Can I Use Avocado Oil Instead of Vegetable Oil for Baking?
Yes, you can use avocado oil for baking instead of vegetable oil. We must remember that vegetable oil is a mixture of different oils, with the bulk of the vegetable oil being canola oil (in vegetable oil in the US). Canola oil is inexpensive and provides good resistance to heat during cooking. Avocado oil provides the same benefit as it has a smoking point of 480°F or 248.89°C. This is one of the highest smoking points known in baking or cooking in general, so you are in truly good hands when you choose to shift to oils like avocado oil. What about the taste? Avocado oil will not ruin dishes, cakes, bread, or pastries because it only has a very mild taste. You will get the finer notes of avocado, but at the same time, the overall flavor presentation is smooth and excellent. To people who know their baking oils, they will say that avocado has a decidedly earthy quality and that it provides excellent grassy and nutty notes to any baked dish, pastry or cake. If you are feeling experimental, it all begins with your choice of oil in baking.
Can I Use Avocado Oil Instead of Olive Oil in Baking?
Certainly, avocado oil is one of the classier and lighter oils with just the right combination of flavors that will make any dish or cake pop. What’s even more awesome about this oil is that it has a higher smoking point than what olive oil can provide, so you can heat avocado oil at a much higher temperature without risking the flavors of whatever it is you are baking. Avocado oil trumps other popular cooking oils in terms of heat resistance, including peanut oil (a favorite for frying chicken), coconut oil (popular because of its health benefits), and canola oil (widely available and very versatile cooking oil).
Can I Use Avocado Oil for Baking a Cake?
Avocado oil is a good choice for baking and barbecuing meats, roasting meats, and pan-frying anything you can think of. The bulk of avocado oil comprises unsaturated fat, so it won’t turn into a solid block of oil compared to other kinds of cooking oil. Feel free to use avocado oil for making mayonnaise (if homemade mayo is your thing) or salad dressings.
Remember, the avocado oil sold in the market is unrefined, so it is technically healthier than other kinds of oil. Unrefined oils do not come into contact with chemicals used to bleach and deodorize cooking oil. Avocado oil is stock with tocopherol or vitamin E, too, and has plenty of healthy fats to make your diet better overall. It is an exciting oil, if you think about it because it is healthy and, at the same time, ideal for so many kinds of cooking methods because of its high smoking point.
Additionally, avocado oil is both expressive and mild. Avocado oil will naturally express the crop’s flavors, but at the same time, the oil will not interfere with your food’s natural flavors. This is very important because not oils are suitable for sensitive recipes (whether baked or not) that require more neutrally-flavored cooking oils.
The only downside that we see when working with avocado oil is its price. Unrefined avocado oil will cost more than baking lard and vegetable oil, so if you are baking for profit, then be sure to integrate the cost of your new baking oil into your pricing structure. Think of the shift as an investment in a healthier oil that will be good for anyone who consumes the food.
Many experts in the baking world believe that avocado oil is finally getting its well-deserved moment in the spotlight right now. If you haven’t cooked with it before, then you might be wondering how to use it. Below are some tips:
- Pick up avocado oil when the recipe calls for either olive oil or canola oil.
- Feel free to drizzle it generously over meat or fish before cooking.
- Red pepper flakes go well with avocado oil and other mildly-flavored cooking oils.
- Smoothies will be creamier and will carry flavors better if you add a tablespoon of avocado oil into the mix before turning on the blender.
- Avocado will certainly enhance any guacamole recipe. If you want more flavorful and festive guacamole for your next football night with the buddies, try drizzling avocado oil across the finished guacamole. The avocado oil will bring the consistency and flavors home.
What Are the Benefits of Using Avocado Oil?
One of the main benefits of consuming avocado oil is it helps in absorbing lycopene in your meals. One study showed that people could absorb almost five times more lycopene naturally from their meals by simply eating food with some avocado oil over a period.
In addition to lycopene, researchers also discovered that subjects were also able to absorb beta carotene better with the regular addition of avocado oil in their diets. The amount of avocado oil was negligible and resulted in 2.6 times more absorption of beta carotenes from meals, too. Another study showed that the regular consumption of avocado oil also changed the fat composition around renal and cardiovascular membranes, which also changed cardiovascular and renal responses over a period.
The second study was an animal study that made use of Wistar rats. The study’s objective was to study the impact of avocado oil on the high blood pressure of the test animals. The researchers looked at the rats’ blood pressure versus a control group that did not receive avocado oil. Blood pressure was measured as the response to AngII or angiotensin II in both the kidneys and the rats’ hearts.
