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The Kitchen Table

Oil and Vinegar decanters

11 years ago

I have 2 glass bottles that I use for my olive and vegetable oils. They are a pain as the black stopper comes loose and doesn't stay tight. The little metal lid came off the one as well, so the hole is now open to dirt. They are also not easy to clean (no dishwasher).

Gee, writing all this out, I wonder why I bother? So that's my question. What do you all use for your oils that you use regularly?

Comments (11)

kacram
11 years ago
uh, I just leave them in the bottle they come in.
sushipup1
11 years ago
I use wine bottles and bartender-style pour spouts.
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I like sugar or honey in some of my vinaigrette (I checked the spelling on this one!). It depends on what I am putting it over or with as much as it does what I feel like at different times. My favorite vinaigrettes are ones that use various different vinegars too, but I think the oil can be the star too. I like Walnut Oil very much. And, I like to mix oils. I will mix a rich fruity olive oil with a basic vegetable oil to get the flavor but not overpower my greens or whatever foods I am using the vinaigrette. I have always thought that the basic portions for oil and vinegar was 2/3 oil and 1/3 vinegar. But, I will do whatever tastes best to me and sometimes that is the right mix and sometimes I will do a half and half. I also like to mix mustards in my vinaigrettes. I like to add various herbs too. One of the best vinaigrettes I made was for a salad that had greens and fruit with nuts in it. I got wild and added feta cheese, buckwheat honey, and orange zest. It was wowzer for flavor! I have added cilantro, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lots and lots of sweet basil, (not all together, separate usually), and even added a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon with walnut oil and rice wine vinegar over a salad that had baby greens and tiny cream cheese/goat cheese balls in it. My neighbor takes an envelope of Hidden Valley and does an oil and vinegar dressing with it and tosses in lots of chopped raw vegetables and everyone gobbles it up at our block party pot-lucks. It is really, really good! I guess the trick is to know what you like and to maybe start with the rule of thumb that says, 1/3 volume of vinegar and 2/3 volume of oil.. whether that is in cups, teaspoons, or shot glasses as measuring tools!
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LOOKING for: honey, oil & vinegar
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To give credit where credit is due, the original HOV mixture came from a nutritionist by the name of Adelle Davis. Her books are from the 40's-60's. Google her or I made it easy go here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelle_Davis The book it was in may have been "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit" from 1954. I discovered her books in the early 70's. She was an early advocate of cutting out the processed foods and eating whole foods only and also she talked about how bad canned food were for you. She was WAY ahead of her time. Although the above proportions are not the original "recipe" as it was NOT equal portions but it was safflower oil, apple cider vinegar and honey. I do not remember the proportions, but you mixed up about a cup or so at a time and drink 1 tablespoon (?) or maybe 2 teaspoons before each meal. The reason for the oil is that on a diet, most people completely cut oils & fats out, but you need some oil in your diet, so this made up for it. The vinegar aids digestion. The honey was to make it palatable. And its supposed to cut your appetite.
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Comments (20)
Hi, Hollister. Copying Cloud Swift's pullouts is going to be a good choice. I have the 12" Ikea pullout Morton5 shows and initially thought I definitely wouldn't want it wider (ranks of 2 to 4 bottles just with the 12") until I started writing on their lids or even glass shoulders if the lid's dark with a Sharpie ("dk soy" "wh V"). Works fine and I wouldn't hesitate to do 15" if other factors made that a good choice. Morton5, that pullout works so well for your cleaning supplies that I ran into my kitchen to reassure myself there was no way I could have included it if I'd only thought of it. :) Thanks also for the salt idea. I love that so much I'm going to go ahead and see if it'll work for me in Georgia in the summer even though the air's like soup around here these days. BTW, just for fun as a counterpoint to the excellent systems shown, I confess most of my spices and powders are in whatever they came in--glass, metal, cardboard bottles, boxes and bags of various sizes and shapes, and even languages, which doesn't work all that well with formal organizers. I use the ones that don't roll to hold groups of those that do sort of in place. The same for the mortar, nutmeg grinder, etc. My "system" works well enough if you're not in a tearing hurry and does give a sort of sloppy "international market" look to my two 18" drawers that I like.
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Salad Dressing (oil/vinegar)
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Comments (38)
"This is the vinaigrette that I learned to make in France: 1 TB red vinegar 3 TB olive oil 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard S & P (to taste) chopped shallot (maybe 1 tsp-2 tsps) Keep whisking until it's thick." ^ THIS. Sometimes just keeping it simple is best. Though I use equal parts vinegar to oil. A bit of lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice. (Tbsp mustard) : ) Not a lover of oily dressings. I probably make a hundred different salad dressing every year....variations on a basic theme. Never the same but never heavily dressed. The greens themselves are so good! Keep it simple. When I lived in Italy, then Greece, way back '85-'86....and again '90 for 6 months Grad school it was heavily oiled salads and giant pinch of corse salt. This was before one would dare ask for 'dressing-on-the-side'. (I did try) "non sale" ... I lived just off a side street from Campo di Fiori market in Rome. All through their gorgeous fresh market season. Amazing salad greens that did not need but a whisper of dressing. A basic simple dressing can be 'elevated' to creamy easily. A quarter or less avocado, A half slice of good crusty boule, a shallot/quarter carrot/roasted garlic/./...even a rib/ leaf of a salad green like Boston or 'ahem'- romaine. My Peruvian green sauce dressing uses lettuce...the milky thick rib of the salad greens is the key to this salsa/dressing. A good stick blender is a great friend for dressings. (often just a good shake in a ball jar is all that is needed) Funny I bought a Breville stick blender a year ago with all the attachments and 'stuff', and I still grab my 'ye olde' trusty 5 dollar yard sale Braun stick being so simple and works so great just in a jar. Oh, such a great explanation of thickens I found Oops, HERE To be continued, lol. or not , home from work 2am with a massive snow storm tomorrow...kinda loving the meal planing if power outages and heavy snow. (my salad greens are so beautiful in my winter grow macro green shelf) ...and this was weeks ago... so much in my indoor garden...
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azzalea
11 years ago
Like Kat, I leave them in the bottles they come in--after all, who sees them in the fridge or freezer anyway (and I've tossed too many half-full bottles of rancid oil to leave them at room temp). Olive and vegetable oil stay in the fridge, safflower goes in the freezer since it never really hardens even there.
monica_pa Grieves
11 years ago
I have a set of decanters that I just use for table setting when we have guests and salad is on the "menu".

