Feta cheese in olive oil?

January 5, 2007 2:19 PM

Help me marinate feta cheese in olive oil without the oil solidifying in the refrigerator.

This project sounds easy enough. I live in the middle of nowhere, and when I'm in civilization, I buy little jars of feta cubes in oil. I love them. But I'd like to make it myself with the most flavorful oil possible. I have a reliable source of sheep's milk feta nearby.

So I take a glass jar, fill it with cut up feta, and pour in the olive oil with some herbs and spices. A day later, the whole jar is a congealed mess of cheese suspended in solified oil instead of a yummy treat for salads and steamed vegetables. Using regular olive oil rather than extra virgin doesn't seem to make a difference. I notice that the products on the web use canola oil instead of olive oil (though I could have sworn one of the versions of this I bought used olive oil). Is the olive oil the reason it keeps solidifying? My messy cheese cubes (hard to make them as perfect as the store bought ones)? If it is the olive oil, what is the most flavorful oil that won't seize up?

And if anyone knows, what's the science here?

posted by ontic to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Yes, olive oil solidifies in the refridgerator. I learned that the hard way after making some tasy salad dressing. Woops!

From the articles I am reading online (example), it doesn't seem to matter that the oil congeals, as long as it melts at room temperature? But then again, I'm no chef.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 2:26 PM on January 5, 2007

Best answer: "Refrigeration is not necessary as long as the cheese is completely covered with oil."
Marinated Feta Cheese
posted by Doctor Barnett at 2:31 PM on January 5, 2007

Maybe turn your fridge down? Oil doesn't solidify in my fridge...
posted by jacobian at 2:33 PM on January 5, 2007

Maybe turn your fridge down? Oil doesn't solidify in my fridge...

Olive oil solidifies at 36 degrees Fahrenheit^.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 2:38 PM on January 5, 2007

Response by poster: Never thought of leaving the fridge out of the equation...
posted by ontic at 2:38 PM on January 5, 2007

Dangit.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 2:40 PM on January 5, 2007

it doesn't seem to matter that the oil congeals

Depends on the speed of the chilling. For example, if you flash freeze it, no marination and blending of flavors will take place, because there's simply no time.

Turn down your fridge to the lowest safe setting (check with food safety sites) and place the oil/cheese on the top-most rack, as cold air sinks to the bottom.
posted by frogan at 2:40 PM on January 5, 2007

Jacobian, olive oil solidifies in the range of 0-9c, a fridge shouldn't be warmer than ~3.3C (~38F). How's your stomach feeling?
posted by Good Brain at 2:48 PM on January 5, 2007

Best answer: I'd imagine -- no guarantees -- that you could get a reasonable facsimile of what you want by adding safflower oil to the olive oil. You'd get the flavour of the olive oil, not much if anything from the safflower, and change the properties of the olive oil.

I think. I sometimes fiddle with blends of fat to up the smoke point. Olive oil, by itself, doesn't do well at high temperatures either, but it's fine when a little peanut oil is added.

And. "The lower temperature at which
solidification occurs, the greater the degree of unsaturation."

I'd worry about it out leaving it out of the fridge, too. At least for much more than eight hours.
posted by kmennie at 2:51 PM on January 5, 2007

Forgot: solidified olive oil makes a nice bread spread; might be even better with a bit of feta. Don't throw out any "mistakes."

I'm disgusted to find that it's now a trend, though.
posted by kmennie at 2:53 PM on January 5, 2007

I wouldn't try keeping it out of the fridge either. Even things like olives or mushrooms in olive oil, once the jar is open, tend to develop a little mould on the surface if you don't store it in the fridge. You can then scrape it off and what's undeneath is ok to eat, but with fresh cheese I reckon it'd be a little dodgier.

You can simply take the jar out of the fridge an hour or so beforee, then add a little more olive oil from the bottle and gently stir with a knife or a stick, the congealed mess will dissolve back into liquid form.
posted by pleeker at 5:15 AM on January 6, 2007

I cannot vouch for its food safety-ness, but from some time spent in Greece, I definitely recall grocery stores with large tins of feta floating in olive oil, just sitting out unrefrigerated in the store.
posted by misterbrandt at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2007