How to choose olive oil

Of course, when choosing olive oil all the information you need can be found on the product label. And the more information the producer indicated, the better for you. After all, you can make sure that you have the goods of excellent quality.

The best olive oil

Remember that There is a certain classification that will help you choose olive oil. Olive oil is divided into 3 groups: natural, or unrefined, refined and oilcake. The class to which olive oil refers is always indicated on the label.

Unrefined olive oil is called Virgin. This oil of the phenomenon is the most useful, since it is made without heating it. To obtain such an oil, mature olives are washed, dried, pressed. The resulting oil is left to stand and filtered.

Refined olive oil is called Refined. Of course, in its qualities this oil is alsovery good, but it just can not compete with the unrefined. But, on the other hand, this oil is cleaned, so it is much better suited for frying, because during heating it does not oxidize and does not form carcinogens.

Oilcake oil is called Pomace. This olive oil is obtained by adding tocake of special solvents. Then the oil cake is run through a centrifuge to obtain oil. This product is the lowest quality oil. Therefore, this olive oil is used only for baking. By the way, sometimes the manufacturer writes on the packaging not Pomace, but Orujo. But another name does not mean at all that you do not have oil cake before you.

As you can see, it's up to you to decide which olive oil is better. All these products are good, the difference is mainly for what you will use olive oil.

How to choose the right olive oil

There are several other ways to determine the quality of olive oil. In this case, you will need to study not only the label, but also the color of the oil. The color of the olive oil can vary from greenish to dark golden. The color of the oil is influenced by the maturity of the olives, their color and the region where they grew.

So, from green olives turns out olive oil of a greenish shade. This olive oil, of course,quality, but his taste will be slightly bitter. But the oil from ripe olives is yellow, sometimes with a purple hue. Dark brown oil is obtained from ripe fruits that have fallen to the ground. This olive oil has a delicate sweetish taste.

Excluding acidity, it is impossible to select quality olive oil. And this indicator is very important. How to choose olive oil in this case? For each class of olive oil, there is an own acidity index, which should fluctuate within normal limits. So, for the Virgin class, the acidity should not exceed 0.8-2%. It should be noted that there is Extra virgin olive oil (and this is the product of the highest quality). Its acidity does not exceed 1%. For the oil of the class Refined acidity of the product should be within 3-3.3%.

You can ask, what affects the acidity of the oil? Of course, for his taste. The higher the acidity of the oil, the sharper its taste. Accordingly, the lower the acidity, the taste is more pleasant and softer.

There are a couple of true ways to choose olive oil. To do this you should taste it. Olive oil has no clear taste criteria, as everything depends on the variety and degree of maturity of the olives. But olive oil should never be bitter or completely tasteless. Such an oil is better not to take, because it is "tired", and this is how the product of this quality is called.

Another way to determine how high-quality olive oil you have is put it in the cold. The fact is that olive oil does not toleratecold. Pour a little olive oil in a plate and put it in the refrigerator. If after some time in the oil formed white crystals, before you a product of high quality. The formation of white crystals does not affect the taste, smell or oil quality. When the oil is heated, they dissolve, but you will know that in front of you is a quality product.