Five tons of flax!

December 4, 2011 11:48 PM

What do I do with all this extra flax seed oil?

I bought a bottle of flax seed oil to use to reseason my cast iron skillet after an unfortunate mishap. The skillet is better than ever but now I have a bunch of extra flax seed oil. It was sold as a dietary supplement, and I am willing to believe it has heath benefits, but what do people do, just drink it? I'm eagerly awaiting some less gross ideas!

posted by aubilenon to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Seth Roberts writes a lot about the nutritional effects of flaxseed oil and how to take it.
posted by pete_22 at 11:59 PM on December 4, 2011

A lot of people take flax seed oil caplets as supplements, but it's a pretty strong flavor to drink the oil straight. I know some people mix it in protein shakes (they're usually flavored whey protein powders, sold in tubs, commonly in chocolate or vanilla varieties). I've had it like that. I agree, it's kind of gross, so you need to mask it with other strong flavors and don't use a ton of it.

As an aside, it may have some heart health benefits and plays a part in lowering LDL/total cholesterol levels, though some people confuse its effects with fish oil caplets, which also contain omega-3 fatty acids but they are of a different type. The fatty acids in fish oil caplets have been shown to help lower triglyceride levels. If your flax seed oil has been partially defatted (and I just learned this), it may actually increase your triglyceride levels.
posted by empyrean at 12:25 AM on December 5, 2011

Make sure you refrigerate it because it goes bad quickly.
posted by it's a long way to south america at 12:30 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, wow, thanks for the link to the cast iron skillet seasoning! I've got a skillet that needs reseasoning again, after several attempts with different oils, and I've got a bottle of flaxseed oil on hand that I use for its nutritional benefits. I didn't even think of trying it on the skillet.

I use the flaxseed oil with breakfast. Essentially this recipe, but with fresh ingredients and cooked on the stove instead of in the microwave.
posted by Balonious Assault at 12:34 AM on December 5, 2011

If you don't mind buying a few extra ingrediants and if you do it soon, you could turn it into soap and give it away as Christmas presents. Here's a recipe specifically using flaxseed oil (there are others out there with different ingrediants if this one doesn't strike you as particularly nice). Here's a decent tutorial on how it's done (though the recipe would need to be adjusted for the flaxseed oil).
posted by brambory at 1:48 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I use it on green salads along w/balsamic vinegar or lemon juice etc.
posted by headnsouth at 3:30 AM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

My parents put it on toast instead of butter. I think it's gross, but ymmv.
posted by min at 4:32 AM on December 5, 2011

It's a great supplement for people who don't eat oily fish (sardine, mackerel, etc.), who otherwise find it difficult to get the right ratio of Omegas 3 and 6. It does taste pretty bad though! There are plenty of salad dressing recipes if you Google, but an alternative is to stir a tablespoon into oatmeal.
posted by caek at 5:25 AM on December 5, 2011

Someone blended up this recipe for me and it was pretty tasty. Goes well as a protein base in a smoothie or with fruit or on crackers. You can make a bunch and refrigerate it for several days.

•1 cup organic cottage cheese (low fat)

•2 - 5 Tbsp. of organic flax seed oil

•1 - 3 Tbsp. of freshly ground up flaxseed

•Add enough water to make it soft

•Optional ingredients: dash of cayenne, honey, fresh fruit
posted by *s at 7:28 AM on December 5, 2011

Piggyback question -- aside from the slight ridiculousness of puncturing and squeezing a handful of gelcaps, I can't think of any reason why I shouldn't use the contents of my flaxseed oil supplements to reseason my cast iron pan. Gelcaps were bought recently and they're decent quality, and it's obviously food-grade flaxseed oil. Anything I'm overlooking there?
posted by desuetude at 8:17 AM on December 5, 2011

Response by poster: My parents put it on toast instead of butter. I think it's gross, but ymmv.

I tried this today. It makes my toast taste like furniture, though with enough fried egg on top it is okay. And while it is now a delight to fry eggs on my beautifully seasoned skillet, from a health point of view I'm not completely satisfied with this solution.
posted by aubilenon at 9:27 AM on December 5, 2011

I don't find flax oil tasty, so I use it to make things I don't eat:

soap, salt or sugar scrubs, wood oil (cutting boards, old furniture), lotion
posted by rosa at 10:28 AM on December 5, 2011

Sometimes I use it to toast my granola instead of olive oil
posted by rmless at 3:43 PM on December 6, 2011