Food Vegetable & Cooking Oils - Shelf life & Solutions

[phloydius]

The discussion on the Food Shortage 2022 thread inspired me to start this new thread...

Cooking oil is one of the first things that get gone and stay gone when Shtf.
If you read up on passed events. Bosnia etc.
#1 thing people needed.

Here's an excerpt of an article written by a German gentleman who experienced WWII and the aftermath. There's more at the link below if you wish. This excerpt just pertains to cooking oil.

"May I share with you some experiences that I, along with millions of other Europeans, had in the days of devastation, total destruction, and starvation that became a reality for so many survivors of World War II. ...

Frequently I am asked, “What were the most valuable items in the days of starvation in Germany?” ...

As for what we needed, the food item we relied on most was vegetable oil. With a bottle of vegetable oil, one could acquire nearly every other desirable item. It had such value that with a quart of vegetable oil one could probably trade for three bushels of apples or three hundred pounds of potatoes. ...

How Beautiful to Live in These Times and Be Prepared

I'm sure everyone here has extra cooking oils saved up, and rotate them. One thing I've noticed is that even though I store them at room temperature and in the dark, over the years some of the time when I open up one in rotation, it will be rancid. Vegetable oils don't have an exceptionally long shelf life.

I would love to hear what others are doing to preserve the vegetable oils they use for the longest possible shelf life.

 

[phloydius]

Recently one of the YouTube videos I watched mentioned that coconut oil lasts virtually forever. A quick duckduckgo search clearly indicated that the shelf life is only about two years. Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

 

[moldy]

Vegetable oils (with the exception of olive) are actually pretty bad for you. Most are treated with a deodorizing agent,so when they smell rancid - they are REALLY gone. I prefer to use butter and lard, if not olive oil. Keeping oils someplace cool, dark, and dry will help extend their life.

 

[school marm]

The discussion on the Food Shortage 2022 thread inspired me to start this new thread...




I'm sure everyone here has extra cooking oils saved up, and rotate them. One thing I've noticed is that even though I store them at room temperature and in the dark, over the years some of the time when I open up one in rotation, it will be rancid. Vegetable oils don't have an exceptionally long shelf life.

I would love to hear what others are doing to preserve the vegetable oils they use for the longest possible shelf life.

Four Ways to Maximize the Shelf-Life of Cooking Oils

 

[school marm]

Recently one of the YouTube videos I watched mentioned that coconut oil lasts virtually forever. A quick duckduckgo search clearly indicated that the shelf life is only about two years. Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

I've had mine last at least 5 years. In addition to coconut oil, I store olive and peanut oils. Like moldy said, a lot of the vegetable oils aren't so great for us healthwise. As a saturated fat, coconut oil is one of the better oils. Genuine olive oil is fabulous, but most of what is sold in this country is adulterated, unfortunately.

Olive Oil in the Prepared Pantry

 

[phloydius]

Genuine olive oil is fabulous, but most of what is sold in this country is adulterated, unfortunately.

I learned that the hard way years ago. I thought I was allergic to olive oil, but come to find out it was the soy oil that the olive oil was cut with.

 

[Raggedyman]

we use Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil - LOTS of it. it's fairly expensive here in WNC like over $30/3L tin - so when ever I go to Youngstown and Rulli Bothers has it on sale I get several cans generally at almost half that price. right now there are thirteen (13) 3 litter tins on the shelf in the fruit cellar. the oldest is dated 8.17. I opened a new tin last week - it was dated 12.16 PERFECTLY GOOD

the secret to keeping any cooking oil from turning rancid is KOLD and DARK

 

[phloydius]

Four Ways to Maximize the Shelf-Life of Cooking Oils

Thank you for both links. Some good info for me to digest.

 

[phloydius]

we use Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil - LOTS of it. it's fairly expensive here in WNC like over $30/3L tin - so when ever I go to Youngstown and Rulli Bothers has it on sale I get several cans generally at almost half that price. right now there are thirteen (13) 3 litter tins on the shelf in the fruit cellar. the oldest is dated 8.17. I opened a new tin last week - it was dated 12.16 PERFECTLY GOOD

the secret to keeping any cooking oil from turning rancid is KOLD and DARK

I'm assuming 12.16 means December 2016. Is that correct?
When you say cold, any idea how cold is too cold? Is it beneficial for it to be below 32F or stored in the Refrigerator at about 40F?

 

[Cardinal]

Can up butter and Ghee. Easy to do, and shelf stable.

 

[Raggedyman]

I'm assuming 12.16 means December 2016. Is that correct?
When you say cold, any idea how cold is too cold? Is it beneficial for it to be below 32F or stored in the Refrigerator at about 40F?

yes - 12.16 means December of '16 they were kept in a cool (40-70 F range), dry, dark, fruit cellar. I can't accurately advise you as regards the refrigerator - someone else here may have an opinion. I keep too much of it on hand to refrigerate it. do you have a basement closet you could use? DARK and COOL are the issues

 

[onmyown30]

Recently one of the YouTube videos I watched mentioned that coconut oil lasts virtually forever. A quick duckduckgo search clearly indicated that the shelf life is only about two years. Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

I had a big jar/jug that was nearly 15yrs old when I finally finished it and it was still good until the last bits. I kept mine in the kitchen, shelf nothing special

 

[phloydius]

I had a big jar/jug that was nearly 15yrs old when I finally finished it and it was still good until the last bits. I kept mine in the kitchen, shelf nothing special

Which type of oil was it?

