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'd heard a lot about rapeseed oil before the challenge but had never purchased a bottle. I used the vegetable rapeseed for my day to day cooking and the cold pressed for salad and dressings. During the two weeks I made various dishes including pasta, chilli, turkey burgers, falafel, salad, honey soy chicken, lamb kebabs, kofta, omelette, French toast, muffins and bread. I found the raw taste of the oil much lighter than my usual variety and the vegetable oil didn't burn on a high heat. I was very impressed with both of the oils and I'm happy to pay more in the future for these two varietys. I will definitely be making another purchase.

we have continued to cook with ours. tonight it is burgers cooked in a little oil (they are veggie so need the help). they tasted delicious. I Love that the oil doesn't leave an after taste. I also made some pasta salad and used some oil to dress is in a simple sauce with lemon and parmasan. I'm finding baking with the oil really easy too.

Sorry for the late feedback, I bought the bottles and took them in holiday to try it out on our extended family!
I hadn't really heard if using rapeseed oil before this challenge, but was very interested, having been brought up surrounded by the bright yellow fields, and knowing many people allergic to it. Is there any evidence that this product will help desensitise?
I am impressed that it is such a local product to me, with much less air mileage involved. Plus the reduced saturated fat is a no brainer.
I made three batches of the cheese scone tear and share (with extra parmesan on top) which went down a storm.
I also used it for roasted veg for a pizza topping, chicken and veg kebabs, frying sausages for sausage pasta salad, garlic mushrooms, and morning breakfast bacon butties. I used the cold pressed oil for salad dressing, drizzled on salmon and in potato salad. The dressing was particularly noticeably lighter.
I am definitely going to recommend this oil to friends and family. I collect Yorkshire products for a hamper each Christmas, these will certainly be going in this year!
Thank you :)

I have both using both for a week now.

Surprised how much I like the taste of the cooking oil given how much I use olive oil as standard. It was great with a stuffed mushroom recipe.

The cold pressed is ok on salads, but not my preference for dressings, but I'll persevere as I think the flavour could work with something's like nut based salads.

The recipe book was not good for vegetarians. No savoury veggie meal recipe in it which I thought was pretty poor.

I will probably use the veg oil more in cooking as it's cheaper and tasted good.

I didn't know about the benefits, but have been using it for a while, after buying some at a farmer's market.

I tried the scone recipe, when friends came and I didn't have a chance to get bread. They went down well.

The ordinary oil is fantastic for roast potatoes, even better than the cold pressed version.

To be honest, recently we've had both cold pressed and olive oil in, but I think I might drop the olive oil in future. And DH says he wants rapeseed rather than sunflower oil.

I have been using both for a week.

The cheaper vegetable oil type one I have used and noticed no difference at all! Whatsoever! Totally converted.

The cold pressed one I have used before and I really like it. I originally got it because of the health benefits and I am now a convert. Olive oil tastes heavy now, and quite greasy. The cold pressed one is a richer colour too.

I made tabbouleh with the cold pressed rapeseed oil and it was gorgeous! I cooked bulgar wheat and when cooled seasoned it with salt, pepper and a huge glug of rapeseed oil. Then I added chopped mint, cucumber, spring onion and a clove of garlic. Mixed well and refrigerated for half an hour.

As vegetarians I am always looking for new ways to get Omega oils that we don't get from fish, and this is great, tasty way!

I've not been chosen but have been using rapeseed oil for years. It has a higher burning point than olive oil, so none of that black smoke you sometimes get with olive oil when stir frying and you can use less in cooking. It also seems to be a lot lighter in baking too!

I went to Tesco and purchased the Great Ness Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil and the Tesco organic rapeseed oil. I had not realised that the oil is lower in saturated fats than other oils but this would definitely influence my decision in buying it in the future as I try to make healthy choices for my family.

We used the organic rapeseed oil for all our cooking for the 2 weeks and mostly used the cold pressed oil as a salad dressing. We made roast potatoes; potato wedges and oven chips with the oil and the family did not notice a difference between our normal oil and this so I would choose it in future for its health benefits.

We all liked the taste of the cold press oil and my boys both said that they thought it tasted nutty. We then did a blind test where we tried our normal cold pressed olive oil and the rapeseed oil and on some salad and had to choose which one we preferred without knowing which was which. We all chose the rapeseed over the olive oil and are now converted!

We tried the tear and share scones which I really liked but unfortunately the rest of the family really didnt like, so wont be doing that one again. That was disappointing as we are a big fan of scones and I like the idea of the health benefits of the oats.

