Vegetable oil

It means oil made from plants, but the blend can differ: common ingredients include rapeseed, sunflower, soya and maize oils. Check the ingredient list if you want a particular oil or need to avoid a specific ingredient.

Yes. Refined vegetable oil is useful for frying because it has a mild flavour; heat it until a small piece of bread sizzles, but not until it smokes. For deep-frying, aim for 175–180 °C and dry food well before lowering it into the oil.

You can reuse it if it has not overheated or picked up a strong flavour. Let it cool, strain out crumbs and store it sealed; discard it if it smells stale, turns very dark, becomes sticky or foams unusually.

Keep the bottle tightly closed in a cool, dark cupboard, away from the hob and direct sunlight. Refrigeration is not usually needed, and a cool cupboard helps slow the development of stale or rancid flavours.

Usually, yes: use about 80 g of oil for every 100 g of butter, since butter contains water as well as fat. Oil makes cakes moist but will not give the buttery flavour or the same creaming effect, so it works best in recipes designed for oil.

Its mild taste suits salad dressings, marinades, stir-fries and cakes when you do not want the oil to dominate. For a dressing, whisk it with vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and seasoning just before serving.

Yes. A tablespoon of vegetable oil provides 3.1 mg of vitamin E. The amount can differ between products because “vegetable oil” may be a blend of different plant oils.