Corn Oil vs. Vegetable Oil

Can corn oil be substituted for vegetable oil?

Oil that is labeled “vegetable oil” is typically made from soybeans and is called for in recipes where additional flavor isn’t desired. Corn oil is, obviously, made from corn. Both oils have a high smoke point, which makes them suitable for frying. To see how these oils stack up against one another, we deep-fried drop doughnuts, shallow-fried pork cutlets, and whisked vinaigrettes with each. We detected no flavor differences between the doughnuts and cutlets. The vinaigrettes, however, were another story, as the corn oil lent a pronounced unpleasant flavor to the vinaigrette. In sum, corn and vegetable oils can be used interchangeably when frying, but avoid corn oil in uncooked applications.