Which brand of olive oil is best for salads?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Russians got acquainted with olive oil relatively recently, its categories, grade and selection criteria are not known to many. This article is devoted to the topic of which brand of olive oil is better in a number of similar products. In addition to the rating review, the material provides information about the benefits of olive oil, methods of obtaining it, quality standards and selection criteria.

The value of olive oil and its difference from others

The unique feature of the olive tree is that it grows on average for about 500 years and actively bears fruit throughout its life. Moreover, the age of some trees is 1500 and even 2000 years old. These are the ones that grow on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

What brand of olive oil is best used for salads is a very relevant question, especially on the eve of the vegetable season. Salads with it are very tasty and he althy. Olive oil contains a lot of vitamins and minerals. In particular, it contains vitamins A, E, D, K, as well as polyphenols. They have a beneficial effect oncardiovascular system, digestion and skin condition.

Compared to other types of oil, olive oil is highly digestible due to its high content of oleic acid, which is the main fatty acid in the human body.

Methods of obtaining olive oil

Raw olives are inedible and unsuitable for eating, as they have a very bitter taste. To get rid of it, the fruits are soaked in a special solution. Despite this, the best brands of olive oil often have a specific bitter smell and taste, which not everyone likes. This should be kept in mind when choosing oil.

The process of making the product is that the pitted fruits are well pressed, constantly stirring the mass. After this procedure, oil is squeezed out of the olives using special centrifuges for this. This is how the first pressing oil is obtained. It's always a little bitter.

The remaining oil cake is used again, extracting the oil of the second pressing. It is purified from impurities and bitterness with the help of chemical reagents, so it does not have an unpleasant smell and taste.

Types of oil by production methods

Depending on the marking used on the label, the oil differs in the way it is prepared. Possible markings: Virgin, Refined, Pomace.

• Virgin is a natural, cold pressed first oil. Such a product retains all the nutrients, mineralsand vitamins. It has only one minus - it has a limited shelf life. Mistresses all over the world are sure that Virgin is the best olive oil. The brand (reviews confirm this) is in great demand.
• Refined - also natural olive oil, but refined using physical and chemical processes. Refining takes place as follows: the fruits of the olive tree are ground and filled with a chemical solvent, an analogue of gasoline, - hexane. Under its influence, oil is released from the fruit, which merges. Hexane residues are removed with water vapor, then with alkali. In the next step, the product is bleached and deodorized.
• Pomace - olive products obtained by secondary pressing using physical and chemical technologies.

Virgin olive oil

• Extra virgin olive oil - with this designation, the best brands of Extra Virgin olive oil obtained by cold first pressing are produced. The acidity of such oils does not exceed 0.8/100 grams.
• Virgin olive oil is the label for extra virgin olive oil with an acidity of no more than 2/100 grams. Such a product is obtained from olives that have been subjected to mechanical or physical stress, including temperature. Such oils were purified only with natural ingredients and certain technologies - water, filtration, decanting, centrifugation.
• Ordinary virgin olive oil is also a virgin olive oil, the acidity of which does not exceedan indicator of 3, 3/100 grams. Only natural (virgin) methods were used in its manufacture.

Refined olive oil

This oil is obtained from raw materials of the first extraction by refining. Its acidity is 0.3/100 grams. Such a product is obtained using physicochemical technologies aimed at eliminating odor, acidity and bitter taste. These oils are considered inferior.

Pomace olive oil

• Olive-pomace oil - a product that consists of a mixture of refined and virgin oils. Its acidity is 1/100 grams. A similar characteristic applies to those oils that are obtained by pressing the pomace using solvents and other physical procedures.
• Refined olive-pomace oil - pomace oil obtained by refining using physical and chemical technologies. The acidity of such a product is 0.3/100 grams.

