Archive for the Tips Category

Keep It Cool: Temperature is also important in preventing degradation of olive oil. Experts recommend storing the oil at 57 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of a wine cellar. Aren’t lucky enough to have a wine cellar? A room temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit will be fine. […]

Olive Oil – Press Time: After olives are picked, any leaves, twigs, and stems are removed, and the olives are washed. Then it’s time for pressing. Back in the old days, processors used stone or granite wheels to crush the olives. Today, stainless steel rollers crush the […]

Picking Particulars: It takes quite a bit of work to coax oil out of olives. Traditionally, trees were shaken or beaten with sticks to make the olives drop to the ground. Such tough treatment is not good for olives, however. Tumbling out of a tree and plopping […]

How Olive Oil Is Made: The craft of turning olives into oil has been honed in the Mediterranean region over thousands of years, and techniques have been passed down from generation to generation. The process is truly a regional art. The method used in Greece is different […]

A visit to the local market for olive oil may make your head spin. With dozens of choices, which one is best? Which has the most healing properties? Which is best right out of the bottle, and which is best for cooking? Fear not, because your olive […]

Organic Olive Oil: All plants have natural enemies, and olive trees are no different. Olives are susceptible to a pest known as the olive fly, which lives inside the olive and makes a feast of the fruit. Fungus is another adversary of olives, although olive flies are […]

Color Considerations: Green olive oils come from unripe olives and impart a slightly bitter, pungent flavor. Emerald-tinged oils have fruity, grassy, and peppery flavors that dominate the foods in which you use them. These oils are great with neutral-flavored foods that allow their bold flavors to shine. […]

Lower-quality oils: Some olive oil is further refined after the first pressing. These three types of oils can no longer bear the title “virgin.” When virgin oils are not fit for human consumption (because of poor flavor, an acidity level greater than 3.3 percent, or an unpleasant […]

At the head of the olive oil class sit the extra-virgins, followed closely by the virgins. The difference between two oils and where they rank in the following hierarchy may be just half a percentage point of acidity. However, that is all it takes to distinguish between […]

Marking the Grades: There are three basic grades of edible olive oil, and several types within each grade. Extra virgin includes “premium extra virgin” and “extra virgin”; virgin comprises “fine virgin,” “virgin,” and “semifine virgin”; and olive oil includes what used to be called “pure olive oil” […]