For the past several years, I’ve always used olive oil for pretty much everything. It’s always there by the stove and it’s just what I happen to grab. Eventually, I’d like to get a searzall for finishing, but until that happens, I figure I need to expand my oiled repertoire to something with a higher smoke point to reduce the amount of time that my proteins spend in the pan post sous vide.
What oil do you guys use or recommend for searing.
That serious eats link is a great source. I love kenji.
Do you find rice bran oil in a regular super market or is it more of a specialty item. I don’t recall ever seeing it, but that may just be because I’ve never looked for it. I’m going to see if they have rice bran oil on my markets shelves tonight as my first choice. If not, I think I’ll grab a small bottle of safflower to start with.
I use beef tallow for beef, it adds even more beef flavor.
I’ve been using grape seed oil when I want something neutral.
Been getting Rice Bran in Trader Joe’s occasionally but, I also prefer grape seed oil, and since I do alot of Asian recipes I regularly have peanut oil on hand as well.
With the exception of coconut oil, vegetable oils are highly unsaturated, some more than others. Applying high heat to unsaturated fats yields unhealthy byproducts. Beef fat or clarified butter would be safest. Modern, factory farm, pork fat contains maybe 40% unsaturated fat as a result of soybean oil in the feed. Chicken fat is naturally about 40% mono (from memory, check the tables). Lard, unless you have a local, ‘natural’ oriented source, is always (perversely) hydrogenated.
@himsahimsa… Thanks for reminding me about the coconut oil… I use that frequently as well, and am thinking I may try to add it to the foodsaver bag with the protein instead of butter or oil and see how it works out…
@gwendelen, both Safflower and Peanut oils have higher smoke points than olive oil, are very easy to find in grocery stores, not too expensive, and sear beautifully. I personally prefer peanut oil for its flavor profile. In any event, the keys are a very hot pan, very little oil, and very short searing times (seconds, not minutes).