How long before an opened 3l tin of EVOO spoils?

December 20, 2022 5:01 PM

A question for experienced foodies. There is a brand of extra virgin olive oil I like very much. It is available in 3 litre tins as well as the 1 litre bottle I usually buy. The unit price for the 3l tin would be ⅔ of the 1l bottle so a pretty good saving. My only doubt is... by the time I'm down to the last half litre or so, there will be a lot of air in the tin. Will the oil noticeably degrade? I estimate we would take around 4 months to use 3 litres.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Yes, by the time you use it up, it could be tasting a bit rancid*. But if you have a few empty wine bottles around, you can buy the big tin, decant some of it into the wine bottles and cork them off. This will extend their life and make the oil more user friendly. Using a 3l tin is a bit unwieldy for day to day cooking at home.

*fun fact: much of the olive oil sold in the US is old/going rancid. So much so that a lot of Americans actually prefer the taste of this old olive oil because that's what we think tastes normal.
posted by jenquat at 5:11 PM on December 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

Oh, I just today bought another 3-liter metal container of extra-virgin olive oil. It’s all good.
posted by fruitslinger at 5:11 PM on December 20, 2022

The best-before date for olive oil is 18-24 months from pressing. The container should have the date of pressing (often just the year or at best month-year) on it.
posted by Superilla at 5:35 PM on December 20, 2022

As to how noticeable it it, how do you use the oil? Are you cooking with it or using as a finishing oil on a salad? It will be less noticeable if you're cooking with it. I generally take about that amount of time to get through a bottle of oil, and it's not too noticeable to me; I keep it in my cool dark pantry. I believe you can refrigerate it, too, if you're concerned about rancidity.
posted by hydra77 at 5:37 PM on December 20, 2022

I’ve never had olive oil noticeably smell off in that amount of time (I have had canola oil go rancid that quickly!). But I’d use the 3L bottle to refill a smaller bottle multiple times - the smaller bottle is more convenient for pouring, and you can keep the big one in the fridge. You’ll have to leave it out for a while to un-solidify it before you decant it, but that won’t hurt it. Colder temperatures slow rancidity.
posted by maleficent at 5:43 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

The best-before date for olive oil is 18-24 months from pressing

When sealed, perhaps, but when opened, oils oxidize (burn) in the presence of air. Olive oil more noticeably than others.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:48 PM on December 20, 2022

Response by poster: Bit of background: I live in New Zealand. The brand I prefer currently is grown and produced in Australia. I use it for everything except high temperature frying.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 5:49 PM on December 20, 2022

Food safe glass marbles are only a few dollars a pound and decidedly easier to deal with pre and post use. They can be cleaned in a dishwasher
posted by Mitheral at 6:54 PM on December 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

I keep mine in the fridge, and I buy a gallon at a time. Never had an issue, and it lasts me about a year. It gets decanted into a smaller bottle that sits out.
posted by ananci at 9:10 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I usually buy 3L cans of Spanish olive oil and go through about 2/year. I’ve never noticed spoilage except for the time I kept one too close to the stove and it wound up oddly cooked.

In a fit of early pandemic derangement I ordered a 5L box of oil with a bladder of the sort wine comes in. I’d pour it from the spigot into a half-liter bottle for ease of use. That one started to get stale after around 10 months.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:49 PM on December 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

I buy the 3l jug of that same brand (just used it to cook dinner, in fact!). Our household of 2 cook vegan at home, so we use olive oil in place of butter for all cooking. It takes us about 3-4 months to finish a jug. By the end the oil is a touch bitter, I prefer not to use it for salads but it’s still fine for cooking.

One option: split a jug with a friend?
posted by third word on a random page at 12:12 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

My family makes olive oil in our hometown in Italy. They send me about 20L once a year and I use it every day. It changes from fresh and spicy to more mellow as it ages but it does not go rancid.

We have some on the counter in a clear bottle, the rest lives in the dark in our pantry. We just refill our bottle as needed.
posted by lydhre at 11:34 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Update: I bought a 3l tin in early January. It is almost used up, so 5 months not 4 as I estimated. It is slightly less aromatic but not noticeably rancid in any way. I will probably do this again.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:43 PM on May 24, 2023