Left some Olive Oil in the refrigerator and it’s clumpy now.
I had always kept it in the cupboard before, but with as seldom as I cook I had nearly an entire bottle go bad before (started a GQ Thread about it even).
This time, anticipating limited use, I put it in the refrigerator.
If I just move it back to the cupboard, will it find its way back to right again?
Yeah, it should ‘melt’ back down just fine when it warms up to room temp.
Buy smaller bottles, or use more oil. It’s healthy for you!
Or, if you need it quickly, you can simply put the bottle in a bowl of hot water and wait a few minutes.
I wonder whether warming and cooling the oil might defeat the purpose of keeping it refrigerated in the first place.
Just warm it up for 15-20 seconds in the microwave…gets it runny enough to get it out of the bottle without really heating it up.
To avoid this, you could store the big bottle in the fridge, and have a smaller bottle in the cupboard that you refill as necessary.
But you’ll still have to warm up the larger bottle in order to pour it into the smaller one. I’ve also wondered about this, since hearing that olive oil should always be refrigerated, to avoid spoilage. It seems like the only way around this is to refrigerate lots of tiny bottles of it, and take one out when needed.
Or . . . would there be a problem with keeping it refrigerated and constantly warming it when needed, then putting it back?
I refrigerate my sesame oil. Since it comes in such a small bottle, and since a little goes a ***long ***way, I just take it out of the fridge, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, give it a good shake, use what I need and pop it back in the chill. I’ve had the same bottle for a few years and have never noticed an odd flavor or any other symptoms of rancidity.
Heh, I’ve never had olive oil go bad on me. Though I’ve heard that it breaks down in a way that’s not so good for you naturally at high temperatures.
I’ve never heard this and now I’m worried. I buy olive oil in gallon containers, storing it in the cupboard, and parcel it out into a bottle on my countertop. I’d say a gallon lasts me three months or so, maybe more. I’ve never noticed any off taste or any ickiness.
In addition, I have another gallon right now in my basement pantry area, but it’s never been opened.
I’ve never refrigerated olive oil in my life. If you go through it fairly rapidly, no problem. I’d probably toss a bottle that has been open on a shelf for over a year, but that’s about it.
I buy the gallon in a tin too, and keep a smaller bottle in a dark cooler cupboard away from the stove & fridge where the heat may spoil it. A gallon lasts about 6 months, and it has never tasted even a little off in my home (and I have tasted off olive oil before at a friends place), but I also keep a half stick of butter at room temperature out at all times (in a plastic sealed butter tupperware in a dark cupboard) - even though I have heard that it can go bad, it rarely does before I use it, and if it does, I am not chucking much.
Is it dangerous to keep olive oil out?
It’s not dangerous, but many cooking oils can go rancid if not used promptly enough. Cooler storage temps help keep the oil better for longer, as does keeping it in a dark place. (Dark sesame oil is the worst that comes to mind, and unless you go through this stuff really rapidly, just default to keeping it in the fridge.)
Rancidity just means the oil tastes nasty and will do similar things to the flavor of your food. If you’re not sure, smell the oil and then take a small taste if needed. If it tastes normal, you’re set. Rancid oil will be hard to mistake for good.
Read more than you could possibly want to know about olive oil storage and rancidity here.
Factors which affect the rate of change are heat, light, exposure to air, and time obviously (in addition to various oil production controls). The clumps you see when you refrigerate the oil are simply waxes which crystallise out at low T and disappear again at room temperature. Repeated re-warming up to room temperature from refrigeration will have a barely noticeable effect on shelf life, provided you don’t overheat it. Besides, rancid oil isn’t poisonous, just gets increasingly unpalatable for some people, so there’s no real need for concern. If you’re really paranoid why not try spraying an inert gas into the top of the bottle to extend shelf-life even further, though frankly this is probably only economic for large volume storage. Unopened containers stored in a dark, cool place can last in good condition for 3-4 years, though most people would consider it unpalatable by 4-5 years, similar to most other vegetable oils.
As for mswas’s concern, all oils oxidise and hydrogenate partially if subject to repeated very high heating, but to a very minimal extent and less in olive oil anyway due to the amount of monounsaturates. Unless your cooking technique involves bubbling hydrogen through your oil in the presence of a catalyst at >250°C, you don’t need to concern yourself with trans fats.
My wife insists on refriderator storage. 10 or 15 seconds in the microwave does it for me to get enough out to use. She insists on melting it under running hot water, which I consider an awful waste.
And if it does? 
Well then you’ve probably read the recipe all wrong, or are involved in the industrial manufacture of margarines.
note: If you’re really retentively inclined you can even freeze olive oil, though personally I think life’s too short to even bother refrigerating it.
rancidity requires oxygen, so anything in a glass well sealed bottle should last for years
I buy store brand plain olive oil in a small bottle. I only saute with it, which is not very often. I refrigerate it and it keeps well beyond the printed expiration date. Olive oil is composed of different oils with slightly different melting points, thus producing clumping when chilled, which disappears when warmed to room temp.
All of the above agrees with Captain_Awesome’s reference.
There’s a slight possibility that opening the bottle before it reaches room temp could cause a bit of water condensation inside the bottle. To avoid this, simply open the bottle only when it’s warmed up.