By the time most people are 10 years old, they have a working knowledge of olive oil. It’s one of the basic building blocks of kitchen greatness. What you may not know is the extent to which the quality of pure olive oil in Ohio can change depending on the grade it is assigned. How is olive oil made? In the thousands of years since its discovery, the process of creating olive oil has, in theory, gone mostly unchanged. When olives ripen on the branches of their tree, they’re plucked, washed and then crushed. In the old days, olives were... View Article
Nearly every home in the United States has its own bottle of olive oil. From bachelors half-prepared to cook a meal to families with all the fixings, olive oil is one of the basic staples in the kitchen of every cook. Why? Because olive oil is as much of a necessity as salt and pepper. It’s the foundation of every pan-fried piece of meat. It’s the magical liquid that turns chocolate powder and eggs into a batch of brownies. Put to heat, olive oil turns ordinary potatoes into crispy home fries. Olive oil is versatile, malleable and utterly necessary. Perhaps... View Article
Obviously, the quality of olive oil is mostly determined by processes such as olive farming and harvesting, as well as the oil production process itself. But it is important to note that the packaging companies select for their olive oil can also have an effect on the level of quality expected from the oil. A report by the Olive Oil Center at UC-Davis goes into detail about how factors such as moisture, oxygen exposure, trace metals and fatty acids promote oxidation and therefore limit shelf life. Choosing the ideal packaging material and storage methods can help to slow down the... View Article
Olive oil and grapeseed oil are often used for similar purposes and in similar types of recipes, but there are plenty of differences between the two. Olive oil, obviously, is extracted and processed from olive fruits, while grapeseed oil is a byproduct from winemaking. Both can be used in many of the same circumstances, but they will have some taste differences and other properties that clearly differentiate them from each other. Here’s a quick overview of what you should know about how olive oil and grapeseed oil in Ohio stack up against each other. Fat and calories Olive oil and... View Article
