<table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
<pre>>> > From the various comments and other research on this topic I believe my
> > mistake was to only bottle small amounts at a time, leaving a huge
> surface
> > area of oil in the drum exposed to the air. All the other factors are
> > secondary, and while they may have contributed in a lesser degree,
> the main
> > culprit was the air and oil contact.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Mike.

We press nut oils and what we do is gas flush the air out of the
containers. That way you do not have air contact it is an inert gas
instead. Oil will last 12 - 14 months longer stored flushed and in our
cool room. Why don't you guys use this with olive oils?
Phil


> Quite possibly, the answer could have been to put a squirt of Nitrogen
> over the surface, if you intended to bottle just a small part of the
> drum at each time. Nitrogen is cheap (though the rental on the
> cylinder is horrendous!) and we, at our press, provide a nitrogen
> blanket on any containers on request. (we do charge for it, but not
> much!!)
>
> Worth a thought, if you are intending to go the same way again next
> season. See if you could "borrow" a bit of food grade Nitrogen from
> somewhere.
>
> John
>

I think that John & Phil have both helped solve the problem for the future.
If I can find a way to get hold of Nitrogen (would Carbon Dioxide be better
as it is heavier?) in small, handy to use containers I will give this a
whirl. Has anybody come across small scale containers of Nitrogen for this
purpose? I don't intend renting one of those 100 litre type things they use
in commercial applications unless there is no other option.

Regards,

Mike.
</pre>
</td></tr></table>