Cooking with essential oils
A drop or two can pack a flavorful punch
Each new year, tons of people resolve to live better, whether that means exercising more or vowing to get eight hours of shut-eye a night. And in the quest for better health, one topic that pops up again and again is essential oils. Although it may seem like the latest trend, essential oils have been around for thousands of years; the ancient Egyptians prized them for their health and beauty benefits.
Today, people consume them topically, aromatically or as part of their diet. Specific oils target specific health care needs. For example, lemon essential oil is said to support a healthy circulatory system and peppermint essential oil is said to support a healthy digestive system.
But in additional to their medicinal qualities, essential oils can add great flavor to your cooking.
“An essential oil is an aromatic volatile liquid found within many plants,” says Bethany Rapinchuk, an independent distributor for Young Living Essential Oils from Naperville, Ill. “Therapeutic-grade essential oils are very complex, highly concentrated and require a large amount of plant material to produce small amounts of a distilled essential oil.”
Upon first glance, it may seem like essential oils and flavored extracts have a lot in
common — but they are completely different.
To make something like peppermint extract, the plant parts are cold-pressed, then macerated or soaked in a liquid like alcohol.
To make peppermint essential oil, the process begins with distillation.
Only a small amount of the liquid that is distilled off is the essential oil.
So it takes much more plant material to make an essential oil than it does an extract, and this is why they are more expensive than extracts.
For example, it takes about one pound of peppermint to make one 15ml bottle (about
ounce) of peppermint essential oil and 75 lemons to make one 15ml bottle of lemon essential oil.
“When it comes to using them in your cooking, not all essential oils are created equal,” Rapinchuk says.
Depending on how the oil is made, not all essential oils are safe to consume.
“Make sure the essential oils you are going to use are labeled for internal use for ingestion.”
The Young Living Vitality line was made especially for this purpose.
You can find everything from basil and black pepper to ginger and grapefruit (there are 44 oils in all).
In addition to being an avid cook, Rapinchuk also loves to entertain. She often uses essential oils in her cooking, baking and beverage making.
“I’ve made pancakes, marinades, salad dressing, pasta sauce, apple sauce, pumpkin cookies, lemon poundcake, peppermint mochas, guacamole — the list goes on,” she says. Their versatility and flavor options are what make them ideal for cooking.
Anywhere you use dried herbs, spices or juice, you can use an essential oil instead. The most important thing to note is that essential oils are much more concentrated, so you only need a few drops to make a big flavor impact (if you can, taste as you cook so you don’t overpower a dish). Fortunately, bottles come with a built-in dropper.
You can replace the juice and zest of a citrus fruit with 10 to 15 drops of essential oil, one tablespoon of liquid with one-half to one drop essential oil and less than 1 tablespoon of liquid with a toothpick swirl of essential oil.
Exposing oils to extreme heat can change their properties, so when you can, lower your stove-top temperature, use essential oils with another oil (like olive oil) or add them after your dish has been removed from the heat.
Essential oils are sold at Whole Foods, healthfood stores and online and are available from personal consultants (as with Young Living). Cost varies greatly depending on the brand and source. A 15ml bottle contains about 250 drops; a 5ml bottle, about 80.
The oils shouldn’t take the place of citrus zests or other seasonings in your cooking, but they do offer some advantages. A bottle of lemon oil, for example, will last much longer than a lemon on your counter.
But the most important thing to remember about cooking with essential oils is to have fun and experiment.
“I’ve made pancakes, marinades, salad dressing, pasta sauce, apple sauce, pumpkin cookies, lemon poundcake, peppermint mochas, guacamole — the list goes on.” BETHANY RAPINCHUK, INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR FOR YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS