My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Here's where users test and review products and give their feedback. If you'd like to run a product test please email [email protected].

MNHQ have commented on this thread

Product tests

Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED

170 replies

AmeliaMumsnet · 13/03/2017 10:55

Here's what RapeseedOilBenefits.com, a not-for-profit campaign aiming to inspire people to use this cooking oil, say about the challenge:

“Did you know rapeseed oil, sometimes labelled vegetable oil, is a healthy choice of cooking oil? It contains less saturated fat than other commonly used cooking oils and fats (e.g. approx. 50% less than olive oil). Recent UK dietary and nutrition surveys estimate that as a nation we’re eating too much saturated fat so we need to look for ways to cut down. Current UK government guidelines advise cutting down on all fats and replacing saturated fat with some unsaturated fat. Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats such as rapeseed oil in the diet has been shown to lower blood cholesterol, which may reduce the risk of heart disease. It’s also a rich source of vitamin E.

Rapeseed oil is the only commonly used culinary oil that can be widely found both grown and bottled in the UK. It's also produced in other countries in the EU and worldwide. It comes in two forms: artisan cold-pressed and refined, which is often labelled vegetable oil. As well as its nutritional benefits, it’s competitively priced and has many culinary benefits, like its excellent, light, non-greasy flavour profile, and its versatility – from crispy roast potatoes, to healthier baking, to vibrant salad dressings.

Struggling to keep up your New Year’s resolutions? Give rapeseed oil a try, involve your family too if you can, and add your feedback here to be entered into a prize draw."

Here's what's involved:

~ Official testers (those already selected by MNHQ) who add a comment here between Monday 13 March and Sunday 2 April can win a £250 supermarket gift card

~ Non-official testers (open to all UK MNers) who add a comment here between Monday 13 March and Sunday 2 April can win a £150 supermarket gift card

  • The challenge is to buy two bottles of rapeseed oil – one refined, often labelled 'vegetable oil' and usually in plastic bottles, and the other labelled 'cold-pressed' and often in glass bottles – and then use them in place of your normal cooking oil for two weeks and tell us what you think by adding your feedback here. Involve your family too if you can. If you already use rapeseed oil, feel free to take part in the challenge too, as Rapeseed Oil Benefits would like to know what you think also, to help them inspire others to use this cooking oil.


  • If you have any questions about rapeseed oil go to RapeseedOilBenefits.com and check out the Guide to Rapeseed Oil pages and the FAQs, or use the Contact Us form. To help you get cooking with rapeseed oil, try these delicious Recipes created by professional home economists and dietitians, designed to show that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring – it can be surprisingly good!


Please add your feedback below on the following:

~ Let us know what you think of rapeseed oil and if you knew about the benefits already or not.

~ Have you tried out any RapeseedOilBenefits.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?

~ Please add any other comments, photos, recipes, tips or ideas you have too – we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge.

Thanks
MNHQ

Closing date: Sunday 2 April. Winners will be selected at random from all posting a comment: one ‘official’ tester and one ‘non-official’ tester – prizes as above.

Please note: posts on this thread may be reproduced by Rapeseed Oil Benefits (AHDB).

Standard Insight T&Cs apply
Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
Report
theoracleofdelphi · 13/03/2017 14:42

Marking my place

Report
Hastalapasta · 13/03/2017 15:59

Another one place marking! I am currently trying these two, the refined oil is going into a carrot cake later, and the unrefined one is going into pesto!

Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Report
aristocat · 13/03/2017 16:08

I am already a rapeseed oil user and find it excellent for everyday cooking.

Pictures below are my two oils purchased and I have already made chicken stir fry with rapeseed oil. Tastes lovely. Smile

Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Report
Ange211 · 13/03/2017 16:08

Made tonight's dinner with "supernature" cold pressed rapeseed oil in place of butter. Will check back in with results but the sauce looked pretty good!

