When I put my leftover vinaigrette (mostly EVOO and wine vinegar) in the fridge, the next day I am presented with a frozen like blob which I need to warm in some way to make it usable. Obviously this doesn’t happen with bottled dressings, but of course they have all kinds of crap in them.
Just curious (and doubtful) whether I can add something that would minimize/prevent this?
I’d just take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 30-45 minutes. Shake it up again, and you should be good to go.
What Linda said. If I forget I put it in the mw for a few seconds, or on top of the toaster oven, if it’s on.
Is refrigeration needed? I figure that the oil will be in contact with the air in a capped/stoppered bottle, pretty much as it would in an opened bottle of EVOO, which most people would not refrigerate (?). The vinegar under the oil should de-bug any other constituents, at least for a few days. I make half a whisky bottle full, which sits on the counter and does a week’s worth of salads without noticeably losing freshness.
Interesting. Most of my vinaigrettes are EVOO, red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, and sometimes fresh shallots/fresh herbs. I would agree the oil, vinegar, and spices would be just fine on the counter… but what about the fresh aromatics/herbs?
It takes about 5 minutes to warm up in my kitchen, so I never thought this was a big deal.
various oils ‘solidify’ at various temperatures.
obviously . . . the commercial preps use oils that don’t go solid at room temps…
the “danger” for home preps is botulism. research the requirements for botulism spores to germinate and become “dangerous” - botulism spores cannot go ‘dangerous’ at pH < 4.6 so it depends on the acid/vinegar you are using . . .
any herb/spice/thing grown in soil can carry the botulism spores - so knowledgeable prevention is a really good thing . .
Run the container under a little warm water. As it starts to “melt” state shaking. Or pour into a bowl and start whisking.
It’s the olive oil that is sludging up under refrigeration. If it bothers you, cut the olive oil with some vegetable oil, or use an olive/veg blend.
When I have an olive oil I really like, I keep it in the frig. I just put it in a bowl of warm water, and it warms up while I make whatever food I plan to put it on. Same with homemade vinaigrette.
I take my vinaigrette out of the refrigerator about an hour before I make salad.
Commercial salad dressing has stabilizers. If you want, you can add stabilizers to your homemade vinaigrette.
