Other thanour dear Quaker Francis Bacon , no fixings has a greater power to ameliorate a dish than butter . Butbecause each cooking fat has its specific strength and weaknesses ,   butter should not be used to cook everything . In fact , it   should be in the main reserved for misrepresent eggs , caramelizing onions , and finish proteins or compile dishes .

So we askedPerry Santanachote , our recipes editor ,   and Kevin Meehan , the LA - establish chef behindKali Dining ,   to assure us which oils to use for various ravisher alternatively of just patting everything down in the churned dairy of the gods . Time to step by from the joint .

Searing proteins

Butter ’s weakness is its low smoke point , so when searing a fat steak , it ’s necessary to habituate a adipose tissue that can handle greater heat . Olive oil is a spoilt choice because it also has a relatively low locoweed point . Perry suggests either safflower or peanut crude oil , while Kevin likes to use grapeseed oil .

Sauteing vegetables

Extra - virgin olive oil is the move according to Perry , but not just because of the predilection and mouthfeel . There are in reality wellness benefit from cooking vegetables with olive oil that far outbalance churn them in pee , as shown in a study presented by the not - at - all - bias folk atOlive Oil Times .

Deep-frying

plain no one except Paula Deen is tempted to deep - fry thing in butter , and olive oil colour is an as poor choice ,   but there ’s an array of dissimilar oils that work for these purposes . Perry intimate peanut rock oil , and although Kevin hates the mouthfeel of peanut vegetable oil , he does cede that its high smoke point , neutral relish , and ( most importantly ) low monetary value make it an appropriate pick for late - fry ( though he personally support grapeseed oil ) .

Stir-frying

High gage period is a necessity for fuss - frying meat or vegetables , so olive oil is out of the picture . According to Perry , the best oil for the business is in high spirits - heating system - tolerance Carthamus tinctorius oil . It ’s made from the seeds of the safflower works , which has historically been used as an choice to saffron crocus and was hence dub " phony orange yellow " in Europe . It has awealth of wellness benefitsand is highly recommended over equivocal “ vegetable oil . "

Roasting

“ When you ’re guy veg with oil , they ’re go to stop up kind of greasy , so for health reason I prefer olive oil , ” say Perry . Some mass advise against this because of Olea europaea vegetable oil ’s low smoke item , but Perry says this should n’t be an issue unless the oven temperature get up over 450 .

Asian cooking

Kevin ’s married woman is Nipponese , so he fudge batch of Asiatic smasher at home . The move is to start with a neutral oil like grapeseed , then finish food with sesame rock oil . “ It has the strongest flavor visibility of any other fossil oil . I moisten it on top of foods like fried rice at the end of preparation or make a sesame salad stuffing . Also , tunny lick is n’t tuna poke without sesame oil , ” say Kevin .

Making salad dressings

Obviously butter in salad grooming is a pretty uncanny move , and   EVOO is in all likelihood your go - to in a   bare crude oil - and - vinegar dressing . But the   forward-moving tang of Olea europaea oil can be too overpower   when other elements are incorporated . Kevin suggest using grapeseed petroleum in dressings like Caesar or dearest spread .

Finishing pastas

Butter can add an element of cornucopia to Italian dishes at the last minute , but it is n’t always the good pick . And neither is EVOO . Perry uses earth-ball oil on dishes like pasta , roasted ail , and risotto . Although some bottles can be usuriously expensive , there are still low-priced options out there that use more coarse earthnut or even hokey seasoning .

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olive oil and butter

Dan Gentile/Thrillist

searing steak

Drew Swantak/Thrillist

saute vegetables

Flickr/Jonathan Pincas

deep fried chicken drumstick

Anthony Humphreys/Thrillist

stir fried vegetables

Flickr/Ben and Kaz Askins

roasting vegetables

Flickr/Warren Layton

tuna poke

Cole Saladino/Thrillist

salad

Flickr/Katrin Gilger

ravioli

Cole Saladino/Thrillist