storing oilve oil

[helenas]

Finally got my first bottle of Agrumato olive oil.

It tasted very close to Zingerman's description as olive oil used by angels in heaven. (www.zingermans.com, search for agrumato)

Anyway, the bottle came supplied with a cork stopper with a spout. I uncorked it and  put the cork spout instead. After tasting the oil, i tried to remove the spouted cork to no avail. So is it OK to store it like this, but won't this precious aroma escape? Should i just remove this spout and put a vacu vin stopper, or maybe normal cork?

Thanks for help.

[Fat Guy]

How long do you expect to take to use all that olive oil?

If we're talking weeks or even a couple of months, I see no problem with storing it with the spout in.

If it's going to be long-term, I suggest you do what I do with my large quantities: You put a bit of it in a small, dedicated olive oil pourer. You can either get one of the stainless ones lined in plastic, or one of the cool glass ones from Spain with the no-drip spout. Keep that in your cupboard near where you do your cooking. The rest, refrigerate it or, if you're in a house with a cool cellar or pantry, keep it there, in a tightly sealed glass bottle or stainless tin.

[helenas]

Quote: from Fat Guy on 7:13 pm on Feb. 5, 2002

How long do you expect to take to use all that olive oil?

Let's see. 7.5 oz bottle: Rustichella Olive Oil Cake takes 6oz, and leaves me enough for couple of pastas or salads.

So we're talking about a week at most. I leave the spout.

[Fat Guy]

The spout stays. So be it.

We need Jim Dixon to comment here, though, for the sake of completeness. He really knows about this olive oil stuff.

Jim, are you out there?

[helenas]

Wow,

this stuff is a real find. i just took the plum cake, that had two spoons of lemon oil in it, out of oven. The smell is divine. Angels, forget this philadelphia cream cheese: your real food is served.

[Jim Dixon]

Steven...thanks for the email notice of this thread. Much as I would love to spend all day, every day, here at eGullet, I  find that those other petty concerns (life, job, etc) keep getting in the way.

okay, about storing that oil....

I'd just leave the stopper with the pouring spout in the bottle. That's how almost every bottle in my kitchen ends up, and while some of the spouts have some type of closure (my favorite has a counter balance that swings the cover out of the way when the bottle is tipped), several don't, and I don't think it really matters.

The oil won't evaporate, and the aroma won't dimish significantly in the time it takes to use up a small bottle. The major threats to the quality of olive oil are light and air that can speed oxidation and rancidity. I doubt many here hoard their olive oil long enough for that to be a problem, but I'll emphasize a point I've made before: Olive oil doesn't improve with age, so once you open a bottle, use it up.

The better oils, the ones made from olives picked early in the season when they are half-ripe, have high levels of polyphenols. Besides being beneficial antioxidants in terms of health, these compounds also act as a preservative and keep the oil tasting good longer. High polyphenol oils have that distinctive, peppery flavor that sort of catches at the back of the throat when you taste it straight.

I often forget that others aren't as profligate with the stuff as I am. But my basic feeling is that if you haven't emptied the bottle in a month or two, you're just not using it enough.

Don't put the bottle in the refrigerator. The cold can cause water to condense inside the bottle and drip down into the oil. You could make a little foil cap for the spout if you want, but otherwise just keep the bottle in a dark place that's not too hot (like not right over the refrigerator or stove).

Jim

[TL]

Hey Jim,

How much mileage do you get out of a vacuum sealed stopper?

[Jim Dixon]

I don't own one (vacuum sealed stopper, that is), so I can't say. Again, I don't think such measures are necessary with olive oil. Wine, maybe, but I prefer to drink it quickly.

My first father-in-law, a Bay area radiologist who loved wine and showed me what the good stuff tasted like, would pour the remnants of his good reds into a plastic bottle (like you'd carry water in while backpacking) and squeeze out as much as air as he could. It's the same idea as the vacuum stopper.

Jim

[Stone]

I picked up a tall glass bottle with a "wine bottle" like top (I'm sure there's better way to describe it, but my brains is working slower than usual) from Fishes Eddy, and a bar-bottle pourer fits perfectly in the top.  I've used it for olive oil, soy souce, and other stuff that I like to leave out, but don't to want look at the inevitably dirty bottles.