Take the RapeseedOilBenefits.com challenge: non-testers add your feedback - you could win a £150 voucher NOW CLOSED

[KatieBMumsnet]

Did you know rapeseed oil, sometimes labelled vegetable oil, is one of the healthiest and most versatile cooking oils you can buy? That's the message from RapeseedOilBenefits.com, a not-for-profit campaign that aims to inspire people to use this cooking oil.

Take part in the RapeseedOilBenefits.com challenge and add your feedback here by to be entered into the prize draw:

~ Official testers (those selected by MNHQ) can win a £250 supermarket voucher of their choice
~ Non-official testers' who add a comment can win a £150 supermarket voucher of their choice

The challenge is to buy two bottles of rapeseed oil - one labelled 'vegetable oil' and the other labelled 'cold pressed' - and then to use these in place of your normal cooking oils for two weeks and tell us what you think. (If you already use rapeseed oil, feel free to take part in this challenge too.)

If you have any questions about rapeseed oil, go to RapeseedOilBenefits.com to ask the nutritionist and check out their guide to rapeseed oil FAQs.

Do try their easy and tasty recipes while you're there.

Please add your feedback here 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, recipes, tips or ideas you have too - we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge

Thanks

MNHQ

Please note comments made on this thread may be reproduced by Rapeseed Oil Benefits (AHDB)
Closing date: 19 August 2013, winners will be selected at random from all posting a comment: either a tester or non tester - prizes as above.

I have had a bit of a problem with this trial in that I've torn all the ligaments in my ankle (just before this started) so have been fairly immobile and DH has been doing most of the cooking and all of the shopping. However, he did manage to get me a bottle of the cold-pressed oil which I have used - I normally use olive oil. In comparison the flavour is slightly lighter - certainly not an unpleasant flavour and equally acceptable as olive oil. It didn't colour up as much as the olive oil and fried some eggs in the same frying pan without any more oil being added very nicely.

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

Yes - I was contemplating getting some anyway, and this made me take the plunge!

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

Not yet - might contemplate at the weekend if I can get on my feet for long enough!

I used the cold pressed oil with some balsamic vinegar as a salad dressing last night. I would normally use mayonnaise, because I don't like olive oil, and the rapeseed oil worked well. Think I used a bit too much, as DH thought it was a bit runny. No real flavour of the oil came through, but that was fine.

I have always bought and used olive oil in cooking and always believed it to be the healthiest and tastiest oil to use in cooking, very stuck in my ways! With my voucher I purchased the 2 bottles of oil and was surprised at just how cheap the vegetable oil was and even the cold pressed oil was cheaper than the olive oil I normally buy. I cooked a quick midweek meal of spaghetti Bolognese but rather than use olive oil, kept it all the same and used the cold pressed rapeseed oil. Extremely impressed with the results, even DH commented on how tasty it was, without knowing I had changed the oil. It tasted much less greasy/oily than it normally does. I also noticed how there was a lot less smoking when the oil was hot frying the onions and minced beef and I didn't need to use the extractor fan. Definitely converted from olive oil to rapeseed oil and will be trying it out on salads and roast potatoes over the weekend.

I bought my 2 bottles from Tesco - the ordinary seemed very good value, the cold pressed compared fairly well with extra virgin olive oil although I usually look for offers on EVOO so rarely pay full price.

I was excited to try it out as I was already aware of the health and environmental benefits of rapeseed oil and have had it in food when eating out before (farm shop cafes and the like).

I have used the cold pressed as a salad dressing, on bulgur wheat to make a tabbouleh, and in making hummus and I think it is really delicious. The hummus especially seemed to have a lovely nutty taste which I don't get with olive oil and I thought this worked really well.

I have used the ordinary rapeseed oil in pretty much all our cooking this last couple of weeks - chilli, bacon and tomato pasta sauce, mushroom risotto, roasted vegetables, and on a chicken for roasting. I can't say to be honest I have noticed a huge difference from my normal olive oil but there has been less smoke from the oven on the roasted dishes. The flavour is fine, nothing really negative or positive to say about the flavour but that is fine as I haven't wanted it to have a strong flavour.

I haven't yet tried any of the recipes but would like to try it in baking. DS has a couple of good friends with severe dairy allergies so butter substitutes in baking are always welcome for when we host or visit them!

Hi

Last night we tried the two variety's my son used the cold pressed to make Blueberry Muffins.( got the kids doing a bit of supervised cooking as they are off school, daughter will be cooking Saturday)

The muffins came out really well and well risen and super fluffy.
Tasted great too. :)

I used the ordinary one for my family favourite - Pasta Bake.
I used it to brown the mince beef and fry onions, garlic and any other veg have in.
Also impressed with the results again.
Went down well with everyone as usually does and another thumbs up from our house. :)

DW and DD have just made a rapeseed lemon drizzle cake...it's cooking as I type this.....Will let you know how it turns out but it smells delicious.