Report
Rosehips · 13/03/2017 16:15

I'be started the challenge. First impressions: I was surprised to have a choice of different 'posh' rapeseed oils in my small sainsburys, flavourwise it's nutty and not unpleasant, but I think I prefer olive oil, I'll try it in a few recipes this week and report back. The cheaper stuff I'm pleased with and it seems to fry cleanly with no flavour.

I wasn't aware of the health benefits, but as a butter eater i'm not that bothered with them, though i like the locally grown aspect. My biggest barrier to rapeseed oil is the name, I wish you'd market it differently

Report
bexy229 · 13/03/2017 16:36

Just a little tip that will save you tons of money guys!... buy Vegatable oil and read the ingredients... 100% rapeseed oil Smile your welcome!

Report
oldwife · 13/03/2017 16:54

I have bought mine this aft.

Plan to do some oven wedges for dinner this evening - I might do a blind taste test on DH - half in each oil.

I wasn't aware that Mazola WAS rapeseed oil - I associated it with cheap frying oil - the old chip pan method of cooking. So it will be interesting to see how it works with the types of food we cook nowadays.

Report
vincenta · 13/03/2017 18:13

Never cooked with rapeseed oil before.I am very excited :)

Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Report
foxessocks · 13/03/2017 19:28

Non official tester here - tried it for the first time this evening and we were impressed! Tasted good and now i know its healthier i think I'll continue with it.

Report
Wombat45 · 13/03/2017 20:13

I'm an official tester and I've been using the oils for a few days so far. This thread prompted me to check out the online recipes mentioned in the first post and I was disappointed to see that the 'vegetarian recipes' section includes a recipe for salmon pie. Fish is not vegetarian!

Report
SofiePendragon · 13/03/2017 20:47

I'm looking forward to trying out these oils! I normally use sunflower oil for refined and olive for unrefined so will be interesting to compare!

Report
oldwife · 13/03/2017 21:37

Tested the oils on DH

I did sweet potato oven wedges - one half with a drizzle of the extra virgin oil, the other with mazola.

He just said they both tasted nice. Smile

I'd like to try some of the recipes - particularly cakey items.

Report
MichaelSheensNextDW · 13/03/2017 21:37

I had no idea that Mazola and some other "vegetable" oils were actually rapeseed.

We used the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference cold pressed rapeseed oil to make our usual salad dressing - one part lemon juice, two parts oil and a big spoon of dijon mustard.

Sometimes a cold pressed peppery olive oil competes with the mustard; as a family we agreed that using the rapeseed allowed the mustard to take centre stage which is what we wanted with our sausages and salad. High marks so far!

Report
theoracleofdelphi · 13/03/2017 21:38

I've never used rapeseed oil before because I had thought it was over processed and high in pesticides being so cheap compared to olive oil and other high end oils. The health benefits have never really been on my radar.
I was delighted to find organic cold pressed choices which I like - it's neutral in taste and somehow not as greasy as the plain cheap vegetable oil I tried.
I'll definitely keep using cold pressed organic rapeseed oil as an alternative to olive oil for cooking, which isn't great at very high temperatures & best used raw I find.

Report
Ladydepp · 13/03/2017 22:29

Official tester here. I used both types today. I made a tuna and bean salad for my lunch, with the cold pressed oil and lemon juice dressing. Quite yellow in colour compared to olive oil, but very tasty. I will definitely use it in dressings again.

I also baked some muffins from Nigella Express: banana and fudge. I normally use sunflower oil for this recipe but I used the refined rapeseed oil instead. The recipe takes 125ml so quite a significant amount, but we all agreed the muffins tasted exactly the same as normal. There was no flavour from the oil, definitely a plus in baking.

I also used the refined oil when frying some chicken goujons, again no discernible difference with my usual plain olive oil.

So far so good! I'm planning to try baking the brownies from the rapeseed website, I will be very interested to see how they compare with the usual butter rich brownies I make.

