High-quality olive oil tastes wonderful and enriches dishes with its special aroma. It is often offered in large canisters, which should be used up quickly once opened. Then just freeze the olive oil, it can be preserved that way without sacrificing goodness.
Herbs can be frozen in olive oil cubes
How is olive oil frozen?
Olive oil does not have a uniform freezing temperature, as this depends on the quality, the type of olive and the degree of ripeness of the pressed fruit. The table below gives an indication of how the oil changes as a result of cooling:
| temperature | consistency of the oil |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 degrees | The olive oil remains viscous. No crystals are formed yet. |
| Up to 2 degrees | The oil begins to solidify. It becomes cloudy at first and then looks crystallized. |
| 2 degrees | The oil can no longer be poured. |
| - 10 degrees | The olive oil is so hard that you can no longer pierce it with a fork. |
Which containers are suitable?
Your freezer cools down to a temperature of around -15 degrees. This is enough to freeze the olive oil completely. You can even leave the oil in the bottle. There is no fear of this bursting because, unlike water, the oil contracts during the cold sleep.
- Since olive oil goes rancid quickly after thawing, it makes sense to fill the olive oil in portions and thaw it again as needed.
- Ice cube trays are ideal for this.
- If you love spice oil, you can first put finely chopped herbs in the compartments and fill them up with olive oil.
How do you thaw olive oil
Remove the olive oil cubes or oil container from the freezer and allow the oil to thaw at room temperature. It becomes clear and liquid again.
If you are in a hurry, simply put the oil in a bowl that you place in a water bath with a maximum temperature of 30 degrees. In this way, frozen oil cubes are thawed within a few minutes and can be added directly to the food or salad.
tips
The taste of the olive oil does not change when it is frozen, since chemical processes that would lead to changes in the oil are stopped during the cold sleep.