Being non-meat eaters there were not many recipes that were of interest but I do like the look of oat topped mackerel - when I see some nice fresh mackerel in the shop I will give that one a try.

So overall, a great challenge for our family and we are now converted. I have been spreading the word already and telling everyone to try it and about the health benefits

I went to Sainsburys and bought British Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil & also a large veg oil. I wasn't already aware of the health benefits but was very interested to read how good it was for you!

I have used the oil in place of all other oil for over 2 weeks now an i am really impressed it doesn't have a strong taste and when i used it in place of butter for flapjacks they were delicious and much more moist than the ones i normally make (which is every week for my daughters lunch box) We also made Moroccan Pork Kebabs with Cous Cous which was really nice and my little ones really enjoyed it. I also used it for various other things where i would normally use olive oil.

I am going to bake the carrot cake this week with my little ones as it looks delicious

I really liked the oil and will be using it in place of olive oil from now on.

Thank you for letting us test this oil we have had great fun baking things and trying new dishes

I bought the cheap £1.25 vegetable oil and the Tesco Finest Cold Pressed Oil.
I used both the oils to fry Quorn bacon and eggs to go in breakfast baguettes and both were really nice.
I used the vegetable oil to fry some veggie mince for a bolognaise and that was fine too.

I have been using olive oil and now knowing the health benefits of rapeseed I'll definitely be using this from now.

I saw upthread someone bought a local Kent one so will look out for it when this one starts to run out.

I didn't realise it was the healthiest choice of oils before this test so am grateful for that info. I'll not bother with olive or sunflower oil again.

~ Have you tried out any RapeseedOilBenefits.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?
Well, I tried the carrot cake and messed it up a bit. I got the flour amount wrong somehow and didn't put enough in. It made it rather carrotty.
But, the method was so easy, not having to cream the butter so will definitely be cutting out butter and mixing oil with the eggs.

Am very happy, thank you.

I bought the British cold pressed oil and Sainsburys own veg oil (which I usually use anyway)

We fried bacon and sausages in the rapeseed and even my husband agreed that they tasted better. I also made salad dressing with the rapeseed oil which I wouldn't do with normal veg oil so can see rapeseed being a bit more economical in the long run as it will get used more instead of us throwing half a bottle of out of date stuff out!

This is as far as I've got so far I'm afraid as due to a glitch I didn't receive my voucher until Friday. I'll definitely be sticking to the rapeseed oil though. I like the taste better and of course the health benefits are a major reason for it.

Looking forward to trying the buttercream with just oil & eggs. Sounds so much easier!

I didn't receive the voucher for the trial but when looking into the benefits of rapeseed oil, I decided it was really worthwhile participating

~ I was aware of rapeseed oil but had never tried it before which is daft given the health benefits. I was really surprised and impressed to learn about the benefits of rapeseed oil. We have a history of heart problems in my family with high cholesterol (even when I eat only the so-called good fats my levels are crazily high) so I was intrigued from the start.

~ I have mostly been using the oil for roasting and frying because it has a higher burning point than olive oils. All the family liked the cold pressed British rapeseed oil because of its nutty flavour. Neither my husband nor children noticed the difference when I used rapeseed oil for roasting and frying which is fine. From the RapeseedOilBenefits.com site I made Chicken Breasts Roasted with Peppers and Courgettes, Salmon and Avocado Salad with Lemon Dressing and the lemon chicken parcels. They all tasted good but especially the salad because the dressing is so flavoursome. I'm definitely going to try more dressings.

Apart from the specific recipes I also used it for stir fries and roasts. I also used it in a chocolate cake recipe and it worked brilliantly - the sponge was really moist and it wasn't dry when we polished off the rest of the cake 2 days later. The only problem is my children are now begging me to make more cakes but at least the cakes will be a bit healthier!

I also like the added environmental benefit - because it is produced locally it cuts down on the carbon footprint of imported oils.

I am definitely buying it from now onwards given it tastes good, is healthier and kinder to the environment. It's a win, win, win!

Tried the cold pressed oil with my roast potatoes today. (Think I may have slightly over done the amount of oil needed though!). Taste was fine. The only problem I noticed with the cold pressed oil though is the very strong smell. I'm sure I am more aware of it because I am the one cooking it though because none of my family mentioned it.
I did notice a very nutty smell during the cooking process though and I do have to say it is the aroma which I still struggle with...

