August 17, 2026
Oxidative Stability is what counts in your cooking oil, not smoke point.
There is so much confusion surrounding smoke point of cooking oils. Just to be clear, when you heat an oil, it does indeed change and cooking at high temperatures for extended periods of time can cause an oil to oxidise or incur rancidity.
Oxidation is a reason why you shouldn’t reuse the same oil for frying, for example.
So, the more an oil can resist oxidation, the better it is for cooking. This oxidative stability is hugely important and thankfully, when it comes to Extra Virgin Olive Oil, these factors are in our favour
- A high number of antioxidants – the higher the polyphenol count, the more oxidative stability the oil will have.
- The type of fats are also important – Monounsaturated fats that are found in high concentrations in Extra Virgin Olive oil are much more stable at high temperatures, so the risks are far lower than when cooking with other oils.
- Naturally pressed – many other cooking oils are refined, involving high heat, high pressure or chemicals to extract the oil and make them suitable for consumption – Extra Virgin Olive oil by contrast is naturally pressed from the olive, requiring no chemicals or preservatives. This in turn increases the stability of the oil.
- But therefore, quality does matter – the better your oil, the more stable it will be. The higher the polyphenols, the better for you.
