Olive Oil Problem

[David]

We have some Extra Virgin Olive Oil "extraction a froid" which has become too cold in the cave in this freezing weather.

The bottles now contain a mixture of what looks like good olive oil, but with many nuggets of what looks like yellowish white lumps of lard.  It seems that these nuggets have solidified out of the olive oil due to the cold weather, and comprise almost 50 percent of the bottle.

What are these nuggets?  If they are fat I had no idea that olive oil contained such fat amounts.  Is the olive oil still useable?

Thanks,

David

 

 

[NormanH]

Have you tried just leaving a bottle in a warm kitchen for a while?

I think it will just go back to normal.

[odile]

yes it will. Olive oil IS just that, fat - good fat, but fat all the same, surely?

[David]

Thanks Norman, I will leave it in a warm place and see what happens.

Odile - I do not understand.  I thought olive oil was a pressing of the fruit of the olive tree - where does the fat come from?  Is it like animal fat?  Is fat added to the olive oil?  Surely trees do not have fat?

I thought olive oil was healthy!  Would the olive oil be more healthy if I strained the nuggets out of the oil, and use only the oil residue?  Should I do this with all olive oil, i.e. put a bottle in the freezer and then strain it?

David

[Alex H]

A fairly good non-techical [:)] explanation here

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/olive_chemistry_freezing.htm

[Benjamin]

In the same way that you go down the cave here, in rural Spain the olive oil man turns up outside your door periodically in his old banger and you stand around drinking little sips of olive oil until you find the one you like.   [8-|]

[tenniswitch]

[quote user="David"]

Thanks Norman, I will leave it in a warm place and see what happens.

Odile - I do not understand.  I thought olive oil was a pressing of the fruit of the olive tree - where does the fat come from?  Is it like animal fat?  Is fat added to the olive oil?  Surely trees do not have fat?

I thought olive oil was healthy!  Would the olive oil be more healthy if I strained the nuggets out of the oil, and use only the oil residue?  Should I do this with all olive oil, i.e. put a bottle in the freezer and then strain it?

David

[/quote]

David, it's not some alien form of fat that has invaded or been added to your olive oil.  It is a normal characteristic of olive oil that it remains liquid only above a certain temperature- below that temperature it begins to solidify and you see the natural waxes that occur in it.

Here's a link to a much better explanation than mine: Cloudy Frozen Olive Oil

Oops, sorry, didn't realize someone had already posted this.

Tw

[Nearly Retired (I am now)]

How boring - I read the thread title and thought I'd be updated on Popeye's troubles -:) 

[David]

Thanks for the links, I now understand much better.

However, I am still not sure if the oil is better for you with or without the fats - that is if the oil has separated out, would the oil be healthier if the solidified wax was filtered out?  Or would that affect the cooking quality when used for frying rather than as a salad dressing?

David

[Clair]

David,

Oil is fat.

The white globules floating in the liquid fat are made of natural wax.

Healthwise, some fats are better than others.

Olive oil is one of them.

[odile]

I am no expert David, but I would say, buy could quality virgin olive oil and don't use tons of it. A little bit of good unsaturated fat is healthy - I know many people who have been so obsessed with avoiding all fats and keeping thin who are now suffering from osteoporosis, particularly in the US.

[andyh4]

[quote user="David"]

Thanks for the links, I now understand much better.

However, I am still not sure if the oil is better for you with or without the fats - that is if the oil has separated out, would the oil be healthier if the solidified wax was filtered out?  Or would that affect the cooking quality when used for frying rather than as a salad dressing?

David

[/quote]

 

David

the solid lumps are pretty much the same as the liquid.

 

Think about it like this.  If you stand a cup of water outside (at the moment at least) and leave it for a few hours, you will find that there is ice across the top.  Does taking the ice away make the water any more or less pure?  Answer of course is no (well not substantially at least.)

The same thing is happening to your oil, except that it is a slightly more complex chemical (sorry to use that word because it will cause confusion for some, but all things are made up of chamicals - some good some bad - olive oil tends towards the goos end of the spectrum) mix.  Instead of forming a solid crust like the water, it forms floating lumps.

[Iceni]

A fine example of what can happen to your tankfuls of heating oil/diesel when the brass monkey starts complaining.

John

[David]

Thank you Andy for such a clear and concise answer, which I now understand.

David

[frenchflavour]

Hi David,

This is a completely normal state for the Olive Oil to be in when in very cold conditions.

If you take the bottles into a warm room for a couple of days the oils will go back to their clear state, if you want to do this quicker, then put them by a radiator for an hour or so.

The Oils will be perfectly fine to use after this.