Old unopened bottle of olive oil

[lenarenee]

Cleaned out the garage today and found an unopened bottle of Costco's extra virgin olive oil that I'd have to guess was 2 years old. Would you trust it to make bastille bars that will cure for a year before using?

 

[nsmar4211]

If I have to ask myself if I trust it, the answer is no Unless you're just making soap to experiement with....

 

[BattleGnome]

Is there an expiration date?

 

[lsg]

Does it smell OK? If so, then I would try it in a small batch of soap.

 

[Soapmaker145]

It depends on the temperature of your garage and the amount of light it was exposed to. If it overheated during the summers or was exposed to a lot of light, then the quality will be questionable. You can open it and smell the oil. It'll give you an idea if it went bad. Is it in a glass bottle? Olive oil and oils in general survive longer in glass bottles.

 

[lenarenee]

Expired March 2015. It's a dark green plastic Kirkland bottle. The garage is usually a comfortable for humans temp except for roughly 2 months out of the year. I'm not adverse to tossing it, rather than 5 lbs of bastille soap in a few month.

No I didn't open or smell it. If I do, I may add some roe, refrigerate and use it for ls.

 

[cmzaha]

If the seal is not broken go for it. I just used up a bunch of oils that are at least 7 yrs old, and they were fine. All the seals were intact so no air was getting to them

 

[Steve85569]

When you open it give it the sniff test before doing any recipe calculations. If it smells like olive oil go for it.

I wouldn't trust it for the full year cure but I would use it as a main oil in a quicker cure.
I have had a batch of castile go DOS on me.

Just my 2 cents worth...

 

[penelopejane]

When you open it give it the sniff test before doing any recipe calculations. If it smells like olive oil go for it.

I wouldn't trust it for the full year cure but I would use it as a main oil in a quicker cure.
I have had a batch of castile go DOS on me.

Just my 2 cents worth...

^^^
I agree.

You can also pour it into a white bowl and look for tiny black dots. That is another indication it is off. This often happens before it starts to smell off.

 

[lenarenee]

Penelope I did check this morning and found some black spots despite the fact it smells okay- so I'm tossing it.

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[TeresaT]

^^^
I agree.

You can also pour it into a white bowl and look for tiny black dots. That is another indication it is off. This often happens before it starts to smell off.

Cool. I've never heard that trick before. Is it only olive oil? What are the black specks, any idea?

 

[penelopejane]

Cool. I've never heard that trick before. Is it only olive oil? What are the black specks, any idea?

DH thinks they would be some sort of fungal spores ie: mold.

No I don't think it is only olive oil. It happens with olive oil if you keep refilling a glass bottle that you decant olive oil into for everyday use without cleaning out the glass bottle. I have switched to Ricebran oil for most of my cooking now but I have become much more hygienically minded since I had the black dots in the OO so not definite but pretty sure it would happen with other oils too.

I have seen off Coconut oil in a chinese shop which you could smell from an aisle over. When I got to the bottles of coconut oil they had expanded, turned a tiny bit pink and stank to high heaven. They weren't even open.

 

[cmzaha]

When you open it give it the sniff test before doing any recipe calculations. If it smells like olive oil go for it.

I wouldn't trust it for the full year cure but I would use it as a main oil in a quicker cure.
I have had a batch of castile go DOS on me.

Just my 2 cents worth...

My soaps made with the old un-opened oils are 8 months old and not a speck of dos or off smell. I do add a pinch of BHT to all soap batches. I kept a couple bars from each batch

 

[maya]

Penelope I did check this morning and found some black spots despite the fact it smells okay- so I'm tossing it.

Thanks for your help everyone!

I think you made the right choice. I made a castile with an older olive oil (same kind of situation as yours.) and it got DOS after the cure.

 

[maya]

i have seen off coconut oil in a chinese shop which you could smell from an aisle over. When i got to the bottles of coconut oil they had expanded, turned a tiny bit pink and stank to high heaven. They weren't even open.

grossssssssssss.

 

[TeresaT]

grossssssssssss.

Exactly!! (You beat me to it.)

 

[maya]

Exactly!! (You beat me to it.)

Derserves more then one GROOOOOOOOSSSSSSSS. a GRODY and a NASTY wouldn't hurt either. :mrgreen: