Olive oil is a distinguished foodand of vital importance for the human diet due to its large amount of nutrients , mainly monounsaturated fats and oleic acid. Whether in stews, as an accompaniment to bread, in soups and others, this oil is always used but it can also be useful in another way.
In addition to being a necessary culinary ingredient, this food is a natural preservative that has been very useful for centuries to keep other products protected from enemies such as bacteria and decomposing microorganisms.
This is how olive oil is used to preserve food
To preserve food in olive oil, it is generally submerged in the oil inside a bottle that is properly sterilized . It is important that the product is cooked to at least smoked or else what you plan to do will not work.
It is also essential that the jars used for canning are glass or stainless steel cans . Regarding the shelter site, it has to be a cool place and for nothing in the world leave the preparation exposed to sunlight, since the sun’s rays can decompose what you want to keep in a matter of hours.
When placing the product inside the jar, whose size should be medium, we recommend that you arrange the food to be preserved well so that it is completely covered by the oil . Use a good chopping before accommodating everything. Do not rule out the use of heat treatment by means of a bain-marie as they favor the shelf life of the preserve.
Methods of preserving food
There are three conservation methods that can be carried out using olive oil and we present them below:
Pickled
It is the prolonged cooking of a food in a broth in which not only extra virgin olive oil is used, but also vinegar, wine and spices to taste. It is generally used to store fish or meat.
Immersion
You just have to cook the food and submerge it in a container that contains the olive oil. It is almost always used to store meats such as pork loin.
Marinated
Here a mixture of olive oil is used with other elements that vary according to the taste you have. Marinating is special for chefs, since it not only preserves foods, but also gives them a special flavor that is accentuated after they are removed from the jar for consumption.