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Why does some olive oil....

18 years ago

Turn solid in the refrigerator while other brands do not??

I am talking about Extra Virgin...

I live alone, but seem to have lots of people I feed now and then, so I buy olive oil by the 1/2 gallon...I use it up in about 8 months and keep some in a bottle on my counter and the rest in the refrigerator.

I also make my own vinaigrette by the cup and a half and keep that in the refrig.

Bertolli OO gets solid in the frig...Carlini does not....nor do some other brands I may buy.

Why????

It's a bit of a pain to have to warm the salad dressing before it will pour!

What's different about some oils?

Linda C

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Comments (4)

Lars
18 years ago
You can check out Olive Chemistry for variations in olive oil and the percentages of Linolenic acid allowed. A smaller percentage of this acid will make the oil more viscous whereas the larger percentage will make it less viscous, I think. The oils with a smaller percentage typically come from areas with warmer climates while the ones with a higher percentage are from cooler climates. While the ones with the smaller percentage are considered (by some) to be more desirable, the ones with a higher percentage may have more health benefits.

I haven't been storing olive oil in the fridge, except as vinaigrette, and so I haven't made comparisons. I recently ran out of Portuguese olive oil and replaced it with Syrian olive oil. Actually, I didn't do this - DB picked up the oil at the Lebanese market on his way home, and he bought a much larger bottle (2.88 liters) than I wanted. I use it every day, and so I guess I'll go through it. The flavor is marginally adequate for vinaigrettes.

Lars
Terrapots
18 years ago
I haven't found an EVOO that does not get solid in the fridge. I keep about a pint in the cupboard and the rest in the fridge. OO is supposed to keep a long time so I found that my vinaigrette is OK to leave in a cool place in the cupboard. I never could remember to take it out in enough time to avoid the microwave, I hated that. Plus, I don't make more than a cup at a time anyway.
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My absolute favorite is Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil. That's what I use when I want olive oil flavor, whether it's in a salad, sauce or even in cooking. For most cooking, I'll use a "light" olive oil and I'll buy ALMOST whatever's on sale. I usually stick with, in order: Bertolli, Pompeian (which my grandmother used almost exclusively), Filippo Berio. I've bought plenty of gourmet and/or imported olive oils and it's hit and miss. Some good, some bad, rarely great. By the way, a current study showed that the difference in the smoking point of extra virgin olive oil versus "light" olive oil is insignificant. I use light olive oil in cooking not because of the smoking point but because most foods don't stand up to extra virgin olive oil. I like the flavor of extra virgin olive oil but when I cook fish, I want to taste fish (and the same with chicken and eggs and etc.) I rarely use any other olive oil for cooking (except peanut oil for Asian foods). I have a bottle of "vegetable oil" in the refrigerator but I may use a few tablespoons every few months, if that. For those of you who don't use a lot of olive oil, buy a good bottle and store it in the refrigerator. It gets cloudy and thick but no big deal; do as some of the others here do and pour a little bit into a nice bottle for your cooking area. Joe
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changeling
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For what its worth I fry things fairly often, a couple years ago I switched to Bertolli (extra virgin) exclusively, it's the only oil I use now.
Lars
18 years ago
I haven't found it a pain to heat olive oil that's been in the fridge - but then I don't MW it either - I simply put the bottle in a bowl of hot tap water and let it rest for a few minutes. With my own vinaigrette, I only just let it sit at room temp long enough to become easy to pour. I generally make about 1-1/2 cups at a time, and I use it on sandwiches that have lettuce instead of mayo.

The brand of Syrian EVOO I have is Tazah Brand, imported by Karabetian specifically for Los Angeles, and so I don't know how widely it is available. It cost $27 for 97.5 oz., which is slightly more than 3 quarts.

Lars

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