Is Clarified Butter or Olive Oil Healthier for Frying?

Is clarified butter or olive oil healthier for frying? Does the clarified butter come from abroad? Is conventional olive oil good for frying? (For salads I have organic extra virgin olive oil).

Olive oil is perfectly suitable for gentle roasting and deep-frying. Due to its fatty acid composition, it can withstand temperatures of up to 180 °C. Olive oil is stable up to this temperature and no harmful substances are produced. However, vitamins and flavors suffer. A really good quality oil is therefore best used in cold cooking.

When searing steaks & co., temperatures of over 180 °C can quickly occur. In these cases, greases that can withstand these temperatures should be used.

In contrast to butter, clarified butter is well suited for hot cooking because it consists of 99.8 percent pure butterfat. The smoke point is around 200 °C. It gives the fried food a buttery taste. Since clarified butter, like all animal fats, contains a high proportion of unfavorable saturated fatty acids, olive oil is the healthier option.

The consumer cannot identify the origin of the clarified butter. For processed products, no information on the country of origin or place of manufacture is required. Often even the manufacturer remains unknown. Because according to the regulations, the name or the company and the address of the responsible food business operator must be given. This can be, for example, the producer, processor or seller if the food is marketed under his name.

So-called high-oleic oils are suitable for frying. These are oils from special types of sunflower, rapeseed and thistle, which have been cultivated to have a higher oleic acid content. They are cold-pressed, but can withstand temperatures of up to 210 °C.

Coconut and palm kernel fat are also very suitable for frying. As a rule, however, they are quite heavily processed. Because of the cultivation and the very long transport routes, they are also not particularly recommended for ecological reasons.