Is pan-frying bad? page

[samiamm]

I pan fry just about everything meat with butter.


I use grass-fed butter and organic beef now.


Is pan-frying damaging to the butter or meat in anyway? I tried searching for this before posting a thread, but came up with nothing.

[Drumroll]

It's only bad if you use fat sources with lots of polyunsaturated fats in their make-up that will oxidize rapidly. This is not good.

But if you stick to fats with higher saturated contents such as butter, ghee, lard, tallow, red palm oil, and the best of all-coconut oil, you'll be fine.

[samiamm]

awesome, thank you!!!

[Drumroll]

awesome, thank you!!!

All fats will suffer from some oxidation when heated, but as saturated content goes up, this oxidation lessens and is not as much of an issue. When you consider coconut oil for example, unless it sits in the pan for several hours at a VERY high heat, the oxidation that occurs will be so minimal as to almost not be an issue.

Also, there is a REASON that ANTIoxidants are good for us.

[samiamm]

Where does butter "rank" on that scale, and is coconut oil as tasty (in your opinion of course)?

[Archaeloidic]

I pan fry everything, but then, it's the only cooking instrument I have period, so...
I use a combination of grass-fed butter, olive oil (for the bigger things such as pork chops), and coconut oil.

[samiamm]

thanks for your input!! I just don't wanna be doing something wrong lol

[Drumroll]

Where does butter "rank" on that scale, and is coconut oil as tasty (in your opinion of course)?

Coconut oil may be one of the best, but butter is just fine as well. I love the taste of virgin coconut oil myself though, so I use it a lot. If you dislike the coconut oil "flavor" you can always avoid the virgin coconut oils and stick to refined which has a very mild taste.

[Knifegill]

I just almost cook everything on medium-low to play it safe. Just oil, plop it in, season the thing, lid on and walk off for a good ten minutes depending on what it is. Easy peasy. Low heat = less oxidization. Win.

[returnfreerisk]

I follow the rules...low, slow, try not to overly brown, add antioxidant spices. Stews and soups with meat and bones below 350f are first choice before frying. I just blew out my hand blender last night when it snagged and locked up on a small beef bone I missed in the slow cooker..too late to put that one on the Xmas list..haha