Kitchen basics
Cooking With Butter, Oils, and Animal Fats
How I think about smoke points and choosing the right fat for everyday cooking.
In this article
Cooking fat is one of those kitchen topics where there’s a lot of conflicting advice. At different times I’ve heard that olive oil shouldn’t be heated, that butter always burns, or that certain oils are better for cooking than others.
What helped me make sense of it was learning a bit about the science behind fats, especially something called the smoke point.
Every cooking fat has a temperature where it begins to smoke. At that point the fat starts to break down and produce compounds that taste bitter and unpleasant. In practice, though, smoke point is simply a guide for choosing the right fat for the heat level you’re cooking at.
Quick smoke point guide
| Fat | Approx. smoke point | How I use it |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 150–175°C | Eggs, vegetables, sauces, baking |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 190–210°C | Everyday cooking, roasting, sautéing |
| Avocado oil | 250–270°C | High heat, searing, roasting |
| Duck fat | 190–200°C | Roasted potatoes, root vegetables |
| Goose fat | 190–200°C | Roasting, especially potatoes |
| Coconut oil | 175–200°C | Curries, baking, dishes where the flavor fits |
Butter: great flavor, moderate heat
Butter is one of the fats I cook with most often because of its flavor. It contains about 80% fat, 18% water, and a small amount of milk solids.
Those milk solids are the reason butter browns quickly and eventually burns. When butter is heated, the milk proteins brown through the Maillard reaction, which creates the nutty flavor we associate with browned butter.
Because of this, butter works best for medium heat cooking like eggs, sautéing vegetables, sauces, or baking.
Olive oil: my everyday cooking oil
Olive oil is often misunderstood. Extra virgin olive oil is actually quite stable during normal cooking.
It contains a high percentage of monounsaturated fats, which are relatively resistant to oxidation compared with many vegetable oils. It also contains natural antioxidants like polyphenols that help protect the oil during heating.
In my kitchen I use olive oil for most everyday cooking:
- sautéing vegetables
- cooking chicken or fish
- roasting vegetables
- salad dressings
- finishing dishes
Avocado oil: when the heat gets higher
When I know the pan will get very hot, like when searing meat, I often use avocado oil.
Avocado oil has a very high smoke point and is rich in monounsaturated fats, making it relatively stable when heated.
Duck fat and goose fat: incredible for roasting
Duck fat and goose fat are traditional cooking fats with fantastic flavor. They contain a mix of saturated and monounsaturated fats, which makes them quite stable for roasting.
They’re especially good for roasted potatoes and root vegetables, where they help create a crisp exterior and rich flavor.
Coconut oil: stable but distinctive
Coconut oil contains a high percentage of saturated fat, which makes it relatively heat-stable. I mostly use it when the flavor fits the dish, such as curries or certain baked goods.
The fats I actually keep in my kitchen
In practice I don’t keep a huge variety of oils. Most of my cooking is covered by just a few:
- olive oil for everyday cooking
- butter for flavor
- avocado oil for high heat
- duck or goose fat for roasting
That combination covers almost everything I cook.
A simple sign your pan is too hot
If oil starts smoking immediately when it hits the pan, the heat is probably too high. Lower the heat slightly and keep cooking.
In my experience, good cooking is less about extreme heat and more about controlling the temperature.