storage · quality · guide

How to store extra virgin olive oil (and how long it keeps)

Light, heat and air are olive oil's three enemies. Where to keep it, which format to choose, how long it lasts once opened and how to tell when it has turned rancid.

October 29, 20265 min readby Tenuta Chiaramonte

A good extra virgin olive oil is a fruit juice: freshly pressed, its aromas are at their peak, and then it changes over time. It does not go off like milk, but within a few months it can lose the very things you chose it for: the fruitiness, the bitterness, the pepperiness and the polyphenols behind them.

The good news is that storing it properly is simple. A few rules are all it takes.

Olive oil's three enemies: light, heat and air

Olive oil deteriorates mainly through oxidation, a reaction sped up by three factors:

light, even ordinary kitchen light, sets off oxidation and fades the oil's colour;
heat speeds it up: the warmer the room, the faster the oil ages;
air (oxygen) feeds it: a little gets in every time you open the bottle.

Then there is a fourth, less familiar enemy: odours. Oil is a fat and readily absorbs the smells around it.

Where to keep it at home

The ideal spot is a pantry or closed cupboard, in the dark, away from heat sources, at a steady temperature between 14 and 18 °C.

Avoid:

next to the hob or above the oven, the most convenient place and the worst;
on the windowsill or on a sunny shelf;
near detergents, spices or strong-smelling foods.

What about the fridge?

Better not. Below about 10 °C, extra virgin olive oil starts to turn cloudy and form white flakes, and eventually it solidifies. This is not a defect and does not spoil it: at room temperature it turns clear again within a few hours. But constantly moving from cold to warm, and the condensation that comes with it, does the oil no good, and it is awkward to use.

If you find your oil cloudy in winter, don't worry: it is just the cold.

Bottle, tin or bag-in-box: which format to choose

The container matters as much as the place.

Dark glass bottle. It protects the oil from light and looks good on the table. Choose the size according to how much you use: a bottle that stays open for months lets air in every time you pour. The 250 and 500 ml sizes are ideal if you mostly use oil raw.
Tin. It blocks light completely and is perfect for 1, 3 or 5 litre supplies. Keep it tightly closed in the pantry and decant the oil into a cruet for everyday use.
Bag-in-box. A bag inside a box, with a tap. As the oil flows out, the bag collapses on itself and no air gets in: the oil stays protected even after opening. It is the most practical format for anyone who goes through a lot of oil, such as a family that cooks every day.

Avoid clear glass and plastic, on the other hand, especially for long-term storage.

All our oils, from Il Distinto to L'Amabile, come in bottles from 100 ml to 500 ml, in 1, 3 and 5 litre tins and in a 5 litre bag-in-box.

The oil cruet: the three most common mistakes

A cruet is handy, but it is often where the oil gets spoiled.

A clear cruet: choose one in stainless steel or dark glass.
Topping up on top of old oil: the oxidised residue speeds up the ageing of the fresh oil. Empty it, wash it, dry it thoroughly and only then refill it.
Filling it too full: put in only the oil you use in a week or two, no more.

How long extra virgin olive oil lasts

There are two dates worth knowing:

The best before date (the "best before" on the label), which the producer usually sets at around 18 months from bottling. After that date the oil is not dangerous, but it has lost some of its qualities.
The harvest season, the more useful piece of information: oil is at its best within 12-18 months of the harvest. That is why we always state the season on every one of our oils.

Once opened

An open bottle should be finished within one or two months. An open tin, if you close it tightly and keep it somewhere cool, will last a few months longer; the bag-in-box, which lets no air in, is the format that keeps longest after opening.

Polyphenols and aromas fade over time

Even when perfectly stored, oil changes: the polyphenols that give it bitterness and pepperiness slowly decline and the aromas soften. Freshly milled oil, new olive oil, is at its most intense; after a few months it becomes rounder. We explain this in our article on olio novello.

How to tell if olive oil has gone off

Old or badly stored oil turns rancid. Here is how to recognise it:

on the nose: a smell of stale nuts, wax, putty or wax crayons, instead of grass and artichoke;
in the mouth: a flat, greasy taste, sometimes unpleasantly sharp, with no fruitiness.

A rancid oil will not harm you if you use a little, but it has lost its aromas and properties: better not to use it raw. To train your nose and palate, follow the steps in our guide on how to recognise a genuine extra virgin olive oil.

What about flavoured oils?

The same rules apply: dark, cool and tightly closed. Flavoured oils with lemon or mandarin are at their best in the first months after opening, when the citrus aroma is at its liveliest.

In short

Keep the oil in the dark, somewhere cool (14-18 °C) and tightly closed, away from the hob.
No fridge: if it turns cloudy in the cold, that is not a defect.
Choose the format according to how much you use: a dark bottle for using raw, a tin or bag-in-box for supplies.
Wash the cruet before every refill.
Check the harvest season and use the oil within 12-18 months.

Read also

For your supplies at home, choose the 5 litre tin or bag-in-box: L'Amabile for everyday cooking, Il Galante if you also use it raw. You can compare all our oils on our Sicilian extra virgin olive oil page.

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