Does Olive Oil Need to be Capped?

High-quality olive oil is a true investment, allowing you to perfect every dish with ease. So, it’s always heartbreaking to find that your beloved oil has gone rancid. The cause of this calamity? Excessive exposure to air, for starters, along with too much heat and light. So, to avoid that distressing scenario, it’s best to keep your olive oil tightly capped at all times. Here’s a look at just why – and how – to keep the cap on whenever possible.

Impact of Air Exposure on Olive Oil

Exposure to air causes olive oil to go rancid much sooner than it might otherwise. As air gets into the bottle, oxidization occurs, resulting in the development of peroxide. The peroxide molecules then start to decompose, which causes the oil to go rancid.

Although not all people find that newly rancid olive oil tastes bad, it’s no longer the high-quality product you purchased. Instead, it turns into a lower quality oil, which doesn’t have the bright aroma or lightly bitter olive flavors throughout.

Through this process, extra virgin olive oil turns into virgin olive oil, and so on. Eventually, the oil turns into lamp oil, which carries the designation of not being fit for human consumption – and that’s not delicious to anyone.

Best Cap Types for Your Olive Oil

To keep your oil from getting rancid and moving down the quality ranks, you just need to get a cap on it. If keeping your olive oil in its regular bottle, just use the cap that came with the product in the first place.

When putting your oil in a decorative bottle – or you just want convenient access to the oil – use a pour spout instead. The pour spout sits where the cap used to go, giving you quick use of your oil on demand while keeping air out.

For oil that’s used daily, a pour spout featuring a self-closing flap will work swimmingly. These spouts have air-tight EVA memory plastic corks. Plus, they use surgical grade 18-8 stainless steel weighted flap to keep air out between pours.

Tapered pour spouts work great, too. Just be sure to put a dust cover over the tip or replace it with a cork when not in use. You can even use plastic pour spouts in combination with a fitted dust cover with great success.

Lifespan of Properly Stored Olive Oil

As long as you store the olive oil properly, each bottle should last between 18 to 24 months. Proper storage means keeping the air out as much as possible, of course. But you also need to protect your oil from exposure to heat and light. Prolonged exposure to any of those elements will cause the oil to go rancid far before its 18-month shelf life. The oil’s aroma and flavors will change as a result, leaving your recipes tasting a bit off overall.

To avoid that, take olive oil storage seriously. Keep your olive oil in the back of a cool, dark pantry when not in use. Never keep your oil next to the stovetop or in a window, no matter how pretty the bottle looks. Also, don’t forget to use a tightly closing cap at all times, like a pour spout with a weighted flap. Always use the cap that makes the most sense for your oil usage practices to best protect your investment for the long term.

By taking that approach, you can rest assured that your oil will retain its original aroma and flavors through to the very last drop. You can then recreate all your best recipes with confidence that they’ll taste as good as ever.

Can You Leave Olive Oil Uncovered?

Unless you want to replace your olive oil sooner than expected, you should not leave it uncovered. Thankfully, you have many excellent solutions available from Anytime Olive Oil Products. Our self-closing pour spouts perfectly protect the oil from air exposure. We also have many other olive oil pour spout styles plus all the corks and dust covers needed to protect your investment in high-quality oil. Want to know more about our products? Reach out today to explore all our solutions.