As a chef, I've had a lot of experience with a lot of different kinds of cooking oils, enough to be able to form my opinion of what I like and what I don't. When I moved to Mexico I noticed that Avocado oil was readily available and cheap (for most Americans anyway, I've got the budget of a poor Mexican half the time), but due to budget I've not been able to justify trying it, just in case I don't like it. I had seen it in the states, but at 8 dollars a bottle for a quarter of a liter, it was just too expensive. The other day we came across Avocado oil at cheaper rate than olive oil, which made it super appealing as we've not really had the funds to even afford olive oil considering it's uses are restricted by it's low smoking point.
Now I had heard vaguely that avocado oil has a high smoking point but no one told me that it has the highest smoke point out of any edible out there, even canola oil. Unrefined, that is virgin cold pressed avocado oil, has a smoking point of 480 degrees fahrenheit. Refined, it's got a smoking point of 520 degrees. That means it doesn't smoke, which makes cooking oil actually carcinogenic (and most things, burnt bits of food are full of carcinogens) until that high of a tempurature. As a basis of comparison, olive oil starts to smoke at 380 degrees fahrenheit, much different. As a result, avocado oil is perfect for everything from baking to sauteeing to frying.
Until today, I was under the impression that avocado oil was a product produced from the giant seed that's generally considered a waste product. Totally not true, this is apparently the only edible oil produced from the fruit, not the seed. Avocados are actually supposedly 75 percent fat, which is part of why they're practically essential in vegan diets. 70 percent of that oil is something called oleic acid, a heart healthy omega 9 fat. This makes it not only more versatile in terms of cooking, but a lot healthier than just about every oil out there. Considering the fact that food grade avocado oil is cold pressed, there's no nasty manufacturing processes to worry about. So long as it's somewhat fresh, it's one of the best cooking oils out there.
The mild taste that it has makes it more versatile in recipes than olive oil, or even coconut oil. I remember having a book tite Olive Oil baking. Literally everything I tried out of it was absolutely horrid, no matter how "light" tasting the olive oil was. Anyone that has baked with coconut oil knows that it leaves a coconut flavor, something not always desired when you're going for a specific flavor profile. Avocado has none of those issues, as I honestly don't think it really even has much of a smell. When I used it on the rocket stove, which has a tendancy to get too hot, there was no odor from the oil at all like there generally is from most oils when they're heated. I think I've found my new favorite, healthy alternative oil everyone! It comes rocket stove ready, something La Gloria butter can't even do as well.
As with most things we eat that are good for us, this is medicinal too! It's been used for a long time, in a much cruder form, in cosmetics and skin care products. It's proven to improve skin and increase the rate of wound healing. Supposedly, when combined with soybean oil, it can help with both arthritis pain and help stop tooth decay. Many who know about nutritional science understand that many of our most important vitamins require a fatty vehicle to be able to be absorbed by the body. Without that, the vitamins never get absorbed, they just get passed. Avocado oil is known to help you absorb vitamins and minerals better. It also contains lutein, a cartenoid known for eye health. Studies have linked avocado oil in the diet to preventing degenerative eye diseases related to aging.
So realistically, the fruit is an amazing little fatty powerhouse. I found out today that the fruit in general actually originated in Southern Mexico, and has been spread all over from here. I also looked into the processing methods commercially speaking, which was fascinating. Traditionally, people used to try then extract the oil from the flesh using chemical solvents, very similar to how we make cannabis oil and how most vegetable oils are done today. This is still done to make cosmetic grade oil. For food grade oil commercially, they've adopted a method that involves huge low temperature mashing machines that smash the oil out of the flesh.
I found recipes for how to make your own avocado oil, something I'm sure I'll try when I've got my own tree to abuse. Considering they're generally around 35 pesos a kilo, I'm not terribly interested in pressing my own oil when the already made stuff is currently pretty cheap and honestly high quality. To anyone that has access to this but hasn't tried it, I suggest you do. For me this is honestly my new favorite cooking oil behind butter, which is saying a lot.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!
The photos have been acquired by typing avocado into google, the rest of the most is mine and original. Thank you for reading.