Check your math Sween....68 oz is about 2 quarts....and for $11 something, pleanty cheap...but then so are a lot of other things at Sam's...like Bombay gin and basamati rice. Buying in quantity tends to reduce the price per oz or per item.....this same oil costs a lot more by the 8 oz bottle at the grocery store. Yes...it IS EVOO....green and fruity. They have several brands at about the same price. The bottle I currently have is Bertoli...it gets pretty firm and cloudy at refrigerator temps. I bought it to make a boat load of pesto ( incidentally using Parmaganio Reggiano I bought at Sams for about $12 a pound) and found I liked it a lot. Incidentally I also know my way around a kitchen....and spent a lot of years feeding my family dinner like they might eat at a fine resturaunt on a daily basis. Ever been to a fancy food show? The display of olive oils is amazing, displayed in footed wine glasses, with a dish and bread cubes for sampling....and about every color of yellow, amber, green and olive....all of them very pricey EVOOs. There are the Greeks, and the Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Isralis etc....all with their tables set out showing their oils. Olive oil is rather like wine....experts can tell where and when the fruit was grown.....and price doesn't always equate with the best taste. And I fry things in EVOO....as well as in butter....and a mix of the two......and unless I get a phone call and am distracted, things sautee well and never burn! Linda C

I copied this from somewhere on the GW forums, probably Harvest, and I'm sorry I don't know who to attribute it to. If you're out there please take credit because it's a great technique. And please, throw out that jar you have been playing with. It sounds like it's probably a biohazard by now. DRIED TOMATOES Wash, stem and slice each tomato into 1/4" thick slices. Place in a very large bowl or clean bucket and cover with cheap red wine. I use Merlot but if you prefer something else, knock yourself out. I have a friend that swears by cheap Chianti! Soak tomato slices 24 hours in the wine. Drain well. Lay tomatoes just touching on dehydrator shelves or on screen in your sun-drying apparatus. Sprinkle each slice with a mixture containing equal parts of dried basil-oregano-parsley and then sprinkle each slice with Kosher Salt. You may choose to forego the salt if you wish but tomatoes will take longer to dry. Dry tomatoes until they are firm and leatherlike with no moisture pockets, but NOT brittle. (If you get them too dry, soak them in lemon juice for a few minutes.) To store, place in vacuum bags or ziplock bags and freeze. IMPORTANT!!! If you will be storing sun-dried tomatoes in Olive oil you !!!MUST!!! dip each slice in vinegar before adding to oil. To pack in oil: Dip each tomato into a small dish of white wine vinegar. Shake off the excess vinegar and pack them in olive oil adding 1/4 cup red wine. For tomatoes in oil I am selling, I put the tomatoes into the oil two weeks ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Make sure they are completely immersed in the oil. When the jar is full, cap it tightly. I use my vacuum sealer to seal the canning lids on. Store at *cool* room temperature for at least a month before using. They may be stored in the refrigerator, but the oil will solidify at refrigerator temperatures (it quickly reliquifies at room temperature however). As tomatoes are removed from the jar, add more olive oil as necessary to keep the remaining tomatoes covered. I have stored oil-packed tomatoes in my root cellar for over a year. . I have tried a number of methods to pack the tomatoes in oil, but the vinegar treatment is the difference between a good dried tomato and a great one. It is also important from a food safety standpoint, as it acidifies the oil and discourages growth of bacteria and mold. Soaking in the wine also acidifies them. ****** WARNING ******** Do *NOT* add fresh garlic cloves or fresh herbs of any kind to oil-packed dried tomatoes, UNLESS you store them in the refrigerator and plan on using them within 7 days. Garlic is a low-acid food which, when placed in oil, creates a low-acid anaerobic environment just perfect growth medium for botulinum bacteria if the mixture is not refrigerated. Be safe and add your garlic to the dried tomatoes as part of the recipe for them *after* they come out of the oil. Steve

rhome, I forgot you were cooking several batches - I probably would add a little more for each batch - depends on whether the wok looked oily or not. If not, then I'd add a little. Someone here, I'm afraid I don't know who, recommended "Breath of a Wok" and I got a copy for Christmas. Really helpful about technique, wok types and styles etc. Interestingly, the author makes it pretty clear that the inexpensive carbon steel woks are the best. I just heat mine until the oil begins to smoke a little. I've never timed it. I use Sclafani extra virgin olive oil. They are a local importer, in CT, and have been in the forefront of a campaign against 'adulterated' olive oils. The consumption of olive oil worldwide has skyrocketed, and the entire production of Italy cannot now possibly account for the amount being sold as "Italian". So CT is now testing oils, and discovered that several are only 10% olive oil, and the balance is groundnut oil - which is pretty serious for those with allergies. So, I'm confident with Sclafani, and their quality and flavour.

This nifty funnel is a good stopper and opens to a funnel for easy refilling.