I didn't realise the health benefits of using Rapeseed oil over Olive Oil but now I do know I think I will be buying this in future.

I used it over the potatoes today to roast and they came out brilliantly, I really liked the crisp texture and they didn't taste as thought I had changed the oil so the kids didn't complain which can only be a good thing!

Also used the cold pressed over a pasta salad that me and my partner had last night and it was delicious with a slightly nutty taste, it made the salad a bit more interesting.

Haven't had a chance to do any baking yet but will definitely be trying out some of the recipes. I didn't realise you could use the oil in place of butter!

Not an official tester. However I have used rapeseed oil for years now. I like it for the health benefits compared up other oils when frying or roasting. I generally use it for my roast potatoes, which come out very crispy. I also use it yo fry instead of vegetable/sunflower oil. All in all a very healthy alternative

Hi.

Yesterday evening I decided to have a go at a couple of the recipes from your booklet, as we were going on a family day out to the zoo.
I thought this would be a great way to test take away goodies.

So I used the two varieties - used the cheaper one to make the seeded cheese scones, and the cold pressed to make the smoked salmon and oat baked cheesecake.

Loved these two recipes and were great as an alternative to sandwiches!

The only things extra to buy for these recipes were the seeds for the scones and salmon for the bake - so not to much to spend as all the other ingredients i already had in the house which was a bonus too :)

The kids loved the scones and will do again when my mom visits to have with our tea. My husband and I loved the Salmon Bake, but I love Salmon anyway and this was a new way of having it and very portable. My husband will take some to work tomorrow for lunch, so another bonus I am one step ahead there. :)

We have finished our bottles!! Now normally a bottle of oil would last best part of a month..but we have been oil crazy in the name of research. The balsamic and oil dip..well this was the absolute only dish where the expensive extra virgin olive oil won. The guests preferred the grassy, olivey taste and found the less powerful taste of rapeseed not quite so attractive.Every other dish..mayo, cakes, frying, baking, salad dressing, and a twist on garlic bread..rapeseed was versatile, delicious and performed. I was aware of the health benefits from a food show and will happily keep an expensive british made bottle for dressings etc and the cheaper alternative for general use. Oh yes..i did spill some and scooped it up and rubbed it into my hands..beautifully soft..so not just for eating!

I bought British cold pressed oil and Sainsburys own vegetable oil. I normally buy oil in Lidl and use their veg oil and olive oil as it's so cheap but was pleasantly surprised at the cost comparison of the cold pressed to the normal olive that I buy.

We have cooked normal meals using both the oils - Roast beef and homemade yorkshire puds which rose brilliantly using the cold pressed oil and tasted yummy! Roast potatoes also came out crispy and everyone said that they tasted the same as normal.

We also had paella from scratch which tasted the same as with olive oil, chow mein with the left over roast beef, and curry from scratch - fried the onions on a v low heat for about 20 mins using the veg oil and they turned out fab to make the curry base from.

I did bake a little using the oil but not sweet - we made oven baked frittata as we had a glut of quails eggs and for a change made it in individual pie tins sprayed with oil and they cooked and rose beautifully (and tasted amazing!)

Very interested in the health benefits as compared to Olive oil and will probably be making the switch permanent after doing a lot of reading!

Thank you for the opportunity to test.

After about 2 weeks of testing, I would say that apart from the colour, nobody has really noticed the difference!

I put some cold pressed on the potato salad (1 child hates mayo) and they said oh no is it curry potatoes? Thinking it was turmeric which they don't like. They tucked in and ate the lot.

I am wondering HOW the yellow colour is removed from the refined oil.... Did someone say is was a chemical and nasty process?

Also am not convinced that cold pressed rape seed oil is cheaper than budget olive oil, and unfortunately, 50 p more on a bottle is going to stop me from buying it regularly.

Thank you for the opportunity to try it though

I got the sainsburys vegetable rapeseed oil and the Farringdon cold pressed rapeseed oil - which I have used previously.

Because it's been so hot I haven't done lots of cooking recently but we've just lived off salads. So much so that the bottle of cold pressed oil is almost out as it has been used for so much salad dressing! It's great in dressing - either as a basic vinaigrette made with the cold pressed rapeseed oil and a good squirt of Merchant Gourmet Balsamic glaze (which is delicious and yummy and makes a fab dressing) or if I have a bit more time on my hands then it's my eclectic dressing (or eccentric dressing as dh calls it!) - c.p. rapeseed oil, a good squirt of thai sweet chilli sauce and a good dollop of Barts chopped coriander in a jar (so wet rather than dried herbs). Sounds really weird but works really well, especially with the nuttiness of the cold pressed rapeseed oil. Sometimes add a squirt of merchant gourmet balsamic glaze to it as well, if I feel in the mood for it to be a bit more vinegary.

