The Kitchen Whisperer

Storing your Olive Oil

February 29th, 2012 |

So let me guess you bought one of those cutesy glass jars with the pour spout on it that sets on your counter top, right? *sigh* I, too, fell into that trap as well until I learned my lesson – a very expensive lesson.

Like vanilla extract, you should never EVER buy the imitation or even the 99cent stuff. Listen, you want QUALITY ingredients. Sales and deals are great – everyone loves getting the 100 pack of toilet paper at the warehouse stores or the Gunther-size boxes of cereals as well. Don’t think that you if you buy a 5 gallon container of olive oil for $5 that you’re getting QUALITY! Sorry but um no. You get below bottom shelf grade and it truly will reflect in your cooking. When you use olive oil in cooking you use it sparingly. So please, invest in a good quality olive oil (within your budget obviously).

When you buy a good quality olive oil if you notice it always comes in a darker colored container, either glass or metal. There’s a reason for this.

Remember that light can lead to oil rancidity, so a dark container is a must. If you happen to buy olive oil in a clear container, make sure to transfer the oil into a dark bottle. Glass bottles are ideal, but stainless steel containers are good alternatives. Never use plastic containers to avoid contaminating olive oil with toxic substances. Make sure to tightly cap the container to keep the air out.

Keep olive oil away from light. Because light can spoil olive oil, it makes pretty sense to store it in a dark area. You can put it, for example, in a cabinet or cupboard, provided of course that the area has the ideal temperature.

And yes, you can refrigerate olive oil. There are two benefits for refrigerating olive oil. One, it keeps olive oil in dark. And two, it keeps olive oil in a cold temperature. Remember, however, that olive oil will appear cloudy when refrigerated. You can restore its texture by leaving it at room temperature.

If you store your olive oil properly it can last up to two years.

If not and you leave it in those cutesy little bottles then you have money to throw away. And if that’s the case I am more than willing to give you one of my bank deposit slips as you can throw you money away into my account!