Lard, high-oleic sunflower or olive oil: which to use for frying

Frying right: lard, high-oleic sunflower or mild olive oil

Half a bottle of oil for one Spanish omelette. That's the real cost of frying properly, and that's where the dilemma begins: lard, high-oleic sunflower oil, or a mild olive oil that costs a fortune. The decision isn't just about your wallet, it's about chemistry.

The fine print of refining

Lard involves no chemicals: you just melt it down. Extra virgin olive oil doesn't either. But refined olive oil and sunflower oil go through an industrial cocktail: sodium hydroxide, phosphoric or citric acid, and bleaching earth. Sunflower oil, in addition, is extracted with hexane, a petroleum derivative. High-oleic sunflower shares that process: the difference lies in the seed, not the refining.

Health and metabolism

Some defend the saturated fats in lard: they don't break down with heat and don't generate toxins that affect metabolism. At the opposite extreme, sunflower oil is branded as worse than sugar. By that reading, coconut oil would come off better than olive oil for frying. But there are also people who use high-oleic sunflower oil every day out of habit and price.

The air fryer, the elephant in the pan

The popularity of the air fryer suggests this whole debate may become obsolete. If the results are equivalent, traditional frying will end up confined to the occasional churro stand. Meanwhile, lard takes little effort: everything tastes good cooked in it, as even its converts admit.

With the chemistry laid on the table, the surprise is that the most artisanal option hides the least industrial processing, while the most widely sold one drags along the most solvents.