Olive Oil (Grade)

ELI5 - What makes a bottle of olive oil "virgin"?

The first pressing of olive oil cannot use heat or solvents to get the oil out of the olives - mechanical pressing only. The oil from that pressing is graded:

Extra virgin - Fruity, has no defects, and has a free acidity that is less than or equal to 0.8.

Virgin - Has minimal defects and is found to have a free acidy between 0.8 and 2.0.

After that, heat and/or solvents can be used to extract the remaining oil from the olives. That oil is just "olive oil" without the virgin designation.

By drollparadox7655 1 year ago