Store it in a plastic jar, do not filter it properly or, the most common and main source of doubt, reuse it more times than necessary. These represent some of the most common mistakes related to reusing olive oil in cooking. There is no doubt that this ingredient is one of the backbones of Spanish Mediterranean gastronomy. This fact, together with the increase in prices of so-called ‘liquid gold’, makes the task of reusing excess oil more timely than ever. However, it is important to do it properly. And science has the answer to the big question.
How many times is olive oil reused? The answer lies with the team of researchers at the University of Jaén (UJA), which has developed a tool, based on artificial intelligence, to expand and specify the knowledge we have about the use and conservation of olive oil. Regarding the main question, Antonio Jesús Rivera, one of the project directors, assures that the olive oil could be reused up to forty times. However, here comes a big but: this will depend entirely on how optimal its use and subsequent conservation are.
The study carried out by the University of Jaén insists on warning that the useful life of reused olive oil is directly determined by how it has been used. And stored. Two aspects in which, very often, mistakes are made, as long as the objective is to later save it for other uses, of course.
