How many EVOOs (Extra Virgin Olive Oils) do you have in your kitchen?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Are people generally just using one in their kitchen? Or do you have several for different uses? I consider them as different as wines are different. Some are bold, some are mild, some grassy, some peppery, some infused (orange, lime, truffle) and thus I keep over a dozen in my cabinet for various reasons.

So do you keep just one generic EVOO for all occassions or do you have a collection?

2

what’s the shelf life on most good EVOO? It’s not that long right? It degrades rapidly and can only be used for cooking? I’ve heard that before so i only keep one Costco olive oil around.

3

We generally only have one or two open at a time. We have five or six others in the wine cellar, unopened. Our favorites are: Monte, Vetrice, and Prunatelli from Chianti Rufina. We get a case every Spring from Rare Wine Co. - Sonoma.

4

Right now I only have one, a 1L TJ Spanish one for all-purpose use. I can see having up to four, one other Italian one for all-purpose and 2 other higher end oils, likely purchased in smaller volumes, for dipping.

5

Charlie,

From http://curezone.com/cleanse/liver/oliveoil.asp

Storing
Olive oil should be stored in a closed container, away from heat or light. Correctly stored, good oil has a shelf life of 12 to 18 months. You do not need to store oil in the refrigerator. However, if you do, it should still be fine—just leave it at room temperature for half an hour, and it will return to its previous consistency.

6

Another good link…

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4

1 regular-ol’ EVOO for all-purpose uses
3 others from Pasolivo — their “Secreto” blend, which is earthy and a bit tannic, their “regular” which has a solid middle-of-the road taste profile, and their “Olio Nuevo” which was their first first press of the year – serious pepper kick – a 2 cough oil! [training.gif]

8

While you don’t need to refrigerate olive oil, it greatly prolongs its shelf life by delaying rancidity. One problem, as Brent pointed out, is that it can lose it’s liquid form at cool temps. I like Dick’s idea of using the wine cellar. I have an extra little wine fridge near the kitchen that I may use for oils now. Olive oil doesn’t go rancid too quickly, so it may be overkill in that regard…but other oils, particularly some of the healthful nut-based ones, do…so the wine fridge set up around 55-60 (as opposed to my main fridge at 35) might work much better.

Cheers!

9

I posted this info a while back on eBob. So this is just a copy and paste from there.

We make EVOO here in Spain with our own olives (Lechin). An olive oil that turns rancid after a short time has not been processed correctly. We use a small stainless steel centrifuge system as you describe above. Most producers here in Spain anyway (from what I hear are all going to this method of EVOO processing).

Our trees are hundreds of years old and quite large, unsuitable for mechanical harvesting, so everyday as the harvest progresses, the olives are brought to the mill and processed the same day. The olives get rinsed, dried, crushed, spun, all the liquid from the paste is pumped into a vat that has a lid which elevates as the vat fills. There is little or no contact with air once the oil has been made. In the vat, the oil rises to the top and the waste liquid settles to the bottom, where it is decanted over several weeks and drained off.

There are a couple of things that lead to early oxidation and putrefaction of Olive oil, bad olives to begin with, contamination with rotten or putrefying material and oxygen. The traditional method of processing EVOO was to harvest in large lots, sometimes waiting several days to begin the crush then the olives were ground with the stone mills then sent to the press. The press (here in Spain anyway) utilized mats made of a natural fiber called esparto, they would put a mat down, the paste would be poured on top, then another mat, then more paste, and it would continue until the press was full and then they would press… So imagine your local mill, after a day, two, three, thirty days of harvest, they may rinse the mats between presses (or not) or perhaps between days (or not) and what was produced was pure traditional EVOO, but it was almost always contaminated with organic materials from one press to the next. The result is oil that does not last in the bottle and does go rancid after a few months without doubt.
We import our oil to the States and I have oil there that is 4 years old (left over - not for sale) that I still use that is not rancid. It may have lost it’s peppery quality it had when we first harvested, but I have no problem using it for cooking. I use about 5-8 Liters per month.

Here is the link http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=196146

Best, Nola

10

I have some of Nola’s oil here, which she left (thank you Nola).

I will admit - it’s damn tasty stuff!!!

11

flirtysmile Gee thanks Chris!!!

BTW, I would still love the recipe for that Carrot Souffle, talk about yummy!!! [thumbs-up.gif]


Nola

12

I checked just now and we have 4 open (a few, probably 3, unopen) - 2 inexpensive ones and 2 expensive ones, the latter used for mainly for dipping, drizzling or dressing. Because of my hypertension, most anything fried in my house is done in olive oil (not Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc., dishes of course). Because our cuisine is heavily Spanish influenced, olive oil does very nicely.

Shelf life is not a problem. Considering the size of my household (wife, 3 sons and I plus the staff), I don’t think there is anything in the pantry that has half a chance of going bad.

13

Four that I am using now, plus three or four bottles in the wine cabinet. Different uses call for different oils.

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One Algerian, one Spanish, one French, two Italian (Ligurian and Tuscan) and our every-day Lebanese

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One French, one Italian, and I wish I had brought back some from Pasolivos (?), the Cali olives one in particular, mostly to compare.

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Pasolivo. Great stuff! [thumbs-up.gif]

17

Sorry Nola:

Here you are:

2 C cooked and pureed carrots
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced or grated onion
1/2 cup butter, softened (does not indicated salted or not, i go w/o salt and add to taste at the end)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk (% not indicated, but 2% is what I use)
3 eggs

heat oven to 350

Cook your carrots, puree and add lemon juice. Set aside after covering w/ plastic wrap.

Combine remainder of ingredients - beat until smooth. Pour into a 2 quart, lightly buttered souffle dish. Bake uncovered for 45 m to 1 hour until center is firm to the touch.

Enjoy!

From the times I’ve made it, the carryover is pretty good so it looks like it won’t set until you go the full 45m-60m in the oven and then, presto, it’s good to go. As there are no egg whites added it’s really not a souffle - but, as you recall - it’s also not overly dense either.

18

I always have about 12 different EVOO around. I pour the oils into mason jars and store them in the refrigerator. They get solid in the fridge so I use a spoon to scoop out of the jars. Keeping them in the refrigerator keeps them fresh tasting for a very long time