Olive oil is a tasty and healthy product that has a huge scope. Sauces are made from it, salads are seasoned with them, fish and meat are pickled in it, and added to the dough. Of course, in olive oil you can fry and heat - in this regard, it is several times ahead of sunflower and cream in terms of health and safety. Nutritionists advise eating it daily, because it is rich in vitamins, organic compounds and trace elements.
Of course, the question of how to store olive oil cannot but arise. After all, due to a lack of knowledge, it would be a pity to throw away such a wonderful product, all the more it costs a lot. But the truth is, olive oil requires special conditions. And if you are just going to introduce this product into your family’s diet or have negative storage experience, be sure to study the materiel in advance.
Enemies of Olive Oil
Experts explain that the main factors that negatively affect this product are the following:
- excess sunlight;
- too low and too high temperature;
- air.
Therefore, if you are thinking about how to store olive oil after it is discovered, remember: you just need to minimize the contact of the oil with these factors. Do not expose it to light, monitor the temperature.
Storage
Many mistakenly believe that olive oil can be stored in the refrigerator. But those who at least once tried to do this know: with excessive cooling, it becomes cloudy. True, it is not difficult to return the original appearance to the oil. Just take it out of the refrigerator and put it in the cabinet. Within a few hours, it will again become golden and transparent.
If you are inspecting your own kitchen without knowing where to store the olive oil, just put it in a cabinet with doors. This is the best place. There, the oil will not freeze, will not overheat, and will not be exposed to sunlight.
Tableware
The vast majority of olive oil falls on the shelves of supermarkets in glass containers. In the question of how to store olive oil after it is opened, the bottle plays an important role. You can leave it in the same one in which it was sold, or you can transfer it to a special one. Dishes for storing olive oil usually has a conical shape, narrowed up. This minimizes contact with air. Ideally, the bottle should be opaque or darkened and have a sealed cap.
Shelf life
Manufacturers indicate on the label how to store olive oil. After opening, the product must be used within a month. Therefore, it is worth calculating the needs of the family and buying the amount that is used up during this time.
Oil is unlikely to turn sour in a month, but its benefits will be significantly reduced. The taste may also change. If you find that the time is running out, try to use it in cooking instead of other fats.
Olive Oil - Preservative
In the homeland of this wonderful product, it is used very widely. Greek women know how to store olive oil. It is immediately poured into wooden barrels and glass bottles, sealed, and taken to the cellar. But the culinary traditions of the Mediterranean imply a much larger amount of this product in the recipe for basic dishes than is customary with us. For a year, a family of Italians or Greeks consumes tens of liters. Therefore, large containers are optimal. When preparing for future use, no additional ingredients are used, because olive oil is a very good preservative. Moreover, it is even used to preserve other products. For example, freshly picked olives are poured with olive oil, and they are perfectly stored for several months.
Force Majeure
But what if the time is running out and there is no way to work out the remainder? How to store expiring olive oil? In this case, it is worth paying attention to the recommendations of cosmetologists. From this product ordinary and Castilian soap, homemade shampoos, dishwashing and laundry detergents, face and hair masks and much more are prepared. If you are not attracted to home cosmetology, just pour the remains into ice molds - in winter they will perfectly moisturize your face.
By the way, cooks also use freezing. The same forms for small cookies or ice will do. Fill them tightly with fresh chopped greens, cover with olive oil and freeze. In winter, these cubes can be added to salads, sauces, soups, meat gravy. Olive oil perfectly preserves the aromas of fresh herbs, which are so pleasing in the cold season. Of course, the product will lose a significant share of its own beneficial properties, but it is still better than just throwing it away. In addition, even frozen olive oil is much healthier and safer than sunflower oil. In addition, this method is very convenient: it saves time and allows you to give dishes summer flavors.
Thinking about how to store olive oil, listen to the advice of manufacturers and try not to buy this product for future use, it is better to get as much as you can use in the near future.