How to remove the bitterness of sunflower oil: 3 working methods

Bitterness is found in both cheap and expensive varieties of sunflower oil. Sometimes a product just bought in a store already gives off an unpleasant bitter taste. But most often the oil becomes like this at home, already during storage. Someone says that it is better to take care of your health and not use it under any circumstances. Others can consume even very rancid oil without any problems.

Editorial “With Taste” suggests understanding the reasons for this unpleasant phenomenon and whether consuming rancid oil is actually harmful. You will learn about three ways to revive this valuable product and where it can be used. How to remove the bitterness of sunflower oil at home and what a cloudy sediment in such oil means, find out in the article below.

How to tell if sunflower oil is spoiled

To begin, simply smell and carefully inspect the product. Missing oil is characterized by a dark sediment, an unpleasant musty odor and a rancid taste. In this case, do without unnecessary ceremony and just throw it in the trash. If you have time, cook drying oil from unsuitable oil.

It is important to take into account that even relatively fresh vegetable oil can taste bitter. It often appears due to oxidation processes, especially if the finished product has been standing for a long time. exposed to direct sunlight or prolonged exposure to air. The second option for such damage is that the oil was made from low-quality seeds at the production stage. For these reasons, oxidized oil acquires a not entirely pleasant taste and aroma. Below we will examine whether it is possible to somehow influence the current situation.

How to remove bitterness from oil at home

Most often, bitterness appears in unrefined sunflower oil. Such folk methods as throwing charcoal or chopped beans into spoiled oil will not bring any special results. However, if you see that the purchased sunflower oil is fresh, then it is possible to get rid of the slight bitterness. We’ll tell you how.

Method No. 1

Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and boil. Then add one large onion to it (it should be slightly fried). When the oil has cooled, pour it into a bottle. Add a teaspoon of rock salt to the already cold product. After a week or two, the bitterness should go away.

Method No. 2

To get rid of bitterness in sunflower oil, place fresh peeled carrots in a container with this oil (jar, bottle, carboy). It is believed that the orange vegetable will not only rid the oil of unpleasant bitterness, but will also absorb all foreign odors.

Method No. 3

If your oil has been stored for quite a long time and has become rancid, there is nothing you can do—everything has its time. The only thing you can do to extend its shelf life is to add a pinch of salt to the oil. In this case, the container cannot be closed with a tight lid. Tie the neck of the vessel with a cotton cloth and place it in a dark place.

There is practically no benefit left in such oil, so you should not use it in salads or in its pure form. As a last resort, you can use it for baking or frying. Do not worry. direct frying will not spoil other foods in the pan. As a rule, only unrefined oil is bitter. However, many people buy just this because of the beneficial microelements. But, if you want to be sure that sunflower oil will not be bitter, buy only refined oil.

How to store sunflower oil so that it does not taste bitter

Experienced housewives know that it is not enough to simply buy high-quality sunflower oil with a reasonable shelf life. It is important to provide the valuable product with the correct storage conditions. To do this, remember a few simple rules:

• Make sure that the oil is kept exclusively in a dark place. This could be a pencil case, a closed shelf or a built-in bottle holder. If you regularly leave the product on the table or near the stove, this will certainly start the oxidation process, and the product will spoil very quickly.
• Vegetable oil reserves are best stored at a temperature of 5 to 20 degrees. The ideal place would be a cellar, basement or refrigerator door.
• The container with oil must be hermetically sealed. Interaction of the product with water or metal will not lead to anything good. For storage, use dry glass containers.
• vitamins and amino acids in any vegetable oil are destroyed too quickly. In order for the product to bring maximum benefit to your body, we recommend using it within a month.

In the case of unrefined oil, there are additional restrictions. The temperature range is reduced from 5 to 15 degrees. It is best to take the container from dark glass (so as not to let in light). In a closed container, the shelf life does not exceed 10 months. If you need to extend this period, then put a couple of clean, dried beans inside the bottles.

Subject to all rules and regulations, the product will remain antioxidants and vitamins E and F. Pay attention to storage conditions not only at home, but also in the store. It is quite cool in the halls of large retail chains, so vegetable oil is stored not in refrigerators, but on shelves. However, if this is a small retail outlet with temperatures above 20, then it is better to refuse the purchase. We previously wrote about how washing with oil returns towels to their former freshness.