THE GOOD OIL MILL
AT YOUR HOME
One of the most popular questions we get aked at the end of our guided tours to discover extra virgin olive oil, especially from grandmothers still willing to cook or those who would like to pay a little more attention to their diet, is very often the following:
“In my recipes and desserts, can I replace butter with olive oil? If so, in what quantity? ”.
To us, who since the beginning of our extra virgin olive oil production business, have always been accustomed to using (whenever possible) extra virgin olive oil instead of the classic butter, this question is a bit obvious;
but despite this, we are happy that the health message towards extra virgin olive oil, which we care so much about, has been transmitted and it has aroused curiosity.
We also understand that, many times, the replacement of butter with extra virgin olive oil in desserts is not just a food choice but a real necessity: the population with food intolerances is increasing. In fact, lactose intolerant, for example, are looking, in this case, for a valid substitute for butter and today, we are here to explain why EVO oil perfectly fulfills this role.
We therefore think that the simplest but also the best way to explain the simple and healthy conversion between extra virgin olive oil and butter is through a clear descriptive table.
You know, a picture is worth a thousand words!
To better understand how and in what quantity to replace the butter with our EVO, a specific distinction must be made between the two foods, first of all.
Butter is a product of animal origin and it is obtained from milk; it contains about 780 calories per 100 grams and its composition is divided as follows: 80% fat and 20% water.
And now pay attention because here probably, your healthy idea of good extra virgin olive oil will surely falter a bit, but don’t worry!
Our extra virgin olive oil, on the other hand, is a product of vegetable origin only but it brings about 900 calories per 100 grams and it is made up of 100% fat … simple reason why olive oil is more caloric than classic butter.
But, the fact that extra virgin olive oil brings more calories, is by no means synonymous with a poorly digestible food, indeed it must be taken into account that since oil is a fat of vegetable origin, it falls into the category of the renowned “good fats” or that food category that must be introduced into our diet, in small doses, yes, but daily.
The big difference with butter is that this food, being entirely of animal origin, however, cannot enter the category of “good fats” such as EVO oil, but it falls within that of fats to be used in moderation. Certainly not to be eliminated entirely, but those fats to be used occasionally and not on a daily basis as it is recommended for the use of extra virgin olive oil.
As you may have probably guessed, the proportion to be made in the case of replacing butter with olive oil is really very simple; for example, if you want to replace 100 grams of butter, you will need to use 80 grams of extra virgin olive oil and therefore reduce the weight of the butter by 20%.
Despite the simplicity of calculation, this conversion helps us in small doses … but when they start to get bigger, it will be necessary to integrate the dose of water which, when replaced with oil, is missing. For example, a kilo of butter will be replaced with 800 grams of oil and 200 grams of water; and so on!
A bonus that the use of extra virgin olive oil has is that all oils are suitable for use instead of butter; lighter, tastier dishes that need a final touch or even simply in addition to the most unthinkable foods, we have a variety of EVO oils so wide and diversified to satisfy all palates, even the most severe and particular ones.
A piece of advice we like to give is this: for your desserts or biscuits use a more delicate olive oil than the classic freshly squeezed extra virgin olive oil. The lightness of the oil will be in perfect harmony with the other ingredients, without one going over the other.
As it was easy to guess from reading our article today, the proportion between butter and EVO oil is really simple, but to simplify everything even more, we want to end up with a table that you can consult every time you open the fridge you will think “Today I’d like to put some Bonamini extra virgin olive oil in my recipes ”!