 

[onmyown30]

Which type of oil was it?

Organic virgin coconut oil….. can’t remember anything else other than that

 

[EYW]

Freezer. I keep the extra olive oil I pick up at sales/BOGO in the freezer. Using from a bottle I thawed out with no problems. Number them on the lid with a marker for rotation purposes.

 

[Hfcomms]

Vegetable oils (with the exception of olive) are actually pretty bad for you. Most are treated with a deodorizing agent,so when they smell rancid - they are REALLY gone. I prefer to use butter and lard, if not olive oil. Keeping oils someplace cool, dark, and dry will help extend their life.

Bingo! Hydrogenated oils are a heart attack in a bottle. Extra virgin olive oil if you need it. I keep a couple of bottles stored in the dark. For day to day cooking I use bacon grease. Just keep a coffee mug of it in the fridge and when it gets low I buy more bacon. Our grandparents and their parents used lard and animal oils and back then coronary occlusion was almost unheard of and most people were not obese. Most veg oils are toxic when the heat from cooking breaks them down so stay away from them.

 

[Digger]

I have 2 1gallon jugs of peanut oil and 2 smaller jugs of peanut oil stored together. The two smaller jugs look to be cloudy now. Like the oils is getting solid. It reminds me of when honey starts turning to sugar. I bought all the oil in the last year. I looked at one of the jugs in question and could not find a best by date which I thought was odd. Any guessing what is going on with the two bottles that look weird?

 

[EE80]

Recently one of the YouTube videos I watched mentioned that coconut oil lasts virtually forever. A quick duckduckgo search clearly indicated that the shelf life is only about two years. Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

I have a jar of Organic coconut oil that I have been using since 2019. Its expiration date says use by 11/2020. No issues with it.

 

[etdeb]

I bought 2 lb buckets of coconut oil from a bakery that was closing in 2005 and have just used the last one of the five I bought.
White plastic buckets. Cold pressed is about all I remember about it.

 

[school marm]

I have 2 1gallon jugs of peanut oil and 2 smaller jugs of peanut oil stored together. The two smaller jugs look to be cloudy now. Like the oils is getting solid. It reminds me of when honey starts turning to sugar. I bought all the oil in the last year. I looked at one of the jugs in question and could not find a best by date which I thought was odd. Any guessing what is going on with the two bottles that look weird?

Are they cold? I have a couple jugs of peanut oil in our basement and sometimes some of them will look cloudy. If I take them upstairs, the cloudiness goes away.

 

[Digger]

Yes they are in a cooler area. Maybe that is it.

 

[Mprepared]

Before even seeing this thread, I had a strange thought about fats and oils that I needed to get serious about this. I do use coconut oil, get buckets of it and I never use vegetable oils like corn or canola. My mother and dad went through the depression and my mother never talked about lack of oil or fat, but they had a cow, so I am sure they had lots of butter.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Lard and tallow are available to buy in bulk.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Anyone know about home canned butter or ghee. I've never had any go bad before it was used up. I stored opened butter in frig but ghee stays on the countertop but covered tightly after opening.

My bacon grease never goes bad either. I don't know if I'd trust any of the above that long without air conditioning so I'm just wondering if anyone else has run into this.

 

[Cardinal]

Once opened, I would keep it someplace cold. Mold can grow on it.

 

[nomifyle]

My bacon grease never went bad either, but I just opened the can in fridge and it had mold on it. There is not a lot in the container, about and inch and a half. I'm going to clean it all out and start fresh.

God is good all the time

Judy

 

[Freeholder]

Recently one of the YouTube videos I watched mentioned that coconut oil lasts virtually forever. A quick duckduckgo search clearly indicated that the shelf life is only about two years. Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

I have coconut oil that I bought on sale about six years ago, and it is still just fine. I don't know that it has an indefinite shelf life, but it's definitely a lot better than olive oil or the other nut oils. (I probably have a life-time supply of coconut oil.)

Kathleen

 

[Babs]

I have had organic "virgin" coconut oil that was only 2 years old go rancid. I kept it in it's original container in the cool basement. YMMV. I keep my rancid oils to burn for light, in the event of shtf.

I keep my tallow frozen in the hopes that it will stay fresh for a long time. I've never kept it long enough to determine how long it would stay fresh, if kept that way.

Hopefully I will be growing a lot of sunflowers this year to make oil with. Sunflower is not my first choice, but it's better than no oil at all, and I believe that if the seeds are kept whole until you are ready to extract the oil, they should stay fresh for quite a while. If anyone has any info regarding the shelf life of whole sunflower seeds, I'd love to hear it.