Report
FlukeSkyeRunner · 14/03/2017 07:17

I use rapeseed oil a lot - the only other oil I use is extra virgin olive oil in salad dressings. Rapeseed oil us fab - lovely for roasting potatoes, shallow frying, deep frying and baking. It works very well in muffins and bread. And because it can be produced in the UK it has a far lower carbon footprint than olive oil. And its cheap.

Report
HALA · 14/03/2017 08:32

I knew about the benefits of Rapeseed oil already, so I use it in most of my cooking. Frying eggs, (which we have a lot for lunch), frying onions etc for making my sauces. It tastes good, and even better to know that it is healthy.

Report
MakeTeaNotWar · 14/03/2017 13:14

Non-tester - we use rapeseed oil regularly and I'm aware of the health benefits. Agree with a previous poster, the unfortunate name means it lacks the allure of posh olive oil but we use it anyway and tastes greasy!

Report
MakeTeaNotWar · 14/03/2017 13:14

Unfortunate typo there - tastes great not greasy!!

Report
gregorsmummy · 14/03/2017 13:22

Official tester here. we are loving the cold pressed oil for salad dressing, in fact my dinner guests on Saturday evening commented on how nice the dressing was for our crab and avocado salad! I had no idea of the health benefits and the vast array of oil in our local supermarket. Will definitely be substituting our usual oils for these ones, oh and they are cheaper too!

Report
FuckingHateRats · 14/03/2017 13:25

Official tester too. Really good experiences so far - last night's spring veg risotto was lovely with a glue of the cold-pressed oil in it at the end, and I've been using it as a moisturiser too! Will report more later

Report
MrsFrTedCrilly · 14/03/2017 13:47

Official tester
Really impressed with everything that I've read regarding the environmental and nutritional benefits of rapeseed oil.
Had been a little bit wary of how the oil would taste as I remember cooking with some in my mums house years ago and it being quite bitter.
Disclaimer my mothers cupboards are full of out of date foodstuffs but hey that's a whole other threadHmm
Made potato wedges and burgers last night, used the refined oil for both no bitter taste detected and everything tasted as normal. I made the salad dressing from the website it was fab, the cold pressed oil has a gorgeous nutty taste, everyone enjoyed it.
Today I've made a gluten free cake with the refined oil, will report back on that tomorrow when we taste it!
I'm really impressed so far and will definitely replace the sunflower oil I usually use with rapeseed oil. I'll probably keep using the cold pressed along with olive oil too.
Thanks for including me in the trial it's been a real eye opener!

Rapeseed Oil Benefits challenge feedback thread – chance to win supermarket gift cards!NOW CLOSED
Report

Newsletters you might like

Discover Exclusive Savings!

Sign up to our Money Saver newsletter now and receive exclusive deals and hot tips on where to find the biggest online bargains, tailored just for Mumsnetters.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Parent-Approved Gems Await!

Subscribe to our weekly Swears By newsletter and receive handpicked recommendations for parents, by parents, every Sunday.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Rosehips · 14/03/2017 16:22

made cake today with the refined oil and tasted good

Report
theoracleofdelphi · 15/03/2017 07:22

Official Tester

Hurrah! Finally - able to fry at high temperatures without an almighty stink!
I use the refined rapeseed oil for flash frying and roasting and the cold pressed oil for light and clean tasting salad dressings and baking. There's no limit to its versatility!

Thank you for rescuing me from extremely expensive highly flavoured oils!

Report
ClaireJ89 · 15/03/2017 08:55

Official Tester Here!
Wow what can I say, my kids and I LOVE these oils. My son is extremely fussy and oils in products can put him off entire meals instantly, but he really enjoyed the flavour and lack of "greasiness" that came with cooking. With the oils we sampled. We tried Mr Hugh's Extra Virgin Rapeseed and Borderfields Rapeseed oil and were impressed with both. Definitely gave a lovely fresher flavour to food, slightly nutty and sweet we found.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.