5 Myths About Wood-Pressed Oils That Are Stopping Indians from Switching

 "Too expensive." "Too strong a smell." "Can't be used for frying." These myths about wood-pressed oils are costing Indian families their health. Here's the truth.

Wood-pressed oils have been part of Indian cooking for thousands of years. They are what your grandparents and great-grandparents cooked with. And yet, for many Indian households today, making the switch from refined to wood-pressed feels uncertain — held back by a handful of persistent myths that deserve to be addressed directly.

Myth 1: Wood-Pressed Oils Are Too Expensive

This is the objection most people raise first — and it is the one most worth examining carefully.

Yes, a litre of wood-pressed groundnut or mustard oil costs more than a litre of refined oil. This is because the wooden ghani process is slower, yields less oil per kilogram of seed, and is done in smaller batches. You are paying for quality and process, not for a marketing story.

But the per-litre comparison misses an important point: wood-pressed oils are more potent. Because they are nutrient-dense and full of natural flavour, you typically use less oil to achieve the same result in cooking. A tarka that requires 3 tablespoons of refined oil often needs only 2 of wood-pressed, because the flavour carries further.

When you account for the actual volume used per meal, the cost difference is significantly smaller than the per-litre price suggests. And that is before you factor in the health costs of cooking daily with chemically processed oil over years and decades.

Myth 2: The Strong Smell Means the Oil Has Gone Bad

This is perhaps the most common misunderstanding — and it is completely backwards.

The pungency in wood-pressed mustard oil, the nuttiness in wood-pressed groundnut oil, and the toasty richness in sesame oil are not signs of spoilage. They are signs of vitality. These aromas come from natural volatile compounds that are present in the original seed and are preserved intact through the wood-pressing process.

Refined oils are odourless because everything natural in them — including all aromatic compounds — has been stripped away during deodorisation. An oil that smells of nothing is not a pure oil. It is a processed one.

If your wood-pressed oil develops a rancid, sour, or "off" smell over time, that is different — and that does indicate spoilage. But the strong, characteristic aroma of a freshly opened bottle of wood-pressed oil is exactly what you should expect and want.

Myth 3: You Cannot Use Wood-Pressed Oil for Deep Frying

This myth likely originates from a misunderstanding of smoke points, combined with the experience of using refined oils that have artificially elevated smoke points due to processing.

Wood-pressed groundnut oil has a smoke point of approximately 160°C — suitable for home deep frying, which typically happens between 150°C and 180°C. Wood-pressed mustard oil, when briefly heated to smoking before use, is similarly stable. These oils have been used for deep frying in Indian homes for centuries.

The key is not to overheat any oil repeatedly — this applies to refined oils as well. Using fresh oil at appropriate temperatures, and not reheating used oil multiple times, is the correct practice regardless of which oil you use.

Myth 4: The Shorter Shelf Life Makes It Impractical

A shorter shelf life is not a weakness — it is evidence of the absence of artificial preservatives.

Refined oils last for two years or more on a shelf because they contain synthetic antioxidants (like TBHQ and BHA) specifically added to prevent rancidity. Wood-pressed oils are free from these additives, which is why they have a natural shelf life of 6–12 months.

Stored correctly — in a cool, dark place, away from direct sunlight and heat — a bottle of wood-pressed oil will last comfortably through regular household use. Most families go through a litre of cooking oil in three to four weeks. At that rate, shelf life is rarely a practical concern.

Fresh oil also tastes better. A bottle of wood-pressed groundnut oil used within its natural shelf life is incomparably richer and more flavourful than a two-year-old bottle of refined oil sitting in a warehouse.

Myth 5: Wood-Pressed Oil Is Just a Trend

Wood-pressed oils are not a trend. They are thousands of years old.

The wooden ghani — called chakki, chekku, or ghani depending on the region — was the standard method of oil extraction across India until industrial refining arrived in the mid-20th century. Every village had a ghani. Oil was pressed locally, used fresh, and consumed with the full knowledge of where it came from and how it was made.

The trend is refined oil. It arrived at scale with industrialisation, displaced traditional methods with cheaper mass production, and has been a fixture of Indian kitchens for only two or three generations. We are not discovering something new with wood-pressed oils. We are returning to something we should never have left.