What is your favorite brand of Olive Oil?

[dmcavanagh]

For what it's worth, I once read that the Italians keep the "best" oil for themselves and ship the crap to us. Makes sense to me!

[tdeane]

I am using Basil brand organic extra virgin olive oil in the new restaurant. They are a local family that owns an organic olive farm in Greece. The oil is incredibly fresh. I buy it in the large metal container with the tap so it stays very fresh and out of the light.

http://www.basiloliveoil.com/

[Jackie Tran]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.  That gives me a lot to try out in the future.   For what it's worth, when I was at Bianco's and had the Queen Creek OO, I didn't think it was that special.  I guess everyone's preferences are truely different.  

I ran out of my standard EVOO for cooking or general use, so I picked up a 3L bottle of Bertolli EVOO from Costco for $12 to try.  I compared it to the Genesio brand that I had gotten from the Macaroni Grill (1L bottle for $20).  

The Genesio was a slight shade brighter in color and just a pinch more viscous.  The Bertolli was just as fragrant and both tasted very similar to me, buttery and flavorful.  The Genesio had just a bit more complex flavor, maybe even a hint of bitter?    It was also opened some time ago and kept in a dark cool place when not in use.  

Anyways, I thought the Bertolli was just as good if not a bit better.  At 1/5 th of the price, it's a no brainer.  

Chau

[Jet_deck]

Chau, it is funny that I ran across this today. Best Olive oil in the US from Life in Italy .com  It Looks like the Bertolli EVOO failed the USDA standard 3 of 3 times.

 

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/best-olive-oil-us

[Jackie Tran]

Nice find Gene.  I'll definitely check out the Kirkland brand next time I'm there.

[scott123]

Chau, it is funny that I ran across this today. Best Olive oil in the US from Life in Italy .com  It Looks like the Bertolli EVOO failed the USDA standard 3 of 3 times.

 

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/best-olive-oil-us

I don't know... 'sensory' standards?  Like a bunch of guys taking sips of oil and then spitting them into a spittoon? Sorry, I'm not buying it.  Now, if someone were to go to an olive farm and, under their watchful eye, press freshly harvested olives, run that through a mass spectrometer and then compare those results to brands of imported oil, then I'd be completely on board.  You know, a scientific approach  

With a mass spectrometer, one could ascertain, for certain, if a company was trying to pass off later pressings as first, and not just guess that something might be wrong because it doesn't 'taste right.' A mass spectrometer would also very quickly reveal by-products of age/oxidation.

[Jet_deck]

.... Now, if someone were to go to an olive farm and,....  run that through a mass spectrometer and then compare those results to brands of imported oil, then I'd be completely on board....  

I agree.  The article was poorly written,  it should have focused on the analytical/ chemical methods that were used to do the testing.  Of the 11 test done to each of the samples, the human taste test was the only one that didn't include a "scientific" method.  Gas chromatography and UV spectrophotometry made up the majority of the other 10 test.  This group seems to be hard core into testing olive oil.

  Of course  everyones palate is different, but for someone like me who has no idea of what a good olive oil should taste like, I can be confident that they have them ranked in a pretty good order,  and that the EVOO hasn't been "watered down" with another kind of oil like hazelnut, which the article (the artical about the testing, referenced below) suggested was a common practice.

http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/news-events/news/files/olive%20oil%20final%20071410%20.pdf

[scott123]

Oh, they did gas chromatography?  I didn't look at the PDF.  Still, after looking at the PDF, it looks like all the statistics are based on sensory testing with the scientific testing being listed as a sub category of the sensory testing.  It should, imo, be the other way around.

Besides, a 'California' university study that reveals that 'California' olive oils are superior?  Come on.  I wonder what kind of results an Italian university might see using the same methodology. Somehow I think the results might be a bit different  

Edit: Just found this:

We are grateful to Corto Olive, California Olive Ranch, and the California Olive Oil Council for their financial support of this research.

The California olive companies paid for the study!

Edit 2:  I did a little more digging and found out that the California olive oil companies that passed (Corto, California Olive Ranch, McEvoy Ranch and Lucero) all contributed to the California Olive Council (a sponsor of the study), while the one California olive oil company that didn't shell out the cash for certification (Bariani), didn't pass.

Money money money mon-ey... MONEY! 

[Jet_deck]

Well, they say that "you'd better dance with the one that brung ya' "

[chickenparm]

I have never tried those fancy expensive bottles of oil many here have posted.However,I did try a new bottle of cooking Olive oil and I really liked it.

It's made by STAR,its EXTRA Light Olive Oil Flavor.Its very light in color too. It does not say extra virgin,just extra light.I had to do a double take to make sure I was not reading it wrong.I do that alot,I will read too fast,grab something off the shelf,and when I get home its the wrong type.
 

It says use for baking,pan frying and deep frying.I fried up some chicken parm with this oil and it was really good.I bought it mainly to use for frying chicken.I also used this in my pizza sough,and to brush the rim with oil.Works just fine.I believe it will work well for pan pizza styles as well.
 

[gabaghool]

My family is right off the boat, so if I am looking to use olive oil...it will always be EVOO.

No PURE, no PUMICE.......veggie oil has as much flavor.

I WILL use oil products that have "25% EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL" blend.  NOT "25% OLIVE OIL" blend.  The 25% EVOO blend has a nice taste of olives in it and is perfect for certain sautee dishes and dressings.  ANd it much less expensive.

And to me, EVOO has to have big time taste.  Some say color is important, and it is...BUT, many times the greener the olive oil doesn't make it tastier, which I have read is a way you can determine the taste.  Sometimes the green is simply green, no extra flavor.  Some companies get that green color from LEAVES allowing to stay in the oil as it ages.

So, EVOO, to me has to taste like olives.  Strong.  I don't use it for everything, BUT for topping pizza, I used just that.

I've tried perhaps 100's of EVOO over the years, I always look for "first cold pressed".  To me, thats more important than the acidity% as far as flavor goes.  Now, some of these oils were TERRIFIC, I mean incredible...but unbelievably expensive, too expensive in my commercial places. But others were more reasonable in price and had excellent flavor.

For the money...HANDS DOWN the best flavor for the money, for me, is GOYA EXTRA VIRGIN.  Somebody told me to try it, and being Italian, I was not a believer.  But, its cheaper than Colavita (which I think is overpriced) and it has an excellent strong flavor...but it ISN'T a deep green in color.  Sometimes, I find it dirt cheap.  But its good.
If you find it, usually in the goya section of supermarkets, try it.  It won't set you back much ....just make sure its GOYA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL.

[Bill/SFNM]

This year's harvest of Tuscan olive oil is now in at my local Costco. This is my favorite olive oil for routine and even special applications - a steal at $12/liter.

I almost missed it - it was on an end-cap rather than its usual place with the oils.

[Jackie Tran]

Thanks for posting this Bill.  I'll check out my local Costco to see if they have any left.

[Bill/SFNM]

Thanks for posting this Bill.  I'll check out my local Costco to see if they have any left.

Hi, Chau. There were plenty of bottles in the Renaissance location. In past years, the stock has held out through the summer. I picked up 3 liters.

[pjbear05]

Filippo Berio. We buy the large cans because we use it for many different things.

Not into the large cans, but +1 on FB, best OO out there IMHO.