Extra-Virgin Olive Oil ** Shelf Life ** Was: Ideas for preserving olive oil infusions needed

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

I sent this to the list over 20 hours ago and it didn't get back to me

yet .. if y'all have seen it, excuse me for the double whammy .. and I

might have an Iraqi Cyber Monster lurking around eating my mail.

 

The shelf life of extra-virgin olive oil can be up to 24 months if kept

out of sunlight .. and out of refrigeration .. it should NOT be placed

in a refrigerator as it will winterize itself.

 

Folks here in Turkey routinely keep Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in large

plastic containers for up to two years .. have been for generations ..

and its good when they get to the bottom of the barrel. Turkey is one

of the major five Olive Oil producers so its not expensive here .. and

there's no reason to use a rancid Olive Oil.

 

I have a maid/cook in my office .. she cooks a big noon meal for my

employees and me daily .. my main meal of the day. We have a 50 kilo

barrel of Early-Harvest Extra-Virgin sitting in the hallway of the

office with a pump in it ... its way over a year old now. The maid

fills a liter jug from that barrel when she needs it. Its fine.

 

I eat a half liter or so of Olive Oil myself every week .. long back I

stopped the butter and sour cream as my cholesterol has been high all my

life. I love steamed or boiled veggies soaked with Olive Oil, I put it

on all my salads and sliced tomatoes, even soak fresh baked bread in it

and eat it for breakfast. There is no way (in my opinion) butter is

better tasting than Olive Oil now .. I've become addicted to it. I love

to take a big bowl of mashed spuds, spoon out the center of it and soak

it in Olive Oil. Same for stewed spuds or any other veggie.

 

Anyway .. this opinion is from one who has talked to many food engineers

here in Turkey who deal specifically with Olive Oils, who used to be on

an Olive Oil List that dealt only with the subject and who is living

what he's telling y'all now.. ;-p

 

I have no idea how long it will last if used in an infusion .. but I

can't imagine that it would have a short shelf life even then.

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

> Sounds like you got the info about sunflower from a soap maker ... I don't

> mean to offend anyone; but, reference info for soap makers often says use

> sunflower oil as a less expensive alternative to olive oil; that it contains

> vitamin E so naturally resists going rancid. However, if a person continues

> to research, you will find that shelf life of sunflower oil is still 3-6

> months (depending on whether oil is kept cool/unopened). Shelf life for

> olive oil is 9-12 months and will be longer if kept cool/unopened. It would

> definately help if you can re-bottle the gallon into smaller bottles ... you

> at least are able to limit the bottle opening on the quantities that you

> will keep for a longer period of time.

>

> BTW ... last year I finally broke down and bought a refrigerator for oils

> and hydrosols. Unfortunately, in the summertime my DH wants me to leave some

> space to cool the watermelons that he buys by the truckload ... LOL!

>

> HTH ...

> Linda Wallen

> ljwallen