I am having a difficult time finding olive oil for cooking - so NOT extra virgin, which has a lower smoke point. Most stores don’t have any at all, though they have a dizzying array of EVOO. And even online searches don’t offer alternatives from brands I know to be solid.
Does anyone have suggestions of high quality brands and/or sources, preferably from companies not identified as failing to meet standards?
I have nothing to add but why not peanut or avocado oils?
Peanut oil is high in PUFA (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids), which I try to avoid using too often in my own cooking, though we still use it for very high heat in the wok. Avocado oil is good, but not as neutral and very expensive.
interesting. I use grape seed a lot in my cooking too.
Grape seed is extremely high in PUFA - 70%, with only 16% MUFA and 9% SFA. So if you are trying to avoid excess PUFA in your diet, this would not be a good choice. There is evidence which I found compelling that it’s healthier to try and reduce PUFA intake. You can read up and make your own decisions - as with almost all nutritional studies, there are conflicting opinions out there. Look at the saturated fat controversy, for instance. To me it seems pretty clear that the nutritional Powers That Be were just plain wrong about the evils of saturated fat, and probably even knew that back in the '70s when the movement started. And yet the American Heart Association and tons of doctors are still recommending PUFA over saturated fat.
For me, I don’t demonize them the way some people do. PUFA are necessary for your health, but you don’t need a lot of them, and in excess they might be pretty bad for you. Our modern diet is way too heavy on PUFA overall and particularly high in the Omega-6 variety, with the ratio quite high in western populations. So I try to minimize the amount of high PUFA oils I use, and be aware of getting a good Omega-3 to Omega-6 balance, without making a religion out of it or anything.
I use butter and regular olive oil and clarified butter or ghee and coconut oil for the most part. Peanut oil we save for the wok, and sesame oil is an occasional use mostly cold for flavor.
Here is a reasonably well balanced look at the issue:
California Olive Ranch “everyday” oil, $8.96 in Walmart for 750ml, is what we cook with but it’s extra virgin. It’s vintage dated, fresh, and mild.
I use the Costco house brand Kirkland regular “olive oil” for cooking, marinating, etc. It’s inexpensive and I find it to be relatively “neutral” in terms of flavor. I never use vegetable oils, either.
Extra virgin is not suitable for cooking with any real heat. Price isn’t the issue, smoke point is. But thanks.
Sarah- are there no options in the Philadelphia Italian Market. Di Brunos?
Nope, not at DiBrunos for sure, at any of the 3 locations I’ve been to - a zillion EVOOs, but no regular Olive Oil - and not at the places I have looked in the Reading Terminal or at Whole Foods. Haven’t tried every store in the Italian Market as it’s no longer close to us.
I did look before asking…
I looked at Kalustyans yesterday for you. nada
in looking at various charts for smoke point and PUFA, rice bran oil seems to be ideal?
i’d love to know what you’re cooking daily where you run into the evoo smoke point. i’m generally curious because i use it almost exclusively except when very high heat searing in an iron pan and i just use perhaps a teaspoon of canola.
btw, i was surprised to see clarified butter so high on the smoke point chart (450F) and almost zero PUFA. i’m going to use it more often as it’s the easiest.
Yaacov - Who said anything about “cooking daily?” No, we’re not cooking things everyday where smoke point is an issue, but we like to have it as an available option for those instances were it is. Clarified butter is an excellent choice, I just don’t always have it on hand or feel like making it. I used to try and keep it in the refrigerator - it or ghee - but I am very sensitive to “refrigerator taste” which butter picks up easily.
I’ve never explored rice bran oil.
neither have i, and i don’t intend to now! 
the microwave is magic for clarified butter. lower the power to around half and pulse for 20 seconds at a time. the solids just fall to the bottom of a pyrex measuring cup and use a TB to ladle off the top layers of clarified butter.
That’s brilliant - I have never seen that trick before. Thanks!
Not as easy to find, but I used to use tea seed oil.
-Al
thanks!
Thanks, Suzanne. Love that place.