apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love the Yellingbo boxed olive oil. It's as yummy and fresh on the first day as it is on the last. I store it on an open shelf in my kitchen away from any heat. The terrific no-drip spout makes dispensing the oil a dream. I walk over to the box and drain the oil into my pan or cup.

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I have a small pantry closet where I keep olive oil and spices. I refill my olive oil bottle from the bulk supply at the health food store, probably every other week or so, so there's really no chance for it to go bad.

Well I had no idea that olive oil even goes bad -- probably because I don't cook with butter, or ever really bake. It doesn't have time to go bad before I've used it all

I keep a big jug in the fridge and refill a counter top canister for daily use.

Alton Brown keeps his oil out on the counter in a sleek, red, airtight, mechanic's oil can -- it's pretty cool looking, you can dispense it in pre-measured squirts, and it's proof against air and light.

Keep it where you use it! I have a glass bottle w/spout next to my cutting board & salt/pepper - yes, next to the stove. It goes so fast, there's no worry about it turning. For extra/bulk olive oil, I keep it on the bottom shelf of my pantry, behind a door.

All my oils go into the refrigerator to keep them from heat,light and going rancid. The saturated fats in the oil may solidify and cloud up, but they quickly melt when warm.

I keep my olive oil in a place where it gets light and heat (near the stove) because I have a very small kitchen and very few convenient places to store things...I go through it pretty quickly and have never noticed a problem with...will it be obvious to me when it's "bad"?

I keep mine in an opaque,ceramic pourer close by the stove alongside my kosher salt and pepper grinder. I use it so quickly that I never worry about it going bad. My good extra virgin oils are in the pantry and are purchased in smaller quantities so I don't worry about those going bad either.

Emily7, rancid oils have a very recognizable smell that is hard for me to describe. It's strong and impossible to miss.

Hah. I started to read the second comment, and was getting ready to type, "I second the opinion of..." and I realized it was my own comment from July.

Anywhere but the back of the stove or in a warm cabinet.

I have been wondering about this myself...I took the idea behind wishbone's salad spritzers and mixed olive oil and Greek red wine vinegar into a spray bottle and keep it at work (to both make it easier to have my own mix of dressing at hand and to get a more even layer of dressing on my salads).

When the vinegar and oil are separated at rest I see a cloudy layer in between them. Am I right in guessing this is a sign that I can't store them this way? Is the reason the spray bottle isn't airtight or because you just can't store oil and vinegar together for long periods of time?

oh no! oil goes bad!
and mine is on the shelf above my stove

I keep a regular sized bottles that I refill from a larger bottle I share with my mom in my pantry. For every day use, I have a swing top beer bottle with a pour spout next to the stove.

er, "a regular sized bottle".

I have had a whiff of rancid oil and it's really gross! I have been saving and cleaning out and removing labels from
small dark green bottles from when I empty them of olive oil. I am waiting for the day I can buy a larger quantity and pour it in all the smaller jars!!
One in the cabinet for everyday and the rest in the fridge! I also saved the clear glass small olive oil jars, rinsed them out, removed the labels and put white vinegar in some from a big jar and apple cider vinegar in the others. Apple cider is darker so I know which is which without labels!

wild oats bottle!!!! miss you wild oats.

oops... mine is on the shelf above my stove. I think I may buy one of those cute dark bottles pictured above and put it on my counter and leave the big bottle in my cold, dark basement. :) Thanks for the advice!

I store my olive oil next to the stove. It's probably not ideal but honestly I go through it so fast that is has never been an issue.

I asked a Sicilian olive grower / oil maker. He said, keep it in a cool, dark place, in a dark or opaque, airtight container. They tend to keep it in small bottles and refill them from the vats, but that's not an option for most of us. Unless you literally go through gallons of the stuff, don't buy the big bottles.
And it doesn't get better with age. The very good stuff has a date on it, don't buy last years' and expect it to taste good.

I once bought a way-too-large tin, transferred the oil to bottles and tried the fridge option. Never again. It was long enough ago that I don't recall the many many reasons I hated it, but I recall that I did hate it. I now buy liter bottles and merely keep them away from light/heat. If you're not going to use it quickly I think a bottle with a cap is a better idea than one with a pour spout.

In a cupboard away from the stove. I usually buy large bottles, but they fit in the cupboard, so I don't bother decanting into something smaller. I seem to go through it fast enough.

I usually keep all my oils in the fridge, especially in the summer, so they don't turn rancid. If I get olive oil in a large bottle or container (preferably dark) I keep it away from the stove either in a cupboard or wrapped in brown paper. I do transfer the oil into smaller bottles which I keep in the fridge. In any case, I use a lot and buy it often so rancidity is something I don't really have to worry about.