Avocado Oil - 18mo old

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

I lost track of time. My 1 gallon jug of avocado oil that is still half full is 18mo old. I've read different opinions that it can last anywhere from 12mo-2yr. Since there is no definitive answer, can I go based on looks? What do I look for? If there are some floaties does that mean it is bad? Or could that just be sediment? What kind of smell should it have?

 

[dixiedragon]

To my nose, rancid oil has a very harsh, sour smell. More like vomit (sorry) than say, lemon juice.

I used up some rancid mango butter at 5% over several batches. No problems with DOS or anything in those soaps.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree that it has a harsh smell if rancid. I would still try it and keep it for personal use. I wouldn't sell it if you sell though.

 

[TwoHippies]

I'm not sure on avocado oil specifically, but if it's bad it should take on a specific smell and may change color slightly. The only time I've had it noticibly go bad was when I stored some in a blue bottle, and lost it. After well over a year, I found it and there was quite a bit of clouding toward the bottom..at least the bottom 20%. However from my search, I found a person who says it can take on a slight smell of crayons when rancid. If you have to, go buy a 4oz bottle of cold pressed oil locally and compare them.

The reason there is no definitive answer is it all depends on how it was stored. Where it is, how often and drastic temperature fluctuations are, humidity and others all play a role on shelf-life of raw products. Hope this helps!

 

[TwoHippies]

Sorry my post was a bit late, didnt mean to repeat anyone lol..internet is being really slow and I cant even edit the message atm, so heres a new one! lol

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

yes!!! all this helps so much! I'll take a whiff! I planned on using a high % in a shampoo bar, about 30%. So I'm worried about that there....

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

Ok, it does not have any smell at all, just smells like oil. Yipee! It has been stored in a dark closet the whole time. It could have heat variations as we do get hot dry summers. I wonder if heating it would get rid of the sediment? Its almost like its just solidified oil flakes. If that makes sense??? The part of the plastic jug where the oil was touching is a bit foggy/whitish.

 

[wavyca]

Here's the problem with using Refined or Rancid oils on your skin:

1) Skin in the largest organ and instantly absorbs whatever you put on it. Refined Oils are laden with harsh chemicals used in the refining process, not much different, if any, than motor oil. Putting refined oil on your skin soaks up all those harsh chemicals, plus no vitamins or minerals, so no skin repair.
2) Rancid Oils are full of high levels of peroxide acid and other acids that form during the decomposition of the oil. Don't add to skin.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Most refining processes clean oils by steam.They are typically steam deodorized and filtered. That is the basic and most important step. Here is an overview. Without these steps you're looking at a shorter shelf life and possible bacterial growth.

This is from the "Food and Agricultural Organization" website

Step 1.
Degumming with water to remove the easily hydratable phospholipids and metals. -literally mixing water and oil. This is so water soluble components come out.-

Step 2.
Addition of a small amount of phosphoric or citric acid to convert the remaining non-hydralable phospholipids (Ca, Mg salts) into hydratable phospholipids. -phosphoric acid is found in Coca Cola and many jams and jellys. Citric acid is what makes citrus sour.-

Step 3.
Neutralising of the free fatty acids with a slight excess of sodium hydroxide solution, followed by the washing out of soaps and hydrated phospholipids. -making small amounts of soap to "eat up" free fatty acids to reduce the risk of rancidity-

Step 4.
Bleaching with natural or acid-activated clay minerals to adsorb colouring components and to decompose hydroperoxides. - things like activated charcoal or kaolin clay, help to remove color-

Step 5.
Deodorising to remove volatile components, mainly aldehydes and ketones, with low threshold values for detection by taste or smell. Deodorisation is essentially a steam distillation process carried out at low pressures (2-6 mbar) and elevated temperatures (180-220°C). -this is how they remove any of the smells or other "bad" components of the oil. -

In my opinion refined oil is not a bad thing. But, if you choose to avoid it, that is fine. Refining is done both for safety and because consumers want bland, clean, clear oils. Refined oils are not comparable in any way to motor oil.

