While in L.A. a number of people talked about using grape seed oil for their sautéing and other cooking, making it sound like the latest hot (and healthy) trend. So I thought to investigate a little further. Here's what I learned.
Grape seed oil is indeed a healthy choice! - as long as it's the pure stuff without additives or chemicals (from the extraction process). But it's not as stable (doesn't have as much shelf life) as some other oils, unless stabilizers have been added, but you don't want those in your oil! So you'll just need to be careful how you store it - in a cool, dark place as with most oils, or even in the fridge if you're not going to use it for a while.
I want to share more with you about what grape seed oil is, what's in it, it's health benefits and how it compares with other oils, particularly olive oil (which is still one of the healthiest choices in oils). But I have to run - too much going on this week! I will try to come back to this blog in a couple of days to fill it out - and get you the rest of the skinny on grape seed oil. In the meantime, here are some links for you to investigate it on your own:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/grape-seed-000254.htm
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/cookingfaqs/f/stirfryoil.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-grapeseed-oil.htm
http://www.aromaweb.com/vegetableoils/grapeseedoil.asp
photo by http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/ingredients/2008/10/grapeseed_oil (also with good info on grape seed oil)