 

[summerthyme]

I have had organic "virgin" coconut oil that was only 2 years old go rancid. I kept it in it's original container in the cool basement. YMMV. I keep my rancid oils to burn in the event of shtf.

I keep my tallow frozen in the hopes that it will stay fresh for a long time. I've never kept it long enough to determine how long it would stay fresh, if kept that way.

Hopefully I will be growing a lot of sunflowers this year to make oil with. Sunflower is not my first choice, but it's better than no oil at all, and I believe that if the seeds are kept whole until you are ready to extract the oil, they should stay fresh for quite a while. If anyone has any info regarding the shelf life of whole sunflower seeds, I'd love to hear it.

Grow oilseed sunflowers (small, black seeds) not the giant Russian types with gray striped seeds. Much higher oil content. As far as shelf life, kept cool and away from pests, it should be decades...

Ebay has been a good source of oilseeds..
Summerthyme

 

[phloydius]

Grow oilseed sunflowers (small, black seeds) not the giant Russian types with gray striped seeds. Much higher oil content. As far as shelf life, kept cool and away from pests, it should be decades...

Are these the same as "black oil sunflower seeds" that are used for feeding fowl? If so, and they store well, it might be worth it to store some of these.

Black Oil Sunflower | Premium Garden Seeds | Hoss Tools

Black Oil Sunflower is an open-pollinated sunflower variety that can be grown for seed or oil production. It also works great as a warm ...

hosstools.com

 

[summerthyme]

Are these the same as "black oil sunflower seeds" that are used for feeding fowl? If so, and they store well, it might be worth it to store some of these.

Black Oil Sunflower | Premium Garden Seeds | Hoss Tools

Black Oil Sunflower is an open-pollinated sunflower variety that can be grown for seed or oil production. It also works great as a warm ...

hosstools.com

Yep...

Summerthyme

 

[phloydius]

Yep...

Great! Thank you for the great idea! I keep 50-70lbs around for my chickens. Sounds like I'll be planning on adding to my supply some. (Squirrel moment: I wonder if Ukraine will impact the availability of this... will have to research). I normally only keep that little, because they seem to mold and go bad if I keep them too long, but that is probably because I keep them outside in metal cans. I'll come up with a better method of storing them!

 

[school marm]

I thought it was mentioned here already, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, oil will last much longer if stored in glass as opposed to plastic. A BYU study showed that some plastics are better than others.

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=3798&context=etd

 

[phloydius]

I thought it was mentioned here already, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, oil will last much longer if stored in glass as opposed to plastic.

Do you think it lasts longer enough, that repackaging it in mason jars would be beneficial?

I have a bunch of small plastic containers of coconut oil that I bought at the dollar store recently. Moving them to glass would require heating it enough to liquify, breaking the seal & pouring it into mason jars. Breaking the seal & applying heat will shorten the life. Putting it in glass would extend the life. My question, is would the net effect be beneficial?

 

[summerthyme]

Do you think it lasts longer enough, that repackaging it in mason jars would be beneficial?

I have a bunch of small plastic containers of coconut oil that I bought at the dollar store recently. Moving them to glass would require heating it enough to liquify, breaking the seal & pouring it into mason jars. Breaking the seal & applying heat will shorten the life. Putting it in glass would extend the life. My question, is would the net effect be beneficial?

I wouldn't do it for coconut oil, but for any other vegetable oils, it would be well worth doing. If you can vacuum seal it in jars, it should keep just about forever, if you keep it in the dark.

Summerthyme

 

[nomifyle]

I wouldn't do it for coconut oil, but for any other vegetable oils, it would be well worth doing. If you can vacuum seal it in jars, it should keep just about forever, if you keep it in the dark.

Summerthyme

Thanks, I only have rendered lard in canning jars and coconut oil in the plastic they came in. I do have some olive oil, but not much, its all stored in the dark.

Any vegetable oil we might get in commodities is put aside for lamp oil, DH said it makes good chain oil.

God is good all the time

Judy

 

[Toosh]

Anyone know from personal experience how long coconut oils seems to last?

I just opened a jar that is 6 years old and it is delightful in every way. Stored in the basement, dark and cool.

 

[Toosh]

Crisco oil, the old fashioned in a can kind liasts a good long time (7-10 years). I took mine out of the can and repackaged it into 1/2 pint masons. When it does go bad then it's a great fuel.

 

[Freeholder]

Crisco oil, the old fashioned in a can kind liasts a good long time (7-10 years). I took mine out of the can and repackaged it into 1/2 pint masons. When it does go bad then it's a great fuel.

I wouldn't use Crisco (or any other oil/shortening of that type) for food at all. I have some cheap vegetable oil, probably rancid by now, that I keep in case I need to make little oil lamps for some reason (expedient lamps of the ancient type, a wick laid in a small container). But we don't eat it (even when it's not rancid).

Kathleen

 

[summerthyme]

The only thing I use Crisco for is greasing baking pans. Probably 95% of my fats for cooking are butter and lard.

Summerthyme