How to Freeze Dry Olive Oil

Preserve the quality of your olive oil by freezing it.

If you know that you will not use up all of your olive oil quickly and wish to preserve it, freeze drying the product at home is a solution that will prevent the olive oil from going rancid. The two components that are necessary for freeze drying are very low temperatures, such as those found in a freezer or freezing chamber, and low pressure. Since olive oil is composed of fats and waxes, it has a lower freezing temperature than other food products. According to The Olive Oil Source, olive oil turns into a solid at around 10 degrees F.

Things You'll Need

• Ice cube tray
• Plastic, resealable bags for freezing
• Vacuum chamber
• Freezer

Instructions

1. Pour the olive oil into ice cube trays. Place the ice cube tray into the freezer. Allow the olive oil to freeze until completely solid, which may take one or two days.

2. Wrap the ice cube tray with olive oil in a plastic, resealable freezer bag. If you have a vacuum chamber, insert the vacuum into the freezer bag and turn it on to suck out all of the air and liquid particles. Close the plastic bag. This is an effective freeze drying method. If you do not have a vacuum chamber device, just keep the bag tightly sealed.

3. Leave the olive oil frozen for as long as you want it to be. Remove the olive oil from the freezer before you wish to use it. Open the plastic bag and allow the frozen contents to thaw. The thawing process can take place at room temperature by setting the ice cube tray on the kitchen counter, or by placing the ice cube tray into the refrigerator. As the olive oil turns back from a solid to a liquid, it can spill out of the ice cube tray if you aren't careful.

References

• Global Village Institute for Appropriate Technology: Freeze Drying at Home
• The Olive Oil Source; Chemical Characteristics; 2011