What are the smoke points of different cooking oils used to cook curries?

Oils are an absolutely integral part of cooking. Considered as fats, they are not only useful for searing, frying, grilling, or sautéing meats, but they are also primary components of salad dressings, mayonnaise, marinades and more.

Oil is extracted from seeds and nuts, such as sunflowers, olives, coconuts, avocados, almonds, walnuts.

Each type of oil is different and is better suited for a specific use. Some are better for frying, some are better for making mayonnaise and some are better for drizzling over salads.

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing your cooking oil is its smoke point, or better described as the temperature at which the oil starts smoking. Smoke point is also sometimes called the burning point and it is thus better (mostly) to not exceed the smoke point of the oil which you are using.

When you cook a curry, you wish to use an oil with a high smoke point, especially when tempering your whole spices.

Below is a list of the different oils and their smoke points. It is quite interesting to see how different levels of refinement affect the smoke point.

We ran a poll on our Facebook group, “We are Durban Curry Lovers” on what oil do the members prefer to use, and the overwhelming winner was Sunflower Oil.

If asked, we would confidently state that Sunflower Oil is the best oil to use when cooking a Durban Curry.

FatQualitySmoke pointAvocado oilRefined270 °C520 °FSafflower oilRefined266 °C510 °FSunflower oilNeutralized, dewaxed, bleached & deodorized252–254 °C486–489 °FButterClarified250 °C482 °FMustard oil250 °C480 °FBeef tallow250 °C480 °FPecan oil243 °C470 °FPalm oilDifractionated235 °C455 °FSoybean oil234 °C453 °FPeanut oilRefined232 °C450 °FRice bran oilRefined232 °C450 °FSesame oilSemirefined232 °C450 °FSunflower oilSemirefined232 °C450 °FSunflower oil, high oleicRefined232 °C450 °FCorn oil230–238 °C446–460 °FPeanut oil227–229 °C441–445 °FSunflower oil227 °C441 °FAlmond oil221 °C430 °FCanola oil220–230 °C428–446 °FCottonseed oilRefined, bleached, deodorized220–230 °C428–446 °FVegetable oil blendRefined220 °C428 °FGrape seed oil216 °C421 °FOlive oilVirgin210 °C410 °FOlive oilExtra virgin, low acidity, high quality207 °C405 °FCanola oil (Rapeseed)Refined204 °C400 °FCoconut oilRefined, dry204 °C400 °FCastor oilRefined200 °C392 °FOlive oilRefined199–243 °C390–470 °FCanola oil (Rapeseed)Expeller press190–232 °C375–450 °FLard190 °C374 °FOlive oilExtra virgin190 °C374 °FCorn oilUnrefined178 °C352 °FCoconut oilUnrefined, dry expeller pressed, virgin177 °C350 °FSesame oilUnrefined177 °C350 °FOlive oilExtra virgin160 °C320 °FPeanut oilUnrefined160 °C320 °FSafflower oilSemirefined160 °C320 °FSunflower oil, high oleicUnrefined160 °C320 °FButter150 °C302 °FCanola oil (Rapeseed)Unrefined107 °C225 °FFlaxseed oilUnrefined107 °C225 °FSafflower oilUnrefined107 °C225 °FSunflower oilUnrefined, first cold-pressed, raw107 °C225 °F