# No Market For Avocado Oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 21, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400 "2012-09-21T15:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YakWabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecb155/32.png) [@YakWabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YakWabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/1 "2012-09-21T15:11:09Z")
In the article on Blowing on Coffee and Vegetable Oil Fat ([Why do you blow on coffee to cool it, but on your hands to warm them? Plus: if veggies have no fat, why is veggie oil all fat? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/851/why-do-you-blow-on-coffee-to-cool-it-but-on-your-hands-to-warm-them)), Cecil said “They’d probably make avocado oil from the flesh, too, if there were any market for avocado oil, which there isn’t.” This is quite untrue. I use it quite often, and a quick search on Amazon comes up with nearly 100 products. I demand some culinary justice! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/2 "2012-09-21T15:20:45Z")
> [@YakWabbit](#): > > In the article on Blowing on Coffee and Vegetable Oil Fat ([http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/851/why-do-you-blow-on-coffee-to-cool-it-but-on-your-hands-to-warm-them](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/851/why-do-you-blow-on-coffee-to-cool-it-but-on-your-hands-to-warm-them)), Cecil said “They’d probably make avocado oil from the flesh, too, if there were any market for avocado oil, which there isn’t.” This is quite untrue. I use it quite often, and a quick search on Amazon comes up with nearly 100 products. I demand some culinary justice! And how was the market for avocado oil back in 1994, when that column first appeared? ---
**Author:** ![Sirreal72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sirreal72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sirreal72)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/3 "2012-09-21T19:21:34Z")
Ok, so I wasn’t going to post a question on this article, but since it was brought up anyhow… I understand how the displacement of warm air is the primary cooling factor of blowing on coffee etc, but why was Michael Godfrey wrong? Or rather, I should say “Puckering does seem to cool down my breath verses open-mouth huffing… if that doesn’t explain why, then what does?” Is it actually cooler? If I took Cecil’s hair dryer and put a reducer cap on the end would the air coming out on the hot setting be cooler? (Assuming that the same amount of air escaped, the motor didn’t overheat, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/4 "2012-09-25T17:12:11Z")
I didn’t want to start a separate thread on my question, so I hope no one minds that I piggyback on this one. In Cecil’s response to one of the readers’s replies, he refers to “the 'net”. This was 1994, so there was no internet (at least not well-known). So what’’ he referring to? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/5 "2012-09-25T18:17:55Z")
Usenet, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/6 "2012-09-25T18:21:37Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I didn’t want to start a separate thread on my question, so I hope no one minds that I piggyback on this one. In Cecil’s response to one of the readers’s replies, he refers to “the 'net”. This was 1994, so there was no internet (at least not well-known). So what’’ he referring to? The phrase “consulted on the 'net” occurs in Cecil’s response to a follow-up letter (I guess… or email?) from one Michael Godfrey. Neither Godfrey’s missive nor Cecil’s response were dated, so assuming that part dates back to 1994 is unsupportable, and perhaps erroneous. Also, the Wikipedia article on [websites founded before 1995](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_founded_before_1995) notes several sites that Cecil could have consulted in 1994. Who knows what wisdom could have been found at Bianca’s Smut Shack, for instance? ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/7 "2012-09-25T18:58:31Z")
P.S. OLIVES and AVOCADOS ARE FRUIT AND NOT VEGETABLES I just had to get that off my chest after reading that column, because it was driving me batty > [@](#): > > Fruit: While fruit can refer to “any product of plant growth useful to humans or animals”, the more specific definition is the “edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues”. Using this more specific definition all fruits are considered vegetables but not all vegetables are fruit. Olives, plums, tomatoes, artichokes and cucumbers are fruit. Lettuce, potatoes, celery and beets are not reproductive parts of the plant developed from flowers so are considered vegetables. > **[The Olive Oil Source](https://www.oliveoilsource.com/)** > > The Olive Source strives to be and is recognized internationally as the most comprehensive resource for products, trends, and information related to olive oil. Whether you are a producer seeking information on the latest equipment, a retailer of... > [@](#): > > The avocado is widely considered a vegetable, since it is commonly used in salads. However, it is actually a fruit that tastes like a vegetable, and most markets display it with other typical fruits. > **[Ingredients](https://www.thespruceeats.com/ingredients-4162174)** > > The essence of cooking lies within the ingredients. Understand which ingredients are essential to every cook's kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/8 "2012-09-25T21:25:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Usenet, most likely. alt.fan.cecil-adams was created in early 1994, so that is certainly possible. When did the Straight Dope area on AOL get created? That was the more “Official” home. ---
