Olive oil........

FinanceDude

FinanceDude

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Aug 3, 2006
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No, NOT Popeye's girlfriend.........;)

I know we have a fair number of good cooks/gourmet cooks on here. I am having trouble finding a good brand of olive oil. I would like one for general use, like drizzling on food, mixing with vinegar, etc. I also am trying to find one with a higher flashpoint to use in cooking. It is harder than I thought! Any help would be greatly appreciated........:)
 
FinanceDude said:
No, NOT Popeye's girlfriend.........;)

I know we have a fair number of good cooks/gourmet cooks on here. I am having trouble finding a good brand of olive oil. I would like one for general use, like drizzling on food, mixing with vinegar, etc. I also am trying to find one with a higher flashpoint to use in cooking. It is harder than I thought! Any help would be greatly appreciated........:)
Click to expand...

No expert, but EVOO for salad dressing, etc., and lesser grade for cooking. Having said that, I go to Costco for OO. :cool:
 
Costco is the best. A recent study showed that it was one of the few EVOO in the US that was actually EVOO, as no federal council in america regulates what the terms 'extra virgin' even mean. So, lots of the other brands have lower quality oils mixed in. Not Costco, they are legit. Or anything that is certified by the California olive oil council (or whatever the name is) as California has created a state regulatory body.
 
The OO industry is the Wild West, w/ no regulation national or int'natl. Notably exposed in this NPR piece. Caveat emptor!

Trader Joe's California Estate gets high marks here. Recently bought a bottle but haven't opened it yet.
 
Last edited:
HFWR said:
No expert, but EVOO for salad dressing, etc., and lesser grade for cooking. Having said that, I go to Costco for OO. :cool:
Click to expand...
+3. Costco has fantastic prices on olive oil - premium, imported, organic - several options and the prices are all great.
 
I buy oil from Costco, and trust their shoppers to do proper diligence.

There has been an ongoing sham of Mafiosi selling fake olive oil by mixing chlorophyll into vegetable oil such as canola. We had a thread on this a while back. Fake olive oil was found around the world, even in Italy! Hah, you would think Italians would know the difference, but they don't.

A quick search shows that the problem still exists. See the following Oct 2013 article: Scientists Pool Expertise in Fight Against Fake Olive Oils. In Canada, 30% of oil samples were found to be fake.
 
HFWR said:
No expert, but EVOO for salad dressing, etc., and lesser grade for cooking. Having said that, I go to Costco for OO. :cool:
Click to expand...

I just use EVOO for everything including cooking, simplifying the shopping.
 
Bestwifeever said:
I just use EVOO for everything including cooking, simplifying the shopping.
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I do as well, but if the "discerning" palate can really tell the difference, I wouldn't use expensive EVOO for cooking, just for occasions where the taste is not lost to heating or other flavors... Again, though, I use Kirkland, and/or occasionally another store brand if I'm too lazy to make the trek to Costco.

As for the discerning palate, see my comments on the wine thread... :LOL:
 
I've been very pleased with Trader Joe's Spanish extra virgin olive oil. I won't buy any olive oil with "Italian" on the label due to widespread olive oil corruption there.

Right about this time (early November), I once saw a camel-powered olive oil press in active use in a small village in Tunisia. I could smell the wonderful aroma long before I reached it.
 
Can you use any olive oil for cooking? I know some of them break down fast under high heat...........
 
HFWR said:
I do as well, but if the "discerning" palate can really tell the difference, I wouldn't use expensive EVOO for cooking, just for occasions where the taste is not lost to heating or other flavors... Again, though, I use Kirkland, and/or occasionally another store brand if I'm too lazy to make the trek to Costco.

As for the discerning palate, see my comments on the wine thread... :LOL:
Click to expand...

What discerning taste? As I reported in an earlier post, even Italians who grow up on this stuff get fooled by fake olive oil.

That said, olive oil is good for you, and if one does not mind the cost, using it for everything for health is a darn good reason. But one must have the real olive oil, not canola with chlorophyll mixed in.
 
I also use EVOO for everything and buy Kirkland from Amazon.
 
FinanceDude said:
Can you use any olive oil for cooking? I know some of them break down fast under high heat...........
Click to expand...

If it smokes, it's too hot for the oil you're using... Opinions vary, but it looks like olive oil has a smoke point in the 200C (392F) range.
 
FinanceDude said:
Can you use any olive oil for cooking? I know some of them break down fast under high heat...........
Click to expand...

Personally, I think it might be more of a waste of good EVOO and the price of same--but I don't notice any issues re taste in sauteed chicken, roasted potatoes and other veggies. My "good" EVOO comes in a liter and costs only a few dollars more than regular olive oil, so we just buy the one type and use it for everything.
 
Also, we use olive oil, unsalted butter (not together, but if someone wants to create a beer, wine, or other beverage with those overtones, I am first in line for it) because we just like the way they taste.
 
FinanceDude said:
I should have posted this thread yesterday, starting today, Amazon is charging sales tax in WI, because they opened a distribution center here.............:facepalm: :LOL:
Click to expand...
I think it might be a lot cheaper at Costco.

I've seen several Kirkland and other Costco items sold on Amazon for considerably higher prices.
 
I've been buying EVOO at Trader Joe's, but after reading this I will try the Kirkland brand at Costco.

OT: TJ's sells coconut oil by the jar for under $5.00. It is wicked good for popping popcorn!!!
 
EVOO is fine, but for cooking, ELOO is better IMHO.

Extra light not only has a less "olive" flavor, which is arguably better for cooking, but the smoke point is higher: 375° for EVOO vs 468° for ELOO.

We get our ELOO at Costco.
 
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