Oh please could I have the recipe, gazzalw?

Right late replying to this thread, sorry.

Partly as I thought my vouchers hadn't arrived...only they had and were in the boys bedroom! Not sure how our when they got there but hey ho!

I was surprised to realize that the vegetable oil we often use is actually rape seed oil! Will teach me to read the label.

And dp has bought the cold pressed oil which I am yet to use but will do tomorrow.

We made cheese scones, they were lovely and a hit with the kids, next time I will try them with the cold pressed oil to see if it makes a difference.

I use the regular oil in stuff like bolognase/chilli etc and as I said I didn't realize I had been using it, I just bought what was on offer at the supermarket.

We use olive oil a lot as well as I always assumed it was healthier.. So shall try the cold pressed oil instead of olive oil next time.

I also sometimes use sesame oil, and a toasted/roasted sesame oil? In stir fries so will try the cold pressed instead of that.

I like the little recipe book, there are a few recipes in it I want to try and have had as quick look at the online site but will look more thoroughly later.

I think I am definitely converted as I sent DH out earlier to buy another bottle of the cold-pressed oil!

As well as my posts earlier in the thread I suppose I should answer the questions asked at the beginning:

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

Before the test I knew nothing of rapeseed oil apart from seeing the crop in the fields. I assumed it would be greasy and taste like sunflower oil, which I hate. I knew nothing of the health benefits, and always thought olive oil was the most healthy of all the cooking oils.

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

I have tried the cheese and seed tear and share scones. They were very tasty and a big hit with family and friends.

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

I have used the oils in all my cooking over the last two weeks and would definitely say I am converted. I prefer the taste to that of olive oil - it is less bitter and seems less greasy. I like the colour of the cold-pressed oil and really like the fact that both versions have a much higher smoke-point. I have posted through the thread of the different things I've cooked and everything so far has been a success. I am keen to try baking something sweet and have bought more oil in order to try more recipes.

Friends and family have commented on the bottle of cold-pressed oil in the kitchen and I have recommended it to them to try for themselves. Several people have commented to me that they have heard celebrity chefs talking about it recently.

Thank you very much for letting me be a tester - I've really enjoyed this challenge and will continue to use the product now that I've had a chance to try it.

I just made a cake using the standard rapeseed oil instead of margarine. Glad that it makes it a little healthier! It was just a basic vanilla sponge (all I can muster given that I have given birth since starting to test the rapeseed oil and now have a six day old to look after)

DD and I just tasted it and it is absolutely scrummy. And because I am breastfeeding I am "allowed" to eat the rest of it if I want

I used the conversion helpfully posted above, replacing 100g equivalent butter with 80ml rapeseed oil.

With DS1 and DD I used olive oil on their skin after a bath to ease newborn dryness. Does anyone know if it would be ok to use the rapeseed oil on DS2? I guess the cold pressed would be preferable as it is subject to less processing and refinement.

A slow start after being off food with a d&v bug..

I regularly use vegetable oil under pain of death from my mother -she avidly researches health benefits. So I knew about the benefits but I hadn't realised this is actually Rapeseed Oil. I am very happy with it - cheap, healthy, no weird taste. Will continue to use of for frying, roasting etc.

We tried the Turkey burgers. Very easy and quick to make, I like them, DP liked them a lot and ate all the leftovers for his lunch the next day.
I am also planning to make the potato sald this weekend.

We tried the cold-pressed oil where we would usually use olive oil - in salad dressing and on baking potatoes. It worked really well rubbed on the potatoes with some salt, nice crisp skin, pleasant texture and taste. Also pleasant in salad dressing and good with flavoured vinegars where you don't want a strong olive taste. It seemed quite pricey but it is a big bottle so probably reasonable enough.

Also my mother put it in cake for DD (she is dairy and egg allergic). worked really well - lovely and moist, the holy grail of the egg and dairy free cake!

Used for baked potatoes here too - fab! Grrrrr when I think of the money I could have saved by not buying olive oil over all these years.....

I've tried out a few of the recipes over the course of the last week including the warm bacon, mustard and potato salad (yum), the smoked salmon and oat baked cheesecake (double yum) and the baked peaches which went down a treat.

I found both oils worked really well in all of these recipes and I'm looking forward to trying out the other recipes. I couldn't really tell the difference in the taste between these oils and my usual olive oil. I was surprised at the benefits as like most people people I have been led to believe that olive oil is the healthier of the two. I will definitely be using these oils in my cooking from on now on as the whole family have enjoyed the meals I have prepared using them.

