olive oil

terraalba, Apr 15, 5:29pm
I recently was told that a particularl brand of olive oil scored much better in some tests. Trouble is the person who told me has forgotten which brand. Does someone recall which brand this is please?
lilyfield, Apr 15, 7:14pm
Don't know- but if you go for cold pressed you can't go wrong
cookessentials, Apr 15, 7:44pm
I use first cold pressed.
http://www.olivesnz.org.nz/Awards. cfm
fisher, Apr 15, 8:59pm
We are lucky enough to be surrounded by Olive orchards in this northern area and Kathy's boss owns an orchard and presses and do the pressing for a lot of the area. . What a difference from shop bought. . must admit to having a cask of "Lupi for standby predominately for cooking in. .
bin-boy-lin, Apr 16, 12:12am
When I have use up all my olive oils except Extra Virgin, I shall be using Rice Bran Oil far cheaper and better for you according to the experts.
They now put out spreads and other stuff also.
I noticed that chefs that would not touch RBO are now saying either RBO or OO.
buzzy110, Apr 16, 12:23am
#1. Which tests were these. Consumer tests, in particular, concentrate on taste, colour and price rather than health. For instance rice bran oil has a high smoke point and a selection of nutrients that could make it seem like it was very healthy indeed. It is also has a good colour and is tasteless so would do very well in test.

It is just a pity that you cannot squeeze oil out of rice bran like you can from olives. It has to be chemically extracted using a carcinogenic chemical and there is always residue. It is also a pity it goes rancid rather fast, so to increase its shelf life they bleach it with bleach to stop the rancid smell. What a pity they then need to disguise the smell of bleach or no one would eat it so it is then deodorised. Does this sound healthy?

As fisher was saying, NZ oils from small boutique olive orchards really are naturally pressed with no extra element involved in the pressing. A naturally cold pressed virgin olive oil will last for one year in perfect condition if kept out of the light and another 18months slowly deteriorating but still in excellent edible condition if used for cooking.
donnabeth, Apr 16, 1:55am
damn buzzy, I don't want to know this. I've been raving over Prenzel rice bran oils and just bought the Tuscan and lemon flavours.

I also bought some Barnia olive oil, is that better?
hilt_dwane, Apr 16, 2:07am
From memory Lupi didn't rate very high and I think Pams was the best taste. I must admit I was surprised at the results. I do recall comments that a lot of the oils on our suparmarket shelves actually tasted RANCID. I usually use either grapeseed or ricebran. Much prefer grapeseed
seahorse32, Apr 17, 5:09am
I read that Borges was very good if buying at the supermarket
shandiex, Apr 17, 3:07pm
I think it was Pams as well, was on Target. They also said that once opened you should keep in the fridge or dark cool place.
igpai, Feb 1, 4:06am
I think the New Zealand people doing the "expert" tastings are just trying to push their own product. All of the imported olive oils have to pass International Olive Council tests. Which means they aren't rancid. As to which is best, the one you like the best is the one that's best for you - don't let other people tell you what you should and shouldn't like.