We've also been using the cp oil and balsamic glaze for dipping bread into which the dc think is fun and makes a change from bread and butter for them.

Today I did do a roast beef joint and as have lost the butter I bought the other day (not good on a warm weekend, beginning to dread finding it as it's definitely not in the fridge!) I used the cold pressed oil to drizzle over the beef rather than stick a big knob of butter on it. Tasted absolutely fine, nobody noticed and the beef was beautifully tender. As I make the gravy in the pan with the meat juices it meant it was in the gravy too and it worked really well. I don't usually add salt to food although I do use salted butter, so it took me a little while to figure out that the gravy needed a hint of salt to taste similar to normal as it usually gets it from the butter. But that was fine.

Still haven't found my butter but not sure that I am brave enough to have cold pressed rapeseed oil on my crumpets for breakfast! Might make the muffins though tomorrow, they would be a good breakfast thing, even if I haven't done them in time for tomorrow!

The vegetable oil I've used for doing bacon and egg - works really well although I would probably add a small knob of butter for flavour when frying egg as I like a bit of butteriness with it! DH managed to use the cold pressed oil to do bacon and egg with one day - he said it was nice but was hard pressed to work out what the difference was with what he normally has

Maybe now that it's going to be cooler this week I'll actually want to switch the oven on and do some proper cooking!

I'm also going to look out for a recipe for microwave chocolate cake in a cup and see if I can use the oil for that recipe - sounds like the sort of thing that might work very well...

Oh and I'm not sure what I did wrong but when I tried to get a copy of the recipe booklet I got a runtime error and that was it - no idea if I have submitted a request for the booklet or if it never made it that far!

Thought I'd do it again tomorrow when I have a little more time and dc aren't around... fingers crossed!

~ Let us know what you think of rapeseed oil and if you knew about the benefits already or not.
I had heard of rapeseed oil but I hadn't read of the benefits, neither did I know that the oil I generally buy was rapeseed oil.

~ Have you tried out any RapeseedOilBenefits.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?
I've used the oil as I normally would and in place of olive oil no one noticed on taste although they did comment on colour when I used the cold pressed oil to make a salad dressing. I made the carrot cake, the brownies and the cheese scones and they were all a hit and plan on making a chocolate fudge cake today using the oil.

~ 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
Until I was asked to take part in the challenge I would never have considered using rapeseed oil when making a cake, it had to be butter but it has made me think again not only for the health benefits but also because cost wise the oil works out cheaper than butter.

Thanks for this rapeseed challenge, we have really loved it. Will definitely be always buying rapeseed from now on and both of my bottles are almost empty.

I have also made Moroccan Pork Kebabs and Chocolate & cranberry brownies from the website. Both were delicious DCs liked the brownies very much.

We thought the rapeseed oil was great! Turns out that I've been using the non cold pressed stuff as my "cheap" oil (for frying eggs etc) for a fair while! I didn't know of the benefits of rapeseed oil before, but I'm becoming a bit of a convert, telling everyone about it.

I haven't tried any of the recipes as life has been a bit hectic these last couple of weeks. Instead I've just used it where I'd previously have used olive oil (which was largely for everything except frying eggs!).

The whole family appears to have enjoyed it. My 5yo isn't usually shy of voicing an opinion and there were no complaints from him, so I'm assuming he liked it. Similarly with my husband.

We'll definitely be using it in future.

Ok, I am officially a convert to rapeseed oil in terms of baking. Last week I made a vanilla sponge using the cheap rapeseed oil instead of butter, and today I made flapjacks and a huge coffee and walnut cake. OMG - absolutely delicious! (Do I have to share it???)

It is brilliant to know that the saturated fat content is less, and of course it is so much cheaper than using butter. Mum has been ordered to follow a low saturated fat diet due to heart problems, and will be delighted to know that she can substantially reduce the fat content by using this oil, and in such a variety of ways.

We are planning to try some home made fishcakes tomorrow, with a stirfry, to see how the cold-pressed rapeseed oil fares in place of olive oil.

I found some more recipes here (and used the one on this site for the traditional flapjacks)

www.summerharvestoils.co.uk/recipes/recipes.htm