You're putting soap on your body for a few moments. She's/He's asking about a wash off product. Not a leave on product. Were this a leave on product I might say that using a rancid oil could be a problem but it's not (more for smell than safety). I get that skin is the largest organ and we should protect it as best we can but, the reality is that we come in contact with much more harmful things than refined/rancid oil in the air alone on a daily basis.



HappyHomeSoapCo, your oil might be clouding if it's cold where you are. This can happen in high oleic oils like avocado or olive. The saturated fats in it begin to solidify. To me, it doesn't sound like it's going rancid.

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

HappyHomeSoapCo, your oil might be clouding if it's cold where you are. This can happen in high oleic oils like avocado or olive. The saturated fats in it begin to solidify. To me, it doesn't sound like it's going rancid.

Thank you Galaxy! I agree. I keep my house at 66* or less so i was thinking the same thing.

 

[lsg]

If it doesn't smell bad, I would use it. You can try it in a small batch first. You can either freeze the rest of it in small amounts or add rosemary oleoresin to the oil to prolong shelf life.

 

[wavyca]

1) Steam is heat, and once food / oil is exposed to heat it changes the composition, and high heat used in steam refining process destroys all vitamin and mineral content, turning it into something other than food, closer to motor oil.
2) Why would you subject beautiful emerald green extra virgin avocado oil to sub standard grade refined oil if you weren't trying to hide something? If you are using pristine fruit, pressed by professional licensed producers, you get a wonderful rich butterY avocado oil without any need to remove any impurities because they don't exist - same nutrient profile as fresh avocado. Do you remove certain parts of the fruit of the avocado before you eat it? NO! Why would you need to remove certain parts of the avocado oil unless you were trying to pull one over on the customer? NEVER USE REFINED OIL. THERE IS NO REASON TO REFINE AN OIL UNLESS TRYING TO SELL LOW GRADE OR SUB-STANDARD PRODUCT, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO AVOCADO OIL. HIGH QUALITY EXTRA VIRGIN AVOCADO OIL LIKE AVOHAUS TASTES JUST LIKE PERFECTLY RIPE AVOCADO!! RICH BUTTERY WITH PURE AVOCADO FLAVOR. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE A REFINED AVOCADO OIL?? DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE...NO VITAMINS OR MINERALS, NO FLAVOR, NO COLOR, JUST CHEMICAL LADEN CLEAR PROCESSED LIQUID MADE FROM POOR SUB-STANDARD QUALITY FRUIT.
3) Refining is done purely for profit, as this allows oil producers to "get rid" of old, sub-standard, rotten, fruit, longer shelf life, and since all the vitamins, minerals and flavor are cooked out with heat (steam) or chemicals, what's the point? The whole reason to eat avocados and avocado oil is to get the vitamins, minerals and fats in a natural form, not a heat compromised chemical laden processed clear liquid.

 

[snappyllama]

I use AO to stir fry at really high heat without worrying about smoking the oil. I loathe the actual taste of avocados (sorry to all you Cali folks, ). Refined is greatly preferred by me.

Different strokes and all, no need to shout at people.

 

[rainycityjen]

1) HIGH QUALITY EXTRA VIRGIN AVOCADO OIL LIKE AVOHAUS TASTES JUST LIKE PERFECTLY RIPE AVOCADO!! RICH BUTTERY WITH PURE AVOCADO FLAVOR. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE A REFINED AVOCADO OIL?

You know what's so funny, is that one hour ago the Avohaus Twitter account retweeted someone with the handle WavyCA who I guess is a big fan of Avohaus cold pressed unrefined avocado oil. Someone who has not recently tweeted about soapmaking at all. Someone who just, I guess, looks for mention of avocado oil on Internet forums because of their passion for avocados. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

 

[kchaystack]

You realize we are making soap, that is only on the skin for half a minute, and is then washed away?

Why waste high quality avocado oil on that, when I can get the same effect for a fraction of the cost?

 

[shunt2011]

I think they work for that company. They had a link in their first posts and one was deleted

 

[snappyllama]

Interesting. Well, I would never use that product as it would taste nasty to me. Stir fried avocado flavored shrimp - blech. It sounds like an awful thing.

