canola oil
See also: vegetable oil
A neutral-flavored vegetable oil pressed from rapeseed bred to be low in erucic acid, used as an all-purpose cooking oil for frying and baking. Its high smoke point and lack of flavor make it a reliable default for high-heat cooking or baking where a fat's own taste shouldn't compete with other ingredients.
Buying guidance
Buy a size that will be used up within a few months -- oil oxidizes and turns rancid faster than most people expect, especially once opened, tasting distinctly stale and slightly paint-like rather than simply flat. A bottle stored near the stove degrades faster from ambient heat than one kept in a cupboard.
Substitutions
- Vegetable or sunflower oil -- essentially interchangeable; both are neutral and high-smoke-point.
- Refined avocado oil -- similarly neutral with an even higher smoke point, at a higher price.
- Light olive oil -- more neutral than extra-virgin and usable for high-heat cooking, but with a lower smoke point and a faint olive flavor.
Tips & common mistakes
Its neutrality is the point for high-heat cooking, but that also means it can't stand in for a flavorful finishing oil -- swapped in for something meant to be tasted on its own, like a fruity oil drizzled on at the end, it leaves the dish tasting flatter and one-note rather than simply "more neutral."
Storage
An unopened bottle is fairly stable at room temperature for a year or more, since refining strips out much of what causes rancidity -- refrigeration isn't necessary and mainly just clouds or thickens it without meaningfully extending its life. Once opened, treat the shelf life as considerably shorter.