People Are Learning The Right Way To Store Olive Oil

It’s time for a confession: I was today years old when I learned that what I thought was the hallmark of a well-organized kitchen — having my olive oil right next to my stove — is actually a big no-no. Until today, my bottle of extra-virgin olive oil perpetually lived out on the counter alongside my salt and pepper to make it as easy as possible for me to season veggies, use my air fryer, or to make a five-minute salad dressing — and it turns out many people are making the same mistake.

Berger said that the heat and temperature changes by your burners can destabilize the product and make it rancid. “You want to keep it where the temperature is constant, so away from the stove, away from a window where the temperature will fluctuate quite a lot,” she said.

In fact, ideally, you’ll want to pick a “cool, dry, dark cupboard” with minimal exposure to heat and light, including the oven and other cooking sources. Ideally, you’ll store your oil at 57 degrees Fahrenheit, but room temperature is fine as well.

To protect the integrity of your olive oil, it also matters what vessel you store it in. According to The Kitchn, dark-hued glass bottles, or stainless steel containers (avoid iron or copper containers, which can react with the oil) are best, as any light getting into lighter-colored bottles can make your olive oil go bad. And if your olive oil comes in a plastic bottle, you might want to consider buying a small reusable bottle like a glass cruet to transfer it into, as chemicals from plastic can potentially leech into your oil.

So if you’ve been thinking about reorganizing the area next to your stove, this might be the perfect time to find the exact right kitchen cabinet to put a lazy Susan in to have your other cooking oils, regularly used spices, and olive oil in an aesthetically pleasing cruet. It might be one extra step to take out your olive oil when you’re cooking, but it’ll be totally worth it.