Lately we have been broiling vegetables in the oven with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on them, but we keep setting off the smoke alarm in the kitchen although the vegetables come out deliciously. What oil has a high enough smoking temperature to be appropriate?
What oil has a smoking temperature high enough for broiling
broilingoil
Related Solutions
You can cook with olive oil, but there's not many reasons to actually do it (see the comments). What is more important than what oil you use, is that the oil is fresh. Some fresh oils you can heat to 450–475 F/230–250 C, but when it starts getting rancid (and oil does very quickly), you will reach the smoke point at around 350 F/175 C.
Harold McGee explains (Youtube).
Oil heated to its smoke point.
What you should consider is price. Olive oil has a subtle flavour and it will mellow out when you're cooking with it and all oils will eventually taste the same after heating.
Bonus tip: I don't remember if it's in the linked video clip McGee talks about this, but to keep oils fresh longer, he suggest wrapping them in tin foil to reflect the light. (And of course keeping them cool, but not in the fridge.)
Olive oil has a notoriously low smoke point. If you're looking for something nutritious to pop corn with, try avocado oil.
While burned food tastes yucky, and there is (some) evidence that a steady diet consisting mainly of burnt olive oil may be (slightly) carcinogenic, it is highly unlikely you did anything worse than ruin your munchies.
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Best Answer
If you like the taste but not the fire alarm, either turn on your hood/vent or disconnect the fire alarm while cooking. If the flavor isn't burned, changing the oil will likely change the flavor as olive oil has a distinct flavor that is missing in other oils.
If this isn't a solution for you, choose any neutral, high smoke point oil you like. Canola is popular choice for most vegetables. It has little flavor and a decently high, 400°F/205°C, smoke point, somewhat higher than olive oil's 325-375°F/165-190°C.
For a really high smoke point, try safflower (510°F/265°C), or even light olive oil (465°F/240°C), though you may have the slightly lower soybean or peanut oils (450°F/230°C) in your kitchen already. The chart lists peanut as "neutral" but I tend to feel it has a flavor and it has the added issue of being a no-go for people with peanut allergies.
If you have the time, you might also consider clarified butter (450°F/230°C), which should be delicious with vegetables.