Expired Pomace Olive Oil

[Peggy T]

A friend has an entire unopened drum of pomace olive oil and asked me if I want it. The hitch is it's about 3 years old. Earlier that same day I had been pricing out a drum of pomace from Soaper's Choice so this potentially could save me a bunch if it's still OK to use. As far as I can tell, the only way to know for sure is to smell it but I've never worked with pomace so I'm not sure what normal pomace smells like. Should I pass on it? I've obviously looked on the internet for its shelf life but most manufacturers seem to just default to 18-24 months and I don't know if that's actually true. Thanks

[TallTayl]

is the pomace “pure”, meaning no other oils in it like very short shelf life canola? Take a look at the certificate of analysis to Find that out.  I was shocked when searching many pomace brands that they were 90% canola an only 10% olive pomace.  What a waste. the research started when I noticed that my soap was turning bright orange within weeks of being made. Not DOS, but rusting over all surfaces. 

 

Many fatty acids (oils) have a shelf life for 12-24 months from date of manufacture. If unopened and stored perfectly that can extend the life a bit beyond that. it could smell ok now, but deteriorate quickly, no way to tell without a lab analysis.  
 

If making soap only for myself, I might take a chance since the oils can be top dressed on feed to my farm animals or otherwise disposed of if it turns quickly.  For sale, though, definitely not. I would hate to risk my reputation and accounts if the soap developed DOS on their shelves. 

 

 

if the oil turns out to be not ok, do you have the means to dispose of 55 gallons?

[Peggy T]

Yeah, I'm leaning toward passing on this. Plus, I see WSP is running a sale on pomace. I'll have to check their COA though to insure it's not adulterated like happened to you. But to answer your question, I was going to look into oil recycling for biofuel if I needed to dispose of it. But it's a moot point since I don't think I'll get it.

[TallTayl]

I wish I had some equipment that would work with biofuel. 
 

whatever your decision it will be the right one. 👍🏻

[Candybee]

I think you made the right choice to pass on that. Three yrs old is older than an reco from any manufacturer I have found. I tend not to like pomace and prefer golden or sauteeing olive oil. The kind you buy in the store for cooking, eating, food grade olive oil. I simply buy the gallon jugs at my local grocers instead of soapers choice. By the time you add in shipping costs I actually save by buying local. 

 

TT is right about adulterated pomace and other olive oils. Its hard to know which brands are not adulterated as most are.

 

I used to buy soapers choice olive oil but didn't care for the quality or color of my finished soap. The store brand I buy locally is actually better and makes excellent soap. When it comes to olive oil, I prefer the kind I can eat and cook with.

 

Also, I have a local source of pure unadulterated olive oil from a vendor at a farmer's market. The olive oil is made on their olive farm in greece. The ship their olive oil over here to the US and sell it. It is the most amazingly delicious olive oil I have ever tasted. However, its much too expensive to soap with. I just eat and cook with it.

 

Typically if an olive oil is less than $18-$20 for about 12-14oz it is probably adulterated with another vegetable oil. Pure olive oil is expensive. Expect the pure oil to be over $20 a lb unless you can find a source that sells pure olive oil at a wholesale price. But it still won't be cheap and probably not cheap enough to soap with. Anyway, TMI.