Rapeseed oil - how can anyone cook with it - fish smell

[ScottishScouser]

Please tell me it’s not just me. Every time I accidentally buy rapeseed oil (or rather DH does) the house ends up stinking of fish. The last time he picked up veg oil and didn’t check to see if it was taper not.

crisp and dry
tescos own
sainsburys own

I can’t believe people actually don’t mind the smell.

Here is a serving of fried onions with an added aroma of fish!

Olive oil is fine to use for cooking at home.

I’m fully expecting things to go full circle and soon they will be recommending lard.

Never use rapeseed oil. EVOO and groundnut only here.

Nothing wrong with lard/other animal fats

Totally agree, it smells vile the moment it starts to warm up. And yes, artificial sweeteners taste like hairspray (natural ones taste empty).

And jasmine smells like a men's dirty urinal, absolutely repellant.

And so it should!
People weren’t getting the chronic diseases that are just ‘normal’ now when we ate lard and beef dripping

I use butter, beef dripping and EV Olive oil only, but if you don’t cook from scratch for everything it’s almost impossible to avoid these oils, they are in everything, literally

Not keen on it either but that is because it’s heavily processed.

We use olive oil for practically everything

I only used cold pressed rape seed oil and it has never smelt fishy. Would also add if it’s cold pressed it is not bad for you.

I do avoid anything which has rapeseed oil added as an ingredient because they will have used highly processed oil.

It’s not ALL highly processed. Cold pressed is not highly processed, in the same way that extra virgin olive oil isn’t.

Cold pressed rapeseed oil is bloody expensive too!

Cold pressed tasted funny to me too. It’s probably a genetics thing like coriander….

When rapeseed oil is recommended in a recipe, it’s because it’s odourless and flavourless, so I think this is a problem specific to you. It doesn’t smell of anything at all to most people. I think you need to switch to sunflower oil or grapeseed oil or something instead.

People weren’t getting the chronic diseases that are just ‘normal’ now when we ate lard and beef dripping

Um… yes they were.

Lard isn’t actually particularly unhealthy though. Pork fat is generally better for you than other animal fats.

Most of it is and all the stuff you find in manufactured food is.

Yes cold pressed is available at a high price if I am prepared to go to the trouble of seeking it out. It's not in my two nearest supermarkets.

I'm happy with my EV olive oil.

Indeed but it’s important to correct posters stating ALL Rapeseed oil is bad for you. It is not.

Never noticed it.

I can't smell anything fishy, but it definitely has an unpleasant smell to me. It's in oven chips as well - do you know that smell oven chips have, especially cheap ones, particularly when they are undercooked or if you walk into the kitchen when they are half done? 🤢 nobody else seems to notice this. I don't even know how to describe the smell, it's just... smelly. A bit like feet.

But when there was a cooking oil shortage due to the Ukraine war and we bought soy oil instead as it looked similar, that was even worse. That smelt utterly rancid to me and I could taste it in things.

Yes I can taste the bitterness in sweeteners and the soapy taste in coriander.

You need the proper cold pressed stuff - not junk like crisp and dry. That's probably the problem!

And yet many posters on this thread are saying it smells and tastes bad to them. It’s obviously not just a problem specific to the OP.

Only used cold-pressed but doesn't smell of anything, and find it the best oil for crisping potatoes and for frying without sticking. Is but pricy but don't need much and there'll often be offers. Wouldn't go near non cold-pressed.

I discovered the same thing when I cycled between two fields of oilseed rape about 35 years ago. It wasn't a mistake I made again!

I've only recently worked out that the oil is a problem too. My stomach just says no. It's very annoying, as the stuff seems to be in everything. It's a recent problem, so perhaps before they were using sunflower oil, which is fine for me.

Many olive oils have a distinct odour I find. Puts me right off.

I use EVOO for dressings only, if I used it in cooking it would overwhelm the flavour of the food. Light olive oil is ok, but still has a tang.

I usually just use a drop of sunflower oil and butter together to fry things, which is rare as the only thing I ever fry is an omelette!

Most artificial sweeteners to me taste bitter, but if i have something with salt and sweeteners then I don't notice it. Like aquarius or lucozade sport.

I have never noticed a fishy smell with rape seed oil but it doesn't smell very good if you burn it. Not fishy though

I wouldn't describe the smell as fishy but it does smell awful to me.

Urgh, I've had the fishy taste when making a chocolate cake. First time, just assumed it was something else but then happened again. It was a recipe using a small bit of oil like in a muffin recipe. Horrible.

Got a fishy taste when didn't clean out a cafetière thoroughly once as well. So maybe it just happens when oils turn a bit rancid.