So pleased to have been picked to take part in a foodie sort of trial! Been a bit slack about posting til now. Slapped wrist.

OK the points in the OP:

Initially didn't know much about rapeseed oil until Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall (HFW) started banging on about it in his recipes in the Grauniad. I leapt to the conclusion it must be because he's concerned with food miles and that rapeseed is an indigenous crop/product. This pleases me. Love the idea of a Mediterranean diet but don't want to have to ship in the components.

Didn't realise the positive health benefits. Love that rapeseed oil has a high smoke point as I do tend to shallow fry for ease and flavour . I'd rather eat my omegas and heart healthies through food rather than supplements so that's another tick.

[Aside: I always thought it was a crop for animals - it's quite a potent sight and smell where I grew up and not thought of in all that positive a light. I'm pleased to have this image of it reversed.]

I love the recipe booklet that arrived with the voucher - quite an interesting bent on some familiar recipes. Really keen on trying the cheese tear and share scones.

I bought one bottle of Tesco's own finest cold-pressed and one of Crisp N Dry (what is anti-foaming agent...? )

Things I've made:
Apple and raisin muffins - own cup of this and that recipe. I usually use flavouless grapeseed oil for cakes/muffins. Substituted for the more expensive cold-pressed. Didn't add flavour so that's a bonus. Does add a golden hue.

Sweet potato falafels - Al fa'ez packet mix. Reduce water added to approx.100ml + 2 large sweet potatoes cooked and mashed (microwave for 10 mins turning once half way til soft then scoop out and add to mix). Made into ping pong balls and flattened. Shallow fry in an obscene 5ml to 1 cm of oil to a good colour. Drain on kitchen paper. Kids go wild for them. Serve with greek yoghurt (poss add chopped mint and tiny bit crushed garlic). Used Crisp N Dry.

Pan fried rainbow trout. Used cold-pressed.

Courgette pasta thing. Didn't stink the house out when I forgot to turn them the courgettes over... Got a bit too much colour but most tasty.

My feelings: doesn't add flavour like EVOO. Not sure how I feel about this for some cooking and salads. Got so used to the flavour in some dishes. I feel this is somewhat lighter. That's not a bad thing. Certainly made me reconsider the oils I buy and I'll most probably be boring people about it - home-grown and healthy - really?! etc.

Deffo push the UK crop angle.

Back again. Cooked the kids cheesy pasta with chicken and peas. Did the chicken in a pan with rapeseed oil and it went down very well with the kids who actually finished their whole portions (normally unheard of).

While I am here I just wanted to say I really hope people become more aware of the benefits of rapeseed oil from this campaign (and the subsequent word of mouth) as unless you are particularly well informed food wise you just don't hear about it. I am never using olive oil to cook again and very pleased to have found a healthy alternative.

And like the poster above I'd be interested to know what anti-foaming agent is. Off to google.

I purchased my oils from Sainsbury's, standard vegetable oil for £2 and cold pressed in a very fancy bottle for just under £4.

So far I've been using the standard oil in place of the sunflower oil or olive oil I use for frying and been very impressed. I have a Tefal Actifry and have been using the Rapeseed Oil as the spoonful of oil to cook with. I haven't noticed any discernible difference in taste and it cooks just as well as the other oils.

I think I'm converted to the cold pressed oil. I've used it in a salad dressing with chive flower vinegar and mustard and it tasted great. The oil has a peppery taste to it which complemented the other ingredients well.

So far I've made the Tear and Share Cheese Scone recipe and the whole family loved it. I served it with a chicken salad and my son ate about hald the scones and none of his meal! This is a recipe that I will definitely use again. It was so simple and gave impressive results. I think I might also try it with the cold pressed oil to see if that gives it added flavour.

I can see us buying the cold pressed oil again in the future, I've really enjoyed trying that and never would have done so without this challenge. The health benefits are an added bonus and it's always good to find an easier way of getting omega 3 in to my family's diet.

Very interesting.....

I'm not an official tester, but I've been using rapeseed oil for a few years now, ever since a friend told me it was healthier than sunflower oil. It cooks as well as any vegetable oil, better then olive oil, as it is stable at a higher temperature.

BUT I've not yet come across the cold-pressed variety, for salads etc, and I will definitely be seeking it out. I like olive oil, but also like to try different oils in dressings (e.g. walnut).

Took the rapeseed to my sister's house yesterday and everyone loved it and are going to buy it.

