"aem" > wrote in
ps.com:

> sandi wrote:
>> Hello
>>
>> Are corn oil and canola oil interchangable in cooking?
>>
>> If not, with what or when should one use one over the other?
>> Is one better for you than the other?
>>
> Well, they're not identical. Which is better may depend on
> what you're doing with them. Some factors to consider include
> smoke point, fat composition, and flavor. Google will find
> you lots more authoritative stuff than what follows.
>
> Smoke point is the temperature at which the oil will smoke and
> break down. It's generally considered to produce unhealthful
> results if it breaks down. Corn oil has a higher smoke point
> than canola oil, but both are high enough for normal purposes.
>
> By composition, I mean saturated fat vs. unsaturated vs.
> polyunsaturated vs. monounsaturated. The last category is
> thought to help increase "good" cholesterol; the first is
> thought is increase "bad" cholesterol. If this matters to
> you, there's lots of material available about it. Corn oil
> has more monounsaturated fat than canola oil. Olive oil and
> peanut oil have more than corn oil.
>
> Corn oil tastes a little bit like corn. You may or may not
> find it flavors food you cook in it. And you may or may not
> like the flavor. Canola oil, originally called rapeseed oil
> because that's what it is, has less taste, or else tastes like
> the rapeseed plant, a type of mustard green, I think. Many
> people choose canola as "neutral" in taste. Personally, I
> think it tastes musty and I don't like it.
>
> I use safflower oil (for neutral) or olive oil (for flavor)
> for sauteeing, peanut oil for stirfrying, peanut or peanut and
> safflower for deepfrying. If I happen to have corn oil I'll
> use it for frying tortilla chips and for making popcorn and
> for deepfrying. -aem

Thank you. I did try and 'Google' the question but I didn't come
up with the information I wanted.

Thanks again!