Cooking with Oil: How much do you know about cooking oils?

Although many amateur chefs believe this myth, butter and oil are not interchangeable. Stick to each recipe and use only the ingredients it calls for, because substituting oil for butter might require you to make further adjustments in order to make the dish a success.

No more than one-third of a fryer or skillet should be covered with oil when cooking a dish. Too much oil can cause spattering. Ouch!

Try to keep oil at around 375 degrees Fahrenheit when frying. If oil gets too hot and begins to smoke, it can become a dangerous fire hazard.

Derived from the seeds of the sesame plant, sesame oil is flavorful, high in antioxidants and often used in dressings, sauces and dips.

Corn oil, a liquid fat from the germ of a corn kernel, is highly stable and retains its flavor when cooked at high temperatures.

The full-bodied taste of extra-virgin olive oil makes it a great choice to use in most salads, and since it’s cholesterol free, it’s healthy, too.

Like corn oil, peanut oil is able to withstand high temperatures and is often used to fry foods.

Vegetable oil is multipurpose and can be used in a variety of dishes, from brownies to vegetable stir-fries.

Coconut oil, derived from the fruit of the coconut palm tree, is light, sweet and best used to make popcorn and hash browns.

Pure olive oil is tasteless and odorless, and it's great for grilling. Use it to lubricate a grill grate and prevent foods from sticking. For added flavor, mix a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil with pure olive oil to coat grilled fish and meats. So, what's the difference between regular (pure) olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil? Extra-virgin olive oil means the oil hasn't been adulterated with nut or seed oils, while pure olive oil has been.

Avocado oil is nutty, smooth and best used to sauté fish, plantains, chicken or sweet potatoes.

Oil can be reused for frying as long as it’s handled correctly. However, if the oil starts foaming, it's no longer usable and should be discarded.

Pure olive oil works best for stir-fries, though corn oil, vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil will also work. No-stick spray is too light to use in stir-fry dishes.

A tablespoon of pure, virgin or extra-virgin olive oil can be added to boiling water to keep pasta from clumping or sticking together while cooking.

Extra-virgin olive oil is technically a fruit juice, as it doesn’t require any chemical processing and can be consumed right after it's extracted from the fruit.