**Author:** ![kp\_72110](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e68b1a/32.png) [@kp\_72110](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kp_72110)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/9 "2012-09-26T02:59:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And how was the market for avocado oil back in 1994, when that column first appeared? Probably an excellent point. But I agree it is on the shelf now. Even Walmart sells it and I use it and grapeseed oil quite a bit. Perhaps since he hardly answers any new questions he could update this column. It does leave me to wonder why there are so many Straight Dope Classic columns run here. Are there really not enough decent questions for “the master” (term used loosely) to answer or is he just not able to answer very many recently asked questions? I guess when you’re a “master” you can’t be bothered with the questions of the ignorant masses. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/10 "2012-09-26T04:17:20Z")
The Straight Dope has always been a weekly column. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/11 "2012-09-26T06:33:41Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > P.S. OLIVES and AVOCADOS ARE FRUIT AND NOT VEGETABLES > > I just had to get that off my chest after reading that column, because it was driving me batty > [The Olive Oil Source](http://www.oliveoilsource.com/asktheexpert/are-olives-vegetable-or-fruit) > > [Ingredients](http://homecooking.about.com/od/fruit/a/avocadovariety.htm) Your first site says: “_Using this more specific definition **all fruits are** considered **vegetables** , …_” Vegetable is either a completely genereal lay-botanical term meaning all plant parts we eat, or a culinary term meaning all plant parts we’ve decided to call vegetables. Olives and avocados fit both definitions. Depending on the choice of definition they can **also** be fruits. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/12 "2012-09-26T07:45:47Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I didn’t want to start a separate thread on my question, so I hope no one minds that I piggyback on this one. In Cecil’s response to one of the readers’s replies, he refers to “the 'net”. This was 1994, so there was no internet (at least not well-known). So what’’ he referring to? Well, it wasn’t as well known, but I started using the Internet in 1991. It helped that I was working for a university, since in Australia at that time it was limited to universities and a few government research organisations. In addition, this was before HTML and the Web, so you accessed it via email and FTP, indexed by such tools as Gopher. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/13 "2012-09-26T16:01:05Z")
> [@kp\_72110](#): > > It does leave me to wonder why there are so many Straight Dope Classic columns run here. The Straight Dope is, at its heart, a weekly newspaper column. There is one new column a week, because that is the original form. The website was created as a supplement. The board is a supplement to the supplement. We get one column a week, because that is what Cecil is paid to write and what is published. We get classic columns the other weekdays because it gives something “new” posted to the website daily, thus giving a reason to keep checking the website. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/14 "2012-09-26T17:48:44Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Your first site says: “_Using this more specific definition **all fruits are** considered **vegetables** , …_” > > Vegetable is either a completely genereal lay-botanical term meaning all plant parts we eat, or a culinary term meaning all plant parts we’ve decided to call vegetables. Olives and avocados fit both definitions. > > Depending on the choice of definition they can **also** be fruits. Well I stand corrected. I just looked it up and any oil derived from plants is categorized as veggie oil, but it still bugs me 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/15 "2012-09-26T17:58:08Z")
Regarding puckering vs. open mouth huffing - I thinks its wind chill effect. Unless you consciously slow your inhalation, you are drawing the same volumes of air in through the small pucker hole as the open mouth over the same period of time. Therefore, the air must be moving faster - higher wind chill. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/16 "2012-09-26T19:56:13Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Well, it wasn’t as well known, but I started using the Internet in 1991. It helped that I was working for a university, since in Australia at that time it was limited to universities and a few government research organisations. In addition, this was before HTML and the Web, so you accessed it via email and FTP, indexed by such tools as Gopher. Yes. Too many people think only of the World Wide Web when they say Internet, but the WWW is only a part of the Net. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/17 "2012-09-26T20:37:50Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Who knows what wisdom could have been found at Bianca’s Smut Shack, for instance? “They made formative contributions to the history of the world wide web.” ---
**Author:** ![YakWabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecb155/32.png) [@YakWabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YakWabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/18 "2012-09-26T22:52:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And how was the market for avocado oil back in 1994, when that column first appeared? I am an idiot. I didn’t even look at the publish date. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/19 "2012-09-26T23:29:09Z")
**April R** , does it trouble you when someone says that a carrot is a vegetable? Because it’s really a root. Or how about spinach? Because that’s really a leaf. If those don’t bother you, why not? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400/20 "2012-09-27T00:02:32Z")
Not to mention that “vegetable” also means any macroscopic life form that is not an animal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-market-for-avocado-oil/635400.md?page=2)