http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494 Lately I've been spending lots of time in the kitchen, and have been experimenting with various <a href="http://www.healthcastle.com/cooking-oils.shtml">cooking oils</a>.  Here's what I've learned: en-us Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:23:24 EST Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:27:51 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#25 <blockquote><i>My cast iron skillet (seasoned as per instructions) has an overall flat black coating inside the pan itself.  Is that how it should look or did I screw up somewhere?</i></blockquote>If you screwed up you would either have a sticky pan o Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:27:51 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#24 I am not concerned with salt for any health reasons, since no one in my house has hypertension.  I prefer the 'pure' flavor of unsalted butter, and when I cook, I prefer to add salt to taste.  It's a matter of preference.  <p> Use it or not Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:22:07 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#23 No, you're doing just fine.  My cast-iron skillets are 50+ years old and black as coal, but they work just fine.  Once in a while they need to be re-seasoned with a bit of oil, and I only hand-wash those pans.  I just have this feeling (perh Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:59:46 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#22 My cast iron skillet (seasoned as per instructions) has an overall flat black coating inside the pan itself.  Is that how it should look or did I screw up somewhere? Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:45:31 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#21 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/business/worldbusiness/19palmoil.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=ebc7e555b890bc3d&ex=1201064400">Non-petroleum oil is still oil</a>. Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:50:09 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#20 I'm impressed.  60 years without getting distracted and letting them burn up.  Well, actually I have one nearly that old, but in general they don't tend to last quite that long.  I tend to go for cast iron.  If you forget it it smokes o Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:21:33 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#19 <i>"I finally ditched my "non-stick" pans that routinely chipped in exchange for some stainless steel cookware that I got for christmas."</i><p> I have to agree.  I'm still using some copper-bottom stainless-steel pans and pots, <a href="http://www.re Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:51:31 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#18 <i>"Basically, take some unsalted butter (always use unsalted for cooking)"</i><p> You know, I've heard the same thing about unsalted butter about a bazillion times on the PBS cooking shows, but then they always go and add salt to the recipe.  Maybe t Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:26:38 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#17 <i>"a decent break down of pans. I finally ditched my "non-stick" pans that routinely chipped in exchange for some stainless steel cookware that I got for christmas."</i><p> Great point.  I've got all of them.  Cast iron, enameled cast iron, stai Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:02:06 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#16 Health? all I care about is taste. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:29:33 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#15 You can make your own clarified butter, which is excellent for all kinds of sautee tasks.  Removing the solids makes all the difference.  Melt butter to a nice runny liquid, and render off the solids as they rise to the top.<p> You can also make Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:22:42 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#14 <i> Lard (particularly bacon fat) makes the best fried eggs and fried potatoes</i> <i>*shrug*</i> - I've had those done in lard, and I prefer them done in margarine, personally. I tend to fry things on relatively low heat, though, which is probably at Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:18:28 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#13 A <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABSoHYQr6k"> short video </a> on the institution that uses more Crisco than anyone else, and what they use it for.<p> Bad language alert, and most definitely not for the easily offended. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:12:03 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#12 Despite the nonsense that webpage leads with (restaurants cook on high? pfft - he needs to spend some time in a restaurant kitchen) , every kitchen should have at least one nonstick pan. There is no better way to cook eggs and a number of other foods. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:49:24 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#11 <a href="http://tashian.com/carl/archives/2006/02/">Here's</a> a decent break down of pans. I finally ditched my "non-stick" pans that routinely chipped in exchange for some stainless steel cookware that I got for christmas. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:17:08 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#10 <i>"Health reasons aside, is there a reason why you would use oil or lard instead of butter/margarine when making those items?"</i><p> Cooking properties and taste come to mind.  Lard (particularly bacon fat) makes the best fried eggs and fried potato Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:53:43 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#9 You lose the health benefits of the oils once you cook them. At that point, it just becomes a matter of which is less bad for you. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:05:58 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#8 I use extra virgin olive oil and standard vegetable oil for various oil frying needs and for basting things I'm going to grill, but for pan frying I generally go with butter or margarine, depending on the flavor I'm going for. For eggs I usually go with m Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:05:38 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#7 If you have to cook in oil, coconut's the healthiest. I no longer use oil to cook, although I do still drink some of the organic extra virgin with a lemon. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:14:56 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#6 90% saturated, ridiculously high smoking point... and useful as a skin moisturizer or, in a pinch, sexual lubricant. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:07:26 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#5 Extra-Virgin olive oil for everything. It's the only oil. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:25:52 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#4 Grape seed oil has become rather popular recently. It supposedly has some of the same health benefits as olive oil, yet it has a fairly high smoke point, 420 degrees fahrenheit, which is just a little lower than peanut oil so it's good for frying. It taste Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:45:24 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#3 <a href="http://www.samswine.com/l39olivier-walnut-p-154526.html">Walnut oil</a>, on a bed of arugula, with crumbled blue cheese and croutons. Enough said. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:37:16 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#2 Yes, I too have a small tub of rendered bacon fat that I keep in my freezer.  Nothing beats it for frying eggs or hash-browns.  Besides, you get to eat the bacon!  Heck, there are even <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Tastes-Better- Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:07:13 EST http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2008/1/17/17739/6494#1 I have to say, lard is the king of all fats.  I've never rendered a slab of hog fat, but I jealously guard my store of filtered bacon grease, which is close enough.  I happen to live a pretty low carb lifestyle, and don't believe that saturated f Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:32:28 EST string http://www.treesandthings.com/search/