Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Just going to go ahead and disagree with LJ here. First, a point of clarification, vegetable oil in theory can be of a number of varieties, however, as packaged here in the U.S. it is almost always exclusively soybean oil. So for this discussion, I'm going to discuss soybean oil versus canola oil.

First off, although he didn't mention them (so he wasn't necessarily wrong here, he just failed to mention), health-wise, canola oil is considered much more healthy than soybean oil. Although there has been (just one, as far as I'm aware) study linking canola oil to some oil-related health concerns in rats, these have never been shown in humans in similar studies. That being said, the fat ratios in canola are much higher in healthy fats, and the soybean oil has much higher unhealthy fat ratios (healthy here meaning unsaturated, unhealthy meaning saturated and trans).

Second off, an important consideration in cooking is oil smoke point, that is, the temperature at which an oil will begin to burn. A higher smoke point is better, allowing foods to cook more quickly and easily, while imparting more flavor. Canola has a higher smoke point than soybean oil; 468 degrees Fahrenheit versus 453.

Third, by most professional cooks, canola oil, where vegetable oil is required, is considered to be more neutral in flavor than soybean.

The only consideration where canola loses out is in price. At least from what I've seen, canola oil tends to be more expensive than soybean.

Of course, olive oil tends to be vastly superior in many cases, and always, always extra virgin in fresh applications. Olive oil, however, does have a pronounced flavor, and sometimes we want the oil to impart less flavor to a dish.

Oh, sorry, forgot to include the link.

Canola oil vs. vegetable oil

Yes. Agreed on this. I was surprised none of this was pointed out. I mean, the differences may seem somewhat inconsequential/trivial on the surface, but there ARE differences. I'm surprised a simple google search wouldn't have turned them up.

I actually knew much of what Marduk pointed out, but didn't consider it relevant to the question. They were specifically asking about how using one oil over the other would affect the taste and cooking properties of food, which was why I didn't discuss health differences—plus they had already mentioned that canola was better for you.

I also know that different oils have different smoke points, but as far as I know, smoke point doesn't matter except in frying/sauteeing. And since I never fry and only rarely sautee, I didn't consider that relevant either. (Of course, perhaps the questioner did want to know that; I'll admit that I should've included the information.) In baking, smoke point is a nonissue, since the food is unlikely to reach an internal temperature any higher than boiling (far, far less than the smoke point). (Also, out of curiosity, is 15°F a significant difference in smoke point? Like I said, I've never cared about it, so I wouldn't know.)

I was not aware that there was a discernible flavor difference between canola and soybean, but I'm willing to accept that it's there, though subtle.

Wait, what? Are you insinuating that the market for fried and sauteed desserts is nonexistent? This could be your big chance to expand, Laser Jock!

Wisteria wrote:Wait, what? Are you insinuating that the market for fried and sauteed desserts is nonexistent? This could be your big chance to expand, Laser Jock!

Seriously! It's called fried ice cream! And churros! And sopapillas!

At first I was confused by this, because in Canada vegetable oil usually means canola oil. But then I remembered that you all are not in Canada (it was very early in the morning). And I have to agree that there is a difference in taste.

Yes, LJ, there's a considerable flavor difference in cooking (I'll admit, I don't know about baking). Since oil that is used for cooking is mostly used for frying/deep frying/sauteeing, a higher smoke point (even a difference of 15 degrees) allows a quicker sear, which allows the food to remain more moist, as well as giving it a more genuine flavor.

And the flavor difference (besides what I've already mentioned) is that canola oil not only has a more neutral flavor, so that the food tastes more like food and less like oil, but this is improved by the lower cooking time.

And to be fair, she asked which you use and why, which portion wasn't really answered, which means a number of other points could have been relevant to the question. She didn't really get a full answer.