“Is your olive oil real?”

Just the other day we received a phone call from a gentleman asking questions we are kinda used to by now. This potential customer asked us several questions which would probably be good to present in a Frequently Asked Questions section (which we don’t have yet). Among them was the question “How do I know I would purchase real olive oil from you?”

Real olive oil

To answer the man’s first question, it is necessary to understand what people mean when they say “real olive oil”. They are actually interested in extra virgin olive oil.

By its definition, extra virgin olive oil is extracted directly from olive fruit, using exclusively mechanical procedures. It contains a maximum of 0.8 grams of free fatty acids (expressed as oleic acid) per 100 grams of oil. Extra virgin olive oils’ characteristics determined by chemical analysis meet the defined standards (peroxide number less than 10 mmol O2/kg etc).

Extra virgin olive oil is recognized by the results of chemical analysis, but also using another method, which is quicker, cheaper and (very often) more reliable. Organoleptic analysis: combination of smelling and tasting of olive oil. Experienced olive oil tasters really don’t need investment in chemical analysis to determine whether olive oil is extra virgin or not.

We wrote several times on how we produce our EVOO Bilini. Our oil’s authenticity and quality has been confirmed by many awards during the years through which we have been engaged in olive growing business.

My neighbour grows olives. Is her olive oil extra virgin?

Maybe yes, maybe no. The number of factors which influence quality of olive oil is truly big. Let’s list but a few:

• Fruit quality ➡️ fruit with olive-fly worms as well as overripe fruit can result with a flaw determined by organoleptic analysis. This automatically means that such olive oil is not and cannot be extravirgin.
• Timely harvest ➡️ too late harvests can lower fruit quality.
• Adequate preservation and transport of fruit to olive mill ➡️ the more time passes from picking to olive processing, the higher the possibility that fruit will oxidize, which again influences quality. Also, the method of storing olives in the mill is very important. The biggest olive-oil producing countries (Spain, but also Italy and Greece) feature several HUGE olive mills. There olives literally get unloaded from trucks and moved aroung with bulldozers and then stored on huge batches for too long a time. Olive oil made from such fruit usually has at least one organoleptic flaw.
• Processing olives ➡️ olive mill plays an enormously important role in the process of making olive oil. Not only because it’s impossible to make olive oil without the processing inside the mill. But also because different mills have different processing standards. This is a very complex thematic ranging from components of the mill machinery (which can significantly influence oil quality) to craftsmanship of olive mill experts who give their final touch by various adjustments and actions during olive processing. Generally speaking, the higher the quality of the olive mill plant combined with experienced olive-making masters employed in olive mills, the higher the chance that high-quality olive fruit will be transformed into highest quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Adequate preservation of olive oil ➡️ olive oil is best kept in stainless-steel barrels, in dark rooms at the right temperature.

Do you sell flavored olive oil?

No. We stick to the definition of extra virgin olive oil. It dictates that EVOO is made from olive fruit only. No additives.  In other words: we think that – due to definition – flavored olive oils cannot be categorized as extra virgin. Even if in the process of making flavoured olive oil extra virgin oil is used as base (next to “additives”).

Can I use your olive oil for frying?

Of course. Unlike most types of vegetable oils typically used in cooking, olive oil reaches smoke point at 210ºC. This is much higher than usual food-preparation temperature.

Therefore, feel free to use extra virgin olive oil for frying. Here we would only like to mention that the most beneficial and healthy characteristics of high quality olive oil enter human body by consumption of raw EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Also, by our opinion, it tastes best this way!

How much does your olive oil cost?

You can find prices of our EVOO Bilini anytime in our web shop. We offer our olive oil in dark glass bottles, but also in so called transport packaging.

For the end, we suggest you to read our article about reducing shipping costs when ordering extra virgin olive oil Bilini.