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The Essentials of Olive Oil

Author: be well™ with Big Y^® Registered Dietitian Team

Over the past 20⁺ years, not many foods have had quite the impact on the way we eat, cook and relate to fat nearly as much as one food: extra virgin olive oil (or EVOO).

Our dietitian team had the awesome opportunity to attend the UMass Chef Culinary Conference in Amherst, MA and learn from Dan Flynn, founding executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, about all things olive oil. Below are top takeaways from his discussion, for the next time you’re shopping for this heart-healthy kitchen staple.

The Best Flavor Profile for EVOO

The flavor of your oil tells the story, not necessarily the color nor smoke point. For example, Flynn recommends aiming for an extra virgin olive oil with a green, fruity flavor with a little bit of bitter bite and pungency. Compounds that provide this bitterness are water soluble, so not many of them are found in oil. On the flip side, when stumbling upon a brand of olive oil that gives off a rancid aroma, provides a musty flavor and/or has muddy sediment, do not proceed. This indicates the oil has gone through oxidation and fermented a bit too much — both of which will impact the flavor.

Yes, You Can Cook with EVOO

Smoke point is the temperature at which you can bring an oil to before it begins to give off smoke. When looking at oil heating up in a sauté pan, this is the point in which you begin to see black or gray tufts of smoke appearing above the oil.

Due to the varying smoke points in plant oils, extra virgin olive oil has mistakenly been deemed a non-cooking oil by some. This is unnecessary, as Flynn affirmed how smoke point does not predict performance but rather it is the quality of the olive oil that does. In their article “Ten Myths and Facts About Olive Oil,” UC Davis’ experts debunk this myth by citing how their research showed olive oil has a smoke point range of 347 and 464 degrees Fahrenheit.¹

First Cold Press EVOO and Other Misconceptions

Do you understand what the term cold press means for olive oil…and if it matters? Flynn explained how the idea of a cold press doesn’t realistically happen because the process isn’t cold at all — 80 degrees Fahrenheit is the usual temperature required. Along the same vain, marketing claims around acidity are unhelpful as well. Reason being? Acidity is a standard marker set in olive oil production that most oils fall well below.

Additionally, where an olive oil is packed is irrelevant when it comes to quality. The same holds true for color. The region olives are grown in dictates their color, not an arbitrary level of quality.

4 Steps to Finding the Best EVOO

When shopping for extra virgin olive oil, taste is king. This means you may need to do a bit of trial and error to find brands you not only like but those you can also count on for consistency in flavor and quality. The biggest bias to unravel when doing your own market research is that price does not dictate quality.

That said, below are four details to consider when buying olive oil. There is one common theme between each criterion, though:
Each one will implicitly impact the oil’s flavor.

When Was the EVOO Made?

Pay attention to this detail. How long it has been between harvest, bottling and your use matters much more than a Use By date. Look for indication of when the oil was bottled and when the olives were harvested.

How Many Harvests Does the Olive Orchard Have Each Year?

Look for brands that indicate one harvest per year, if you can find this information. This can dictate the quality of an oil’s flavor profile due to the care of the trees and olives harvested.

What is the Preferred Temperature for EVOO?

Temperatures across the entire spectrum of an olive oil’s journey from field to plate, matters. Whether the olive oil was kept at cooler temperatures — from harvest and bottling to distribution all the way from its field of origin to your cupboard— will impact flavor and quality.

What Kind of Packaging Reigns King for EVOO?

Choose olive oil that is packed in an opaque or dark vessel. In fact, Flynn explains how brands sold in bags that are held in boxes (e.g.: more typical for restaurant-sized containers) tend to taste and hold up the best.

Regardless of the type of packaging your olive oil comes in, how quickly you go through what you purchase will have greatest impact on the kind of packaging you choose. The longer olive oil sits on a shelf, the longer the opportunity for it to be oxidized and fermented. Choose opaque and dark packaging, but be mindful to only buy what you can use in a few weeks or months.¹