Cooking fats refer to butter, margarine, vegetable oils, and vegetable shortening, which are used to moisten and flavor foods during cooking and to enrich and tenderize baked goods.
Canola oil is the healthy choice for today's cooks. It is cholesterol free and with only 1 gram of fat, it has 50% less saturated fat than olive or other vegetable oils. With its high smoking point and mild flavor canola oil is the preferred choice for salad dressings as well as cooking.
For specific types of fat, see butter, margarine, olive oil, peanut oil, and vegetable oil.