They should go sell crazy somewhere else. Trying to scare soapmakers with yelling about CHEMICALs... strange marketing on their part.

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

1) Steam is heat, and once food / oil is exposed to heat it changes the composition, and high heat used in steam refining process destroys all vitamin and mineral content, turning it into something other than food, closer to motor oil.
2) Why would you subject beautiful emerald green extra virgin avocado oil to sub standard grade refined oil if you weren't trying to hide something? If you are using pristine fruit, pressed by professional licensed producers, you get a wonderful rich butterY avocado oil without any need to remove any impurities because they don't exist - same nutrient profile as fresh avocado. Do you remove certain parts of the fruit of the avocado before you eat it? NO! Why would you need to remove certain parts of the avocado oil unless you were trying to pull one over on the customer? NEVER USE REFINED OIL. THERE IS NO REASON TO REFINE AN OIL UNLESS TRYING TO SELL LOW GRADE OR SUB-STANDARD PRODUCT, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO AVOCADO OIL. HIGH QUALITY EXTRA VIRGIN AVOCADO OIL LIKE AVOHAUS TASTES JUST LIKE PERFECTLY RIPE AVOCADO!! RICH BUTTERY WITH PURE AVOCADO FLAVOR. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE A REFINED AVOCADO OIL?? DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE...NO VITAMINS OR MINERALS, NO FLAVOR, NO COLOR, JUST CHEMICAL LADEN CLEAR PROCESSED LIQUID MADE FROM POOR SUB-STANDARD QUALITY FRUIT.
3) Refining is done purely for profit, as this allows oil producers to "get rid" of old, sub-standard, rotten, fruit, longer shelf life, and since all the vitamins, minerals and flavor are cooked out with heat (steam) or chemicals, what's the point? The whole reason to eat avocados and avocado oil is to get the vitamins, minerals and fats in a natural form, not a heat compromised chemical laden processed clear liquid.

Who said anything about using refined oil?

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

You know what's so funny, is that one hour ago the Avohaus Twitter account retweeted someone with the handle WavyCA who I guess is a big fan of Avohaus cold pressed unrefined avocado oil. Someone who has not recently tweeted about soapmaking at all. Someone who just, I guess, looks for mention of avocado oil on Internet forums because of their passion for avocados. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Seriously! Lol. That comment was so outta left field!

 

[lsg]

1) Steam is heat, and once food / oil is exposed to heat it changes the composition, and high heat used in steam refining process destroys all vitamin and mineral content, turning it into something other than food, closer to motor oil.
2) Why would you subject beautiful emerald green extra virgin avocado oil to sub standard grade refined oil if you weren't trying to hide something? If you are using pristine fruit, pressed by professional licensed producers, you get a wonderful rich butterY avocado oil without any need to remove any impurities because they don't exist - same nutrient profile as fresh avocado. Do you remove certain parts of the fruit of the avocado before you eat it? NO! Why would you need to remove certain parts of the avocado oil unless you were trying to pull one over on the customer? NEVER USE REFINED OIL. THERE IS NO REASON TO REFINE AN OIL UNLESS TRYING TO SELL LOW GRADE OR SUB-STANDARD PRODUCT, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO AVOCADO OIL. HIGH QUALITY EXTRA VIRGIN AVOCADO OIL LIKE AVOHAUS TASTES JUST LIKE PERFECTLY RIPE AVOCADO!! RICH BUTTERY WITH PURE AVOCADO FLAVOR. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE A REFINED AVOCADO OIL?? DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE...NO VITAMINS OR MINERALS, NO FLAVOR, NO COLOR, JUST CHEMICAL LADEN CLEAR PROCESSED LIQUID MADE FROM POOR SUB-STANDARD QUALITY FRUIT.
3) Refining is done purely for profit, as this allows oil producers to "get rid" of old, sub-standard, rotten, fruit, longer shelf life, and since all the vitamins, minerals and flavor are cooked out with heat (steam) or chemicals, what's the point? The whole reason to eat avocados and avocado oil is to get the vitamins, minerals and fats in a natural form, not a heat compromised chemical laden processed clear liquid.

I think the OP meant to use the oil in soap, not cooking.