I currently cook only with coconut oil. I love panfrying chicken, turkey, fish and salmon. Is panfrying bad for AS? Could it make me flare? Should I avoid making my meats a little bit "crispy" and brown?
I cook extensively for myself and one of the treats I have is searing meats (particularly very fresh fish). In my case, I have found that panfrying has not made my AS worse. I think the counsel I would give to you is to use a medium that has a high smoke point. Coconut oil is good, and I use it for a lot of foods, but when it comes to searing meats, I exclusively use ghee (clarified butter).
Many oils break down when heated to extremely high heats, so I typically only cook with coconut oil, ghee, or olive oil. Olive oil has a very low smoke point, so I would not advise using olive oil at a very high temperature. Ghee has a very high smoke point which makes it desirable for searing foods.
The only other culinary advice I would provide is that searing meats will best be done in a cast iron skillet. I use my cast iron cookware vigilantly and it has served me well over the years.
When it comes to cooking, I think how you season and prepare the meat will be more indicative of whether it triggers a spondy reaction. In my case, I cook very simply - salts and herbs (no spices). I never use any type of batter or flour for any of my preparations. For many of my dishes where I sear fish or meat, I like to get the surface crispy. Depending on how well done I want the inside, I vary the temperature of the stove. There was a lot of trial and error while I figured out what worked for me and what didn't.
Good luck!