Quality Criteria

Even in their category, oils can vary in quality. When tasting, parameters such as:

• Acidity - means the level of oleic acid in 100 grams of the product. This indicator does not affect the taste. It is believed that the lower the acidity, the higher the quality of the oil.
• Color. Shades of oil can be in the yellow and green ranges - depending on the variety of fruits, their maturity and processing method.
• Fragrance. Oil that has been exposed to the sun for a long timerays, loses its aroma. Normally, its odor is determined by a number of volatile substances - alcohol, hydrocarbon, aldehyde, esters.
• Taste. Natural oil has a very rich, intense, bittersweet or s alty taste. A bad sign is rancid, watery, vinegary, or metallic.
• Expiration date. The parameter to which attention should be paid here is the date of bottling. The "fresher" it is, the better the quality of the product will be. That is why olive oil is never bought in reserve. Store bottles with it in dark cabinets in dark glass containers. The shelf life of the oil should not exceed 1 year.

Another indicative parameter of real olive oil is that when it is stored in the refrigerator, it falls to the bottom in large flakes. Do not think that the product has deteriorated, as this is a very correct indicator of quality. After the oil warms up, the flakes will disappear. However, experts do not recommend storing it in the refrigerator. Preference should be given to dry shaded places.

The lid of the bottle should close very tightly. Very important: oil should be stored in glass or metal jars. A real high-quality product is never sold in plastic, as it is able to split the top layer of polyethylene, as a result of which harmful substances enter the food. The same, incidentally, applies to other types of vegetable oils. The best brands of olive oil are unrefined, this should be the first thing to keep in mind when buying this product.

Organoleptic quality assessment

When tasting oils, professionals note that they should taste like fresh olives. In addition, the smell of freshly cut grass, plucked lettuce leaves is possible. Even chocolate and anise flavors are allowed.

In order to understand the richness of the taste of this product, it is heated to a temperature of +200 ° C, after which it is applied to a glass plate with a thin layer and rubbed with the back of the hand. The best olive oil (brand does not matter here) meets the above characteristics.

When assessing the color, the oil is poured into a glass in an amount of 50 ml and viewed through reflected light on a white background. It is important that not only color is evaluated, but also various color shades. It is believed that the greener the product, the higher its quality. In fact, this is only partly true, since the color of the oil depends on what variety of fruit it is made from.

Therefore, it is worth focusing here on a set of indicators: color, smell, taste. If the oil has a yellow color, but at the same time it smells fragrant and has the right taste, then this indicates that, most likely, black olives were used to make the product, and not olives.

Olive oils rating

Answering unambiguously the question of which brand of olive oil is better is not so simple. Specialists conduct complex studies to answer this question. Here are the results of one of them. In 2014, the well-known quality assessment agencyProducts Research and Development Center "Test" conducted a comparative study of 11 well-known brands of extra virgin olive oil. When evaluating products, parameters such as:

• authentic brand;
• compliance with the declared composition;
• ultraviolet absorption;
• organoleptic evaluation of properties.

The best olive oil (brand, photo specially presented in this article) must meet all of the above requirements. The following brands participated in the study: Mana Gea, "Premiya", Borges, Maestro de Oliva, "Ellada", ABEA, Costa d'Oro, ITLV, Monini, Oscar and Ravika.

The oils of Mana Gea, "Premium", Borges deserved the rating "excellent". Maestro de Oliva lost to the leaders, earning a "good" rating. All of these products fully comply with the Extra Virgin label. Therefore, the answer to the question of which brand of olive oil is better in this series is obvious: it is the one that in all respects corresponds to its category.

The other 7 brands also proved to be acceptable olive oils, but lost out to the leaders in a number of parameters, as a result of which their rating is "poor". This means they are not labeled as Extra Virgin.

Choosing the right oil

It should be noted that answering the question which brand of olive oil is best does not explain whether this oil is suitable for certain culinary tasks. So, for example, experienced chefs keep on their tableolive oil of several varieties at once. Let's determine which of them is most suitable for certain dishes.

So, the best olive oil for salads is extra virgin olive oil. It will also be a great "companion" to pizza, pasta, milk porridge and other dishes that allow you to feel the taste of the product.

However, it is absolutely not suitable for frying. What brand of olive oil is best for stewing, baking and frying? Refined oil. The fact is that Extra Virgin is rich in minerals, which break down during frying, forming carcinogens and smoke. Refined oil is purified from these substances, so it can be safely used for frying and cooking other dishes associated with high-temperature processing.