Arrrghhh!! 50 different olive oils! How do I choose?

[freeradical]

Do not use extra virgin olive oil for sauteing foods, since it's smoke point is 210 F, while pure olive oil has a smoke point of 410-430 F.

[mrthuse]

EVOO for cooking is a waste; I agree w/ freeradical. The taste is just so fine that heating it up in a pan just destroys the flavor. I use regular, garden variety OO for cooking.

Also, (and I'm surprised nobody mentioned this) NEVER buy OO in a clear bottle. Light kills it and it turns rancid quicker. You have little way of knowing how old any of the product is, and if it's been stored near light in a clear bottle, it's shelf life is near nil.

Always buy in tins and store the stuff in a brown or green wine bottle w/ a pourer on top away from light. I keep mine in the cabinet under the sink.

[dk62]

mrthuse wrote:

Also, (and I'm surprised nobody mentioned this) NEVER buy OO in a clear bottle. Light kills it and it turns rancid quicker. You have little way of knowing how old any of the product is, and if it's been stored near light in a clear bottle, it's shelf life is near nil.

This is extremely important. Also take a look at the date on the bottle. I am not saying I would never buy it in a clear bottle - I have, in a Meditteranean country making sure it was fresh, and it was the best one I ever had. In my experience, freshness has more impact on taste than any of the other parameters, as long as it is properly produced. In a lot of regular supermarkets, the extra virgin bottles sit in light forever, and are really semi-rancid by the time you buy them.

Some time ago, Consumer Reports did blind tasting and declared one of the cheapest ones - Goya - the winner. You may disagree, but it is something to think about.

I currently have several olive oils at home and tend to prefer Zoe from Spain that I bought at Amazon. I also like walnut and almond oils for salad.

[Winston]

I like to buy in clear bottles because I can do a better visual inspection of the oil. I don't like tins because I can't see the oil at all, and often it's in larger sizes. I tend to buy in smaller quantities (16 oz or so) because it keeps what's on hand fresher.

Last time I bought Goya olive oil it was Spanish, I think. It was good.

- W