There are many different hemp products out there on the marketplace. While oils and edibles have become very popular, a brand new trend of hemp products has emerged; hemp oil for cooking.
Hemp oil is a fundamentally different type of product as it is typically used in combination with other ingredients. Additionally, the confusion surrounding hemp seed oil and full-spectrum oils can be difficult to navigate.
But just what is this hemp oil, and is it useful to use during cooking?
What Actually Is Hemp Oil in Cooking?
One of the most well-known types of hemp products is full-spectrum hemp oil. Hemp oil sold at most dispensaries and from legitimate hemp companies will contain a pre-subscribed amount of cannabinoids (CBN, CBD, CBG). Customers can typically find this on the product page and labeling.
However, purchasing good-quality hemp oil can be a minefield. It’s easy for customers to get confused between hemp oil and hemp seed oil. While the names are unfortunately similar, the products are vastly different.
Hemp seed oil is simply oil crudely extracted from the seeds of a hemp plant; this is no different from sunflower or sesame seed oil. In contrast, full-spectrum hemp oil contains a myriad of cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids.
It’s essential to recognize the difference between the two, as many companies sneakily rely on misinformation. They attempt to sell hemp seed oil as full-spectrum hemp oil.
When it comes to cooking, hemp seed oil is a great option. Like sunflower oil, hemp seeds contain a large amount of oil that can be extracted and eaten. Many believe it is incredibly beneficial to add it to regular meals.
Why We Should Use Hemp Seed Oil in Cooking
Hemp seed oil isn’t a particularly common cooking oil in most countries, mainly because most cultures don’t innately place any importance on the hemp plant.
While places in the Netherlands might be considered the hemp center of the world, using the plant’s seeds is not as common as its buds.
However, hemp seed oil in cooking can actually be beneficial, not to mention tasty.
A study by Delfin Rodriguez-Leyva and Grant N. Pierce for the Journal of Nutrition & Metabolism found that hemp seed oil has both cardiac and hemostatic effects. This means that adding hemp seed oil to a person’s diet can help improve their health, not to mention their heart strength.
There is just some really good nutrition there as well – hemp seed oil has been shown to have some incredible benefits for people’s diets. Not only are they filled with compounds to help improve general wellbeing, but they can also act as a near-complete protein, providing many of the nutrients that people tend to miss in their diets.
Hemp seed oil can be used in cooking by either eating it directly or using it as a cooking oil. While it does not reach the same high smoke point as other oils, it has a unique flavor profile that is incredibly difficult to mimic otherwise.
This makes it perfect for salad dressings, stir fry, and a late-minute addition to roasted veggies.
How to Use Real Hemp Oil in Cooking
While hemp seed oil might be sold as a cooking oil, users can also try and use full-spectrum hemp oil.
Instead of using it to coat a frying pan or finish a salad with it, hemp oil can instead be added directly to foods for the specific purpose of getting a serving of cannabinoids.
By adding hemp oil to food, it becomes incredibly quick and easy to enjoy the benefits of the cannabinoids without having to deal with the strong and sometimes unpleasant taste of regular hemp oil.
While this isn’t technically cooking with it, as in applying heat, hemp oil still has a legitimate place in the kitchen. However, it provides a convenient dosing of cannabinoids rather than being used as a key ingredient.
Regardless of whether you prefer to use hemp seed oil or full-spectrum hemp oil, there are opportunities to use both in the kitchen.
