At our house we go through a lot of olive oil. It’s an important ingredient in our cooking, we love the taste, and we go wild for healthy fats. Which leads to common problem: how to best store and dispense olive oil?
Popular Olive Oils Dispenser Types
- Cruet
- Oil Can
- Glass Container
- Ceramic
What To Look For For In An Oil Dispenser
- No drip pouring spout or nozzle
- Secure top closure
- Opaque or very dark sides (if used for long-term storage)
- Non-slip grip
- Doesn’t pour too fast or too slow
- Air tight seal
These aren’t all mandatory but each is important to getting the best storage and keeping your olive oil as fresh as possible.
The Best Olive Oil Cruets and Containers
After (much) too much research and multiple purchases, many if which resulted in gifts, here are my top oil dispenser picks
Spanish Olive Oil Can
The Spanish olive oil can isn’t cheap, but it’s handsome and highly functional. Often seen with an extended spout for accurate pouring, these stainless steel olive oils cans are super classy and are a great way to bring a piece of Basque culture into your kitchen.
If you want a cheaper oil can you can find them online. Webstraurant.com has some nice, affordable one that I’ve seen recommended a number of time. If it’s easier you can order the same ones from Amazon for a bit more money, but with faster shipping and no minimum order size.
Berghoff Glass Oil Dispenser
We’ve been using this Berghoff oil dispenser at home for well over two years. It’s handsome and sufficiently large they we aren’t refilling it all the time. It never leaks and the lid has never accidentally fallen out when pouring.
It can be a bit tough to clean on the inside because of the tight neck, but it’s dishwasher safe and a bottle brush will fit right inside with no problems.
And the best part — it pours olive oil at exactly the right speed.
Bormioli Rocco Glass Oil Cruet
The Bormioli Rocco Olivia Glass Oil Cruet is something you can buy locally Eataly or you can buy online for a bit more. This is a handsome glass olive oil dispenser that has a cork stopper and it comes in slightly darkened green bottle. This is more of keeping oil on a table and easily accessible, instead of for long term storage. It’s also a small bottle, so the fact that it’s not air tight and it’s almost clear isn’t as much of a problem because it’s not large enough that oxidizing your oil is going to be an issue.
Other Oil Storage Options
Oxo Oil Pourer
One nice way to go is to use almost any food-safe glass bottle, like a wine bottle, with an olive oil pouring spout. Oxo, one of our favorites around here, makes a few nice options for oil stoppers/spouts. They provide a good seal, they sell for about $10, and they fit a number of bottles.
Emile Henry Oil Cruet
One nice way to go is the Emile Henry ceramic cruet. The company has been making ceramics since 1850 and this oil dispenser has a really nice ceramic bottle, a replaceable cork stopper, and a little metal cover to keep air out of the spout and to keep the oil from spoiling and oxidizing.
The ceramic bottle is dishwasher-safe and comes in a number of handsome opaque colors.
The main downside with this one is that it uses a cork stopper. These usually work well for a few months but invariably becomes wet and soggy over time. At this point the cork becomes slippery and doesn’t fit in as well as it used to. It’s not a deal-breaker and cork is natural which is great, but it won’t last nearly as long as the bottle’s 10-year warranty.
You can buy replacement oil spouts online to replace the standard cork ones.
How To Store Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil isn’t particularly difficult to store or work with, but it’s worth respecting a few rules, especially if you are buying a nicer extra virgin oil.
Here are the rules…
- Oil should be stored in an air-tight container to eliminate oxidation
- The best temperatures for storage are from 60-75 degrees F, so basically room temperature, not above your oven or refrigerator where things get warm
- First In, First Out: Good oil has a “Best Used By” date on it, so make sure you are using the older oil first and not just grabbing the most recent bottles
- Keep away from bight or direct light
- Clean your storage container – after around 3(ish) months oil can get stale plus you’ll want to periodically clean out your oil dispenser.
And that’s it! Follow those rules and your olive oil should be optimal.