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

[davester]

I use olive oil for cooking a lot. However, whenever I go to the market for more, there is always a selection of about 50 different extra virgin cold pressed olive oil...and if I go to a different market they also have about the same number, but many of them different from market number one. This is crazy! How can anyone know which of these are good for what? You could say the same thing about wine, though at least there are lots of taste tests out there on the internets. Anybody else have this same quandary...or better yet some guidelines?

Also, I've found that just grabbing any one doesn't work. There are some strange-tasting olive oils out there that I've had to throw out.

[Drew]

Olive oil snobs are probably right up there with wine snobs.
http://tinyurl.com/y8o6v3d

[Winston]

I have had relatively good luck buying among the less-expensive "first cold pressed/extra virgin" olive oils. I also look for what the local market has on sale. I don't know if it really makes any difference, but I look for ones in clear bottles which look more green and less yellow or orange.

Also, what I get depends on how I plan to use it. I believe that the higher heat, the less well the extra virgin olive oils do. If you are using it for salad dressing, extra virgin is essential. If you are using it to saute, you might be better off with a lower grade of oil which stands up to heat better.


Good luck.

- Winston

[AlphaDog]

Which ones have you tried? I figure most people just try a few and stick with whichever one they find acceptable. I'm far from being an olive oil snob, but I get the Costco extra virgin. It seems OK to me. Since I don't use huge amounts, I get only the one and use it for cooking and for "eating", which, for me, means using it with balsamic vinegar for bread dipping. A favorite olive oil is probably almost as personal as a favorite wine, which is why there are so many. Might you be overthinking this?

[davester]

AlphaDog wrote: Might you be overthinking this?

Probably. We just started shopping at a new market and of course they have none of the olive oils I've previously used.

[blooz]

Ditto Winston.
I get a cheaper brand for cooking and a good one (more $$) for salad dressing.

[Winston]

blooz wrote:
Ditto Winston.
I get a cheaper brand for cooking and a good one (more $$) for salad dressing.

Depends on what I'm cooking. If I am not using high heat, or cooking only briefly, I will use better oil for cooking.


- W

[AlphaDog]

davester wrote:
[quote=AlphaDog]Might you be overthinking this?

Probably. We just started shopping at a new market and of course they have none of the olive oils I've previously used.
That's why I hate having to shop at unfamiliar places. I see your dilemma, but I'd probably find something in the mid range in terms of price and see how I liked it. If it was good, I'd then hope I picked one the store carried on a regular basis and wasn't a one time special purchase that I could never find again.

If you shop Costco, you might want to try their house brand. I have some that's identified as an extra virgin from the Tuscano region, and it's identified as being from the 2008 harvest. Here's what my bottle says:

"Extra Virgin Olive OIl, like wine, varies in taste, color and aroma. The characteristics are dependent on the variety of the olive, the soil and climate in which the trees are grown, and the methods of harvesting.

The vibrant green Extra Virgin Olive Oil in this bottle is from olives grown in the hills of Tuscany which were picked by hand, beginning in early November. Cold pressed within a few hours of harvesting, the oil displays a full-bodied elegant aroma with a distinctive rich fruity overtone.

Kirkland Signature is proud to introduce the 2008 crop from Tuscany."

I think it's pretty good stuff, although that sure doesn't say anything about whether or not you'd like it.

[Winston]

Kirkland Signature has some pretty good stuff. We had a bottle of their champagne over the holidays. Not bad for the price, although probably not my first choice in that price range - about $20 when we got it. I'd go domestic for less.


- W

[decocritter]

Check out recommendations from Americas Test Kitchen - seems like they had a good better and best in one of the recent mags.