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I've been cooking in my cast iron skillet on medium/medium high heat with olive oil.
No matter what I cook, (chicken, fish, etc.) the oil and fat in the pan starts smoking long before the food is done. Eventually the meat gets there, but by then the house smells like the food.
I've seen this post, but any other advice I may be missing to avoid all the smoke? Lower temp? Different oil?
There is absolutely no way to completely avoid smoke while searing meat in olive oil. The process happens far above the smoke point of the oil (not to mention, of the meat itself). Smoke is going to happen.
With that said, if you use an oil with a higher smoke point (canola or grapeseed come to mind), and use very little of it, the smoke output will be minimized. You really don't need much oil for searing.
Grill season!
It is grill season in ATL! Actually it is always grill season in ATL.
When I am cooking something I know will make a lot of greasy smoke I take it to the grill, because it is outside. You can use a pan on the grill (cast iron skillet is perfect) or you can put some foil down and cook on top of that (skillet would be better because of the thermal mass). Or you can just heat up the grill, rub the olive oil on the meat (or don't) and grill it.
Let it smoke, baby. Let it smoke.
