Your Olive Oil Bottle Is Lying to You
Given my country of origin (Mississippi), it’s no surprise that my favorite cooking oils are bacon fat and butter. They make food taste like homemade, but these are not the fats I need when I fry salmon fillets in oil , whip up a quick vinaigrette , or make a vegan marinara (which, by the way , is even better than I do with butter ) In such cases I take olive oil.
However, buying olive oil is a bit more confusing than buying butter (a topic I fully understand). Like egg cartons , olive oil bottles have a lot of writing all over the packaging, some more important than others. To provide some clarity, I asked Jim Dixon, an olive oil supplier and self-proclaimed “recovery food writer”, to help me understand what all these terms mean and how to spot a real virgin in a grocery store aisle full of pretenders.
How is olive oil produced?
Before we get into the words on the bottle, let’s talk about the olive oil extraction process. Modern olive oil is extracted by decanter centrifugation. The olives are ground into a fine paste, then beaten slowly and heated (usually to around 27℃) for 30 minutes to an hour to help collect the finer drops of oil. The paste is then pumped into a large decanter which separates the oil from the water and pomace (olive pomace) by centrifugal force. The liquids then pass through faster vertical centrifuges that draw the remaining water out of the oil, and vice versa.
How to spot fake extra virgin olive oil
“The difference between good and bad starts in the garden,” Jim explained via email. “Modern extra virgin olive oils are made from olives harvested before they are fully ripe, that is, at a stage when levels of phenolic compounds are high. These compounds are antioxidants that protect the oil from oxidation (called rancidity) and impart a sharp, “peppy” (officially called “pungent”) flavor that distinguishes these oils from non-virgin oils.”
Strictly speaking, extra virgin olive oil is an oil obtained mechanically, without chemical treatment. However, in the United States of America, things are getting a bit sketchy.
“The confusion,” explains Jim, “is because the term ‘extra virgin’ is not regulated in America. In the European Union, the word “extra virgin” has a very specific meaning, which is spelled out in law. According to the definition of the International Olive Oil Council , a Spanish-based organization that regulates almost 90% of the world’s olive oil producers, extra virgin olive oil must be mechanically obtained directly from olives without the addition of heat or chemicals, containing no more than 0.8 % free fatty acids and have a balanced flavor profile.” (Fatty acids are released as the oil decomposes, leading to an off-flavour and eventually rancidity. Extra virgin olive oil can contain up to 2.0% acidity.)
“But these rules do not apply in the United States,” Jim wrote, “and most of the extra virgin olive oil sold here is substandard. Olive oil that is poorly made and tastes bad can be refined, mixed with a little extra virgin olive oil to give it some flavor, and called extra virgin. It’s not illegal, but it’s wrong.”
That’s why you see such a huge price difference between bottles of extra virgin olive oil at the grocery store. To make good olive oil, “the fruit must be handled carefully and pressed for 48 hours or so to prevent both oxidation and fermentation, which lead to flavor defects in the oil. Milling also requires skill and experience,” Jim explained. “Bad” oils can use olives that have been carelessly stored for long periods of time, can be ground under less than ideal conditions, and tend to come from the original extraction process with many flavor defects that make them taste so bad. bad that they can.” cannot be used as is. These oils are refined using high temperature, pressure and chemical solvents to make them neutral. This process is called rectification. Some oils are further manipulated to meet the chemical standards for extra virgin, for example by lowering free fatty acid levels, sometimes referred to as oil acidity.”
Once the defects have been corrected or neutralized, “some virgin oil is remixed to give a little flavor and these oils are sold outside the EU, where they can be called ‘extra virgin’ even if they don’t meet the standard. “.
I asked Jim if he considered refined and “light” oils to be garbage, to which he replied: “I think so. Basically, it’s an overpriced vegetable oil.”
Who can be trusted with good olive oil?
You cannot trust the United States government or the label on the bottle, but there is a third party of olive oil enthusiasts who support you.
“The only way to make sure your supermarket olive oil is truly Extra Virgin is to buy oils certified by the California Olive Oil Board ,” Jim wrote. “An industry group that promotes California olive oil, COOC tests its members’ oils to make sure they meet international standards. The COOC has been lobbying for years for the FDA to regulate Extra Virgin like the Europeans, but the Refined Blended Oil Importers trade group is fighting it. They claim that the COOC just wants to limit competition from its members, which is true, but they also want consumers to know the difference between extra virgin and refined blends. While most stores sell authentic extra virgin olive oils from traditional Mediterranean countries, it’s hard to find them without trying them. Things like harvest dates, olive varieties, and geographic data help, but there are no guarantees. If you can’t find certified California oil, find a source you can trust.”
Should you care where the olives grow?
“I think anywhere you can grow olives you can produce good olive oil, and some very bad oils are produced in places where they have been grown for thousands of years,” Jim explained. “The Italians complain that Spanish butter is tasteless, and the Spaniards call Italian butter bitter. Cultural preferences mean different production, which is why Italians generally pick early and Spaniards pick late to reduce the spiciness. But there are soft Italian oils and tangy Spanish oils, so it’s more about production.”
If you prefer the methods of one country to another, carefully study the inscription on the bottle. “The label should say ‘Product of X’ not ‘Bottled in X,'” Jim wrote, “and the EU has tightened restrictions on rebottling, but this only applies to oils sold there [in Europe].” According to the Agricultural Product Inspection and Certification Organization , Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) refer to olive oils with “exceptional properties and quality due to their place of origin as well as the way they are obtained”. production”
“Cold pressed” means little in the US.
As with eggs, olive oil companies like to decorate their packaging to make their product seem more attractive, healthier, and more varied than it really is.
- Cold Pressing or Cold Extraction: “Cold pressing is basically meaningless as IOC standards include a maximum production temperature (80℉) from hot water used to separate oil from paste and other liquids more quickly,” Jim wrote. While not regulated in the United States, the difference between cold pressed and cold pressed is regulated in Europe; the first term can only be used if the oil has been physically pressed from the olives and not extracted by a process involving a centrifuge.
- First cold pressed: This oil is obtained from the very first pressing, the temperature of which corresponds to the climate of the country in which it was pressed.
- Unfiltered: According to Oliveoil.com , most olive oil is filtered (passed through cellulose pads or diatomaceous earth) and/or overflowed (left to settle at the bottom of the tank) to remove bioactive particles such as fruit pieces or residual water . Some people claim that unfiltered oil tastes best, but according to Jim, “Most good oil makers filter by gravity (rather than pressure) because olive solids can cause a flavor defect.” If you choose to use unfiltered oil with a lot of sediment, make sure you use it up quickly, as these bits of fruit and water can eventually lead to flavor defects.
- Light or light: this is a refined oil that has been pressed. It is light in color and taste, not greasy.
Can one olive oil do it all (including deep frying)?
“I cook almost everything in extra virgin olive oil,” Jim wrote, “and I advise customers to purchase extra virgin olive oil that they can afford to use with enthusiasm. Any cold pressed oil can be used for both cooking and finishing, but I often use older or milder (pungency fades with time) cooking oils and younger or sharper finishing oils where I can feel more of him.”
When it comes to frying, real cold-pressed oil works great. “Real cold-pressed oil has a smoke point of 375–425℉,” Jim explained, and deep-frying takes place between 350℉ and 375℉. “Even high heat frying or direct grilling does not cause the oil to smoke. I don’t think home cooks will ever need to heat up the oil,” he added. “Once it smokes, it basically burns out.”