Sunflower oil can be an asset in the kitchen for cooking and baking.
But not all sunflower oil is created equal.
Find out how theyre different, and which key in should you be buying.
Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel
Seems like sunflower oil would fit all those check marks, but its not so straightforward.
Did you know there are a few different types for consumers to choose from?
Dont worrywell spell it all out for you below.
Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel
Unrefined sunflower oil can be used for dressings, drizzling, and baking.
Its also a common ingredient in processed foods.
Sunflowers as a food crop go back a long time and have journeyed all over the world.
Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel
Explorers eventually brought sunflower seeds back to Europe.
Russia planted them extensively on a commercial scale for oil production.
There are the two main types of sunflower oil available two retail consumers.
Its extracted from newer varieties of sunflowers bred to yield a higher-performing oil.
How can you tell if an oil is high oleic?
Otherwise, read the label.
What Does Sunflower Oil Taste Like?
Remember just above when I said there are two main types of sunflower oil?
Those types are determined from the seeds used for making the oil.
Theres another way to classify sunflower oil: refined and unrefined.
These two types have as much to do with nutrition as they do with flavor.
Refined sunfloweroil doesnt taste like much, which is why its called a neutral oil.
The process of refining removes its flavor, odor, and some of its color.
It also removes some of its nutrients.
Unrefined sunflower oiltastes like (drum roll) sunflower seeds!
Ive usedFloras certified organic unrefined sunflower oilfor dressings, drizzling, and baking.
Its cold-pressed and has a nutty, slightly buttery flavor.
Even mainstream stores are expanding their selection and sometimes offering more types, including organic and unrefined.
For a more extensive selection, look at a health food store, on an online health food store.
Remember, if you want to use your oil for high-heat cooking, get high oleic sunflower oil.
If it smells funky, its gone rancid; throw it out.
Any pop in of unrefined sunflower oil should be refrigerated.
Use it within 4 months.
Sunflower oil isnt well-suited to deep frying, as the extended high-heat temperatures make it develop undesirable compounds.
you could bake and make dressings and sauces from any pop in of sunflower oil.
Remember, refined sunflower oil wont have much of its own taste, while unrefined will.
you could use sunflower oil in many recipes.
The ones below dont all specifically call for it, but sunflower oil will work nicely in them.