To keep your bottled olive oil from going rancid, in your kitchen cabinet, some folks prefer to refrigerate it. But first, pour the olive oil into a bowl with a lid or small storage container with a lid to scoop out the amount you'd need in food preparations. Start out with a tiny scoop, if more is needed, then it can be gotten easily than trying to melt down a whole bottle of olive oil. (mind you, folks back home, down South, for years have done this with bacon fat).
By badwater from NV
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have several glass bottles and a few metal containers of very expensive olive oil that were purchased a few years ago and have never been opened. They are kept on a shelf in my basement that is dry, cool and no significant moisture. Is there a deadline that the oil must be used or does it keep indefinitely?
To get the best out of olive oil it should be used right away its not like some wines that get better with age. Try your oil but you may find that its only good for deep frying.
On Oprah yesterday was a special with Dr. Oz and another doctor teaching us what to and what not to eat....how to shop and what to look for. One of the subjects spoken to was the necessity of keeping olive oil out of light. From here on in I will store mine in a cool place and in dark bottles. I'm unsure of the length of time, but perhaps if you look on the ones in original packaging it will have the expire date on it. Look closely.
Do not deep fry with olive oil. It has a low burning point.
If it smells ok and tastes ok, it's all right to use. The expensive olive oil will deteriorate in its lovely flavor after a time, but is still ok to cook with.
Is there some reason you bought so much olive oil in the first place? Do you use a lot? Was it a good deal? I only buy one smallish bottle at a time. Oils go rancid once opened but don't know about unopened containers, altho I don't imagine even then it lasts forever!
Should olive oil be stored in the refrigerator since that is a cool and dark place?
Donna52479, I keep my large bottle of olive oil (Costco) in my fridge and use it to refill the smaller bottle I use for cooking. The only problem with storing it in the fridge is that it hardens (like bacon grease) in the cold and you can no longer pour it until you let it get back to room temperature.