Interestingly my sil asked where it was as she looked the other week and couldn't find it... Top shelf issues too!

not an official tester - can't say I've ever thought much about what oil I'm using for cooking - it's more about the price and delivery system. So I have some vegetable oil from the poundstore for general frying and cooking - it's absolutely fine and lasts ages. Then I have a spray (not sure which oil) when I just need a small amount of oil.

Would probably use olive oil for salad dressing so interesting to hear that coldpress might be good for that. Also interesting to hear about using oil in baking e.g. muffins.

Rapeseed oil sounds versatile with health benefits - I think the main sticking point (pardon the pun!) would be the name! So sticking with veg oil and cold press branding seems to be a good move.

The Rapeseed Oil Lemon Drizzle Cake was delicious......

We are well and truly converted in this household and will be buying it in future. Pity you can't get it in a solid form to substitute butter!

My only gripe is that rapeseed ruins honey as it makes it very oily...great pity as I'm a honey lover too....bit of a conflict of interests!!!

I've always avoided anything obviously labelled as rapeseed oil as those yellow flowers are an awful hayfever trigger for me. Interested in this trial though....

Sorry to be so late posting my feedback

We were on holiday for most of the trial period but were self-catering so took rapeseed oil instead of our usual groundnut and olive oils. I used the standard rapeseed oil for frying things (eggs, sausages) and the cold-pressed in situations where I'd normally use extra brain olive oil (salad dressings, potato salad).

I knew a little about the health benefits already. I am interested in the the idea that eating something homegrown might help with hayfever. We live in the countryside and rapeseed in full bloom makes our lives fairly hellish for a few weeks (definitely the worst trigger for hayfever). If eating more of it would help with that I'm all in favour.

We cooked things we normally would, but fairly basic stuff because we were on holiday with limited cooking facilities. Our absolute favourite was crushed new potatoes with rapeseed oil and seasoning. Not sure about the yellowish tinge to the potatoes but it was no big deal.
Jury's out on salad dressing. We not ally make one with 4 parts olive oil, one part balsamic or white wine vinegar, salt, pepper. Substituting rapeseed oil for olive oil wasn't quite as nice IMHO.
The Dcs loved having pasta (spinach and ricotta tortellini) drizzled with the oil instead of pesto or tomato sauce. They were ver y impressed (and are fussy eaters....)

We didnt try the recipes because we didnt have Internet access.

I would certainly buy and use it again though.

It took two attempts to but the standard oil. One branch of Sainsburys didn't have it. Lots of choice of the cold-pressed one (4 different types?).

Thank you for letting me try this. A product test that all the family enjoyed.

I bought my oils just before going away on holiday and as we were self catering I took them with me to try.

I made up several different salad dressings with the cold pressed oil and everyone enjoyed them, the oil seemed to be much lighter and added a subtle taste to the dressings.

The vegetable oil was used for a variety of dishes. In roasted vegetables I often find that the usual olive oil can make them slightly greasy but with this oil they were not greasy. I used it in a bolgense and that was really good lovely and light, not heavy and slightly greasy as it sometimes can be, it also had much more flavour than usual. I also used the oil to fry onions for hot dogs when we had a bbq, and found that the onions tasted better

It was good to be part of this product test because I probably would have stuck with olive oil thinking it was the healthiest option

I went to Sainsburys and purchased Hillfarm Oils Coldpressed Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil and Sainsbury's Pure Vegetable Oil. I wasn't aware that several of the oils I have used in the past were actually from rapeseed. This was surprising to me as I like to think I'm a conscious shopper but apparently not!

We did not try any of the recipes from the website or booklet as its been a very busy couple of weeks and as such the tolerance for new things lowers with my DCs, but we incorporated them into our regular recipes.

I liked the price of the oils. They were competitively priced and the bottles looked attractive. My DH is Spanish and was adamant the flavours would not be as nice in typical dishes but he was unable to tell the difference in both cooked dishes and salad dressings. The only differences I noticed was on making a carrot cake the oil seeped into the cases more than usual and in serving the Extra Virgin oil with Balsamic for dipping bread into it felt greasier in the mouth.

I wasn't aware of any health benefits to the oils but since starting the taste trial I've been looking into them. I'm really suprised by what they offer health wise such as less saturated fat. My MIL is concerned though that its healthier than Spanish olive oil, she refuses to believe this!

We used the oils in all many different dishes including; paella with side salad, carrot cake, cooking our courgettes in a tempura batter, crab curry, pakora, pancakes, frying eggs, and homemade bread. We could not tell the flavour difference in any of the dishes, except those listed above. The one thing I noted was our tempuras came out much darker than usual as did our pakoras.

I buy various different oils with our shopping and testing this will prompt me to add Rapeseed oil to our basket.

Thanks for the opportunity of testing.