Olive Oil Question

[TheSlamma]

I thought tin leeched?

I'll stick with glass and never plastic.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Just a minor quibble but, you do know tin cans are not made of Tin right? That said, generally speaking, olive oil is like most other things, the smaller the container the higher the price.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
I use this: http://www.filippoberio.com/Products/ExtraVirgin.asp

*shrug*

Good choice. That's oil from Tuscany. Particularly indicated for meat and salads.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: scott
The best storage containers for olive oil are made of either tinted glass (to keep out light) or a nonreactive metal, such as stainless steel. Avoid metal containers made of iron or copper because the chemical reactions between the olive oil and those metals create toxic compounds. Avoid most plastic, too; oil can absorb noxious substances such as polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) out of the plastic. Containers also need a tight cap or lid to keep out unwanted air. Text 1

Storing olive oil in plastic containers is considered a health hazard. The olive oil can begin to absorb the carcinogenic polymers found in plastic. Text 2

It depends on the plastic...if it's a PVC bottle, then yes, vinyl chloride is carcinogenic and can be leached by the oil. If it's polyethylene, you should be fine. I don't know of many PVC bottles used in food storage, but I could be wrong.

 

[aldamon]

The bottle of Felippo Berio we just bought was plastic. I doubt this brand would use plastic if it were dangerous.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: Tango
The reason for this is that olive oil in tin only is Olive Oil, while the one in the glass container probably is Virgin Olive Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you want to use it crude don't buy anything but Extra Virgin. To cook and fry even Virgin Oil might be good enough.

Not true. Extra Virgin comes in tins as well.

 

[Auric]

I get whatever is cheapest at the time amongst the dark extra virgin in glass bottles. It's essentially all the same imported schtuff anyway but branding and promos affect the prices. Of course size does too but the largest are not always necessarily cheapest at the grocery store so do the math or use the handy dandy "price per" tips provided.

Never heard of clouding to be desirable and it sounds more like that is due to poor filtering or age or container reaction.

I really should get a frickin tin from Costco or such though cause I go through it like mad. Only hesitation would be the gamble from not seeing it.

Light olive oil is crap for non-stick purposes and so for variety I instead use grape seed (also crap for non-stick) which is especially nice on salad and for those who wouldn't want the strong dark olive.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: feralkid

Originally posted by: Tango
The reason for this is that olive oil in tin only is Olive Oil, while the one in the glass container probably is Virgin Olive Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you want to use it crude don't buy anything but Extra Virgin. To cook and fry even Virgin Oil might be good enough.

Not true. Extra Virgin comes in tins as well.

Yeah, I don't want to know what's in that can though. The point is that the denomination Extra Virgin only means it's the first liquid to come out of the pressing machines when you start the process. It doesn't tell you anything about the olives themselves. So when the OP said there was a big difference between the glass-one and the can-one I assumed there must have been another reason for this difference apart from the packaging, so I assumed the difference was in the grade.

So yes, possibly somebody produces extremely cheap extra virgin oil and put it in tin cans. What I meant is that if an oil is cheap enough to consider using anything but a glass bottle I wouldn't consider it anyway.

To be honest, though, I only consume Italian oil. It might be that Greek or Spanish oil producers care less about the packaging and they put very good oil in cans. I have never seen this in Italian oil though.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Tango
The reason for this is that olive oil in tin only is Olive Oil, while the one in the glass container probably is Virgin Olive Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you want to use it crude don't buy anything but Extra Virgin. To cook and fry even Virgin Oil might be good enough.

ter to use light olive oil to cook as it has a higher smoke temp.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

fact #1. one should buy only cold-pressed extra virgin oil in a dark container
fact #2. one should not fry with olive oil, it has very low smoke and flash points. and it ruins the flavor.
fact #3. Greece is the world's #1 olive oil producer, Italy is the world's #1 consumer. All that "Italian" oil is Greek in origin. Prices will continue to rise because of the fires that swept Greece, including my family's groves.

 

[Auric]

OMG, I must begin hoarding!

 

[KillerCharlie]

Find a trader joe's, it's really cheap there.

 

[ballmode]

I <3 olive oil

 

[Throckmorton]

I had some rancid olive oil. I kept using it in my mashed potatoes, and trying to figure out what the taste was. I just didn't think oil went bad.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
fact #3. Greece is the world's #1 olive oil producer, Italy is the world's #1 consumer. All that "Italian" oil is Greek in origin.

No.
Greece is the largest oil producer. True.
Italy is the largest oil consumer. True.
All that Italian oil is Greek in origin. False.

Italian oil originates from three main producing areas: Tuscany/Umbria, Puglia and Liguria, all of which have extremely different characteristics.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: Tango
The reason for this is that olive oil in tin only is Olive Oil, while the one in the glass container probably is Virgin Olive Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you want to use it crude don't buy anything but Extra Virgin. To cook and fry even Virgin Oil might be good enough.

ter to use light olive oil to cook as it has a higher smoke temp.

Yeah, when I said cook I meant making sauces. I never really do anything requiring heating oil to the point when it really "boils".