The smoke point myth
The argument against cooking with extra virgin olive oil goes like this: EVOO has a lower smoke point than refined oils, so it degrades faster at cooking temperatures, creating harmful compounds.
This is largely wrong.
The smoke point of high-quality extra virgin olive oil is typically 180–210°C. The smoke points of oils commonly recommended for high-heat cooking are: refined sunflower oil (225–230°C), refined vegetable oil (200–232°C), refined coconut oil (204–232°C).
The difference is real but modest — approximately 20–50°C. More importantly, smoke point is not the primary indicator of how an oil behaves under heat. What matters is the oil's fatty acid composition and its natural antioxidant content.
Why EVOO is chemically stable under heat
Oils degrade under heat primarily through oxidation of their fatty acids. Oxidation occurs much faster in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than in monounsaturated (MUFAs) or saturated fatty acids.
Extra virgin olive oil is approximately 73–78% oleic acid (monounsaturated). Sunflower oil is approximately 65–70% linoleic acid (polyunsaturated). Polyunsaturated fats have multiple double bonds — each one is a potential site for oxidation. Monounsaturated fats have one double bond and oxidise far more slowly.
Research comparing the stability of different cooking oils under heat (De Alzaa et al., ACTA Scientific Nutritional Health, 2018) found that extra virgin olive oil produced the lowest levels of harmful polar compounds at frying temperatures compared to coconut oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil and rice bran oil. The antioxidants in EVOO — particularly the polyphenols — actively protected the oil from oxidation during heating.
The conclusion from food chemistry: extra virgin olive oil is more stable under heat than its smoke point suggests, because its chemical composition and antioxidants protect it from the oxidation that actually creates harmful compounds.
What heat does to polyphenols
Cooking does reduce polyphenol content in olive oil. This is real and unavoidable.
Studies suggest that polyphenol retention at typical cooking temperatures (140–180°C) ranges from 40–80%, depending on temperature, duration and whether water is present (aqueous cooking — soups, braises — causes more leaching than dry cooking). The antioxidant activity of the oil remains meaningfully positive even after typical cooking.
This is why the best practice is dual use: cook with extra virgin olive oil (because it is stable, nutritious and far superior to most refined alternatives), and also use it raw as a finishing oil, dressing and condiment. The raw application preserves the full polyphenol content.
Drizzling high-polyphenol Castruriali oil over a finished pasta, grilled fish or bruschetta — as done across Sicily — delivers the maximum oleocanthal, hydroxytyrosol and aromatic complexity. That is the use Sicilian cooking evolved around.
What temperatures to use it at
Raw (0°C): Dressings, finishing, dipping, morning tablespoon. Full polyphenol content.
Gentle heat (60–100°C): Softening garlic and onions, warming sauces, gentle poaching. Minimal polyphenol loss. This is the temperature range for most Sicilian pasta sauces, soffritto and braised dishes.
Medium heat (100–160°C): Sautéing vegetables, fish and chicken. Moderate polyphenol reduction but oil remains stable and nutritionally superior to polyunsaturated alternatives.
Higher heat (160–200°C): Roasting, frying. Significant polyphenol reduction, but the oil's monounsaturated composition makes it more stable than sunflower or vegetable oil at these temperatures. Perfectly acceptable.
Above 210°C: At this point you are at or beyond the smoke point. Avoid for prolonged high-heat frying. Use a refined oil if you regularly cook at 220°C+.
Sicilian cooking and olive oil
In Sicily — and across southern Italy — extra virgin olive oil is the only cooking fat. It is used for everything from frying to dressing, at every temperature, from garlic in a soffritto to finishing a plate of pasta alla Norma.
The Mediterranean populations that produce the health outcomes in research — lower cardiovascular disease, lower inflammatory markers, better cognitive preservation — use olive oil this way. Not as a supplement or a measured health intervention, but as a universal cooking and dressing fat used consistently throughout every meal.
The lesson from Sicilian cooking is not "only use olive oil raw." It is "use olive oil for everything, and use a good one."