What is the difference between using olive oil and vegetable oil or mazola/canola oil for cooking?

What are the health factors, taste factors, etc. that would go into choosing which oil to cook with.What is the difference between using olive oil and vegetable oil or mazola/canola oil for cooking?
As far as health, olive oil is the way to go. It is best for drizzling, or in dressings, or to quick saute as it doesn't have a very high smoke point (the temp at which it will burn.)





For frying, peanut oil has the highest smoke point, and it imparts a rich flavor to fried foods. You can use vegetable oil or canola oil to fry as well, but their smoke points are a little lower and therefore frying loses a bit of it's crispiness when using these two oils. They are also basically flavorless.





Due to their flavorless nature, vegetable oil or canola oil is best for baking.





I use olive oil fairly regularly, it's also fun to experiment with infused oils by putting the oil in a jar with different herbs or spices, some of my faves are garlic oil, rosemary oil (delicious with pork loin), and peppered oil.





Hope that helps!What is the difference between using olive oil and vegetable oil or mazola/canola oil for cooking?
Olive oil gives food a better taste and it does not seem so heavy on the stomach, to me anyway.
The difference somes from what are cooking...?


For frying you want to use a vegetable type oil (canola, Safflower, vegetable, peanut oil) as these oils have a higher heat threshold for deep frying (anything done over 300 degree's) The rest has to do with personal tastes. Olive oil and especially extra virgin olive oil is great as is, drizzled over salads, used in dressings, light sauteing, as it adds a great and light flavor to the foods you use it on, but some prefer the corn oils, or veggy oils for the same reason. Think it comes down to personal preference, with the exception of cooking method (frying)
Olive oil is healthier and much more flavorful. It burns more easily, though, so should not be used for high temperature frying or deep frying. Otherwise, use it unless the fruity flavor would not be wanted like in cakes or cookies.





Bert
the trans fats
Olive oil is natural and better for you.
Olive high is high in healthy fats that nutritionists feel we need to eat more of. However, olive oil also has a lot of calories so there is of course a trade off. As a general rule of thumb when I'm cooking I use olive oil in recipes that have a heavy flavoring of their own so the taste of the olive oil won't alter it's flavor. When I am cooking more delicate flavors where I want the taste of the food to stand out - say fish, or pork or even chicken, I'll use canola or vegetable oil.





Olive oil has a very distinct flavor, the other oils are less flavor altering. So use your own good taste.