The way you store and handle oils is very important for maintaining oil quality. Whether refined or not, all oils are sensitive to heat, light and exposure to oxygen (just ask any vegetable!). For long-lasting high performance use the Monounsaturated type such as olive oil; while polyunsaturated will do best in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight since they tend have shorter shelf lives than monousrated ones like sunflower seeds!
Polyunsaturated oils are sensitive to heat, so they should not be heated or exposed to light. Oxygen will also lessen the shelf life of poly-unsaturates; therefore it is important for these oils to stay refrigerated in order preserve their nutritional profile and freshness. Freezing does prolong quality but can damage some properties (flavor) if frozen at too high a temperature – this depends on which type of unsaturated fat is being used!
Fats such as linoleic acid tend become solid when cooled below 5°C/-41 ° F whereas others like palmitic would soften into an oil-in alcohol mixture while still another group containing stearins remain hard.
Some oils require special handling to preserve their flavor and quality. For example, there’s a risk that sunlight will break down vegetable oil into something more akin to butter if you leave it on your kitchen counter exposed for too long without protection like glass bottles or cans with metal lids (storing these types in opaque plastic avoids this).
Ahead-of-time cooking technique involving over high heat is considered one way of preventing rancidity as well: just make sure all joints are sealed before introducing flame!
For oils for further retail sale, our recommendation is:
Keep refrigerated and once opened consume within 3 months. This is a guideline only; it’s up to you (the buyer) how long the product lasts before opening so that there isn’t too much expired oil floating around!