I don't use any oil is large quantities (don't deep fry), so all my oils stay in original bottles in a dark corner of my counter between the refrigerator and the cook top, where I do prep.

The vinegars are in a wall cabinet above the counter space, and herbs and spices are in racks below the counter.

It works for me.
marie_ndcal
11 years ago
Have the oil in a small glass container with a single small hole. Easy to clean and easy to fill. Bottle is kind of square about 6 inches tall. Don't use much vinager. Use Canola oil only.
breenthumb
11 years ago
I've been using a squeeze mustard bottle with the pointed spout that turns open and closed. Perfect for quick squirts to oil a baking pan or just a little into a frying pan or recipe.

Keep the rest in original bottle in cabinet. I don't use much oil so buy in smaller bottles. Cruets that I used to use are probably deep in a cabinet somewhere.
marilyn_c
11 years ago
Same as Kat.
Jasdip
Original Author
11 years ago
As far as pouring out of the original bottle, the opening is far too big for me to do that. I would have far more oil than I want in the skillet. I keep the original bottles in a dark cupboard and refill the glass decanters that sit on the counter.

I like the idea of the mustard or similar container with a twist top.
jannie
11 years ago
I keep my oil and vinegars in their original containers from the store. I have a "Good Seasons" glass shaker-decanter I use for mixing and storing salad dressing in the fridge. I've never had the oils/vinegars go bad. I keep them tightly closed and away from sun and heat.
Jasdip
Original Author
11 years ago
Jannie, I've never had any oils go bad either. I tend to buy the 3-litre jugs of canola oil when they come on sale.

Olive oil, I buy in 500-ml bottles. I keep it all in my pantry in the dark.
cynic
11 years ago
When I used a lot more I took a water bottle, put the lid from a dish soap bottle on a water bottle and had a pop-top squeeze bottle. Then I used a water bottle that had one of the pop top drinking things on it. Now I don't use that much so I leave it in the original bottle.

I was going to get a set of oil & vinegar jugs to use, but never found a set I liked cheap enough. My mother used to collect them so it was partly for nostalgia. Never got any of the ones she had. Even the old ones when she cleaned out some of them. Probably didn't want them at the time anyway but for the memories.

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