star — use it as a compass to know what it will bring to your dishes. And if you are in Granada, you can try it in the shop before buying.

Written by Mercedes Uceda, professional taster and professor of the Expert in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tasting course at the University of Jaén.