What's the difference between olive oil and extra virgin olive oil???

Question

I see this all the time, but I have no idea what is the difference between the two.

Answer 1

What is ‘Olive Oil’?
A. Olive oil is olive juice, plain and simple.
What is ‘Virgin?’
A. Virgin means mechanical extraction. The oil or juice is extracted by machines with no chemicals
used in the process.
What is ‘Extra’?
A. Mechanically extracted (virgin) olive oil is not all the same quality. 'Extra' is the highest quality and
is thus classified because it goes through a battery of tests, both laboratory (analytical) as well as 'taste'
(a cutting by an olive oil master similar to the way wines are taste tested). Virgin olive oil that is
judged to have ‘no defects’ is classified as extra. So ‘extra virgin’ means – mechanically extracted
olive juice that passes laboratory and taste testing with no defects.
Olive oil with slight defects, but that is still good for human consumption is classified as ‘Fine’. Low
quality oil with numerous defects is classified as either ‘Ordinary’ or ‘Lampante’ (lamp oil). This oil is
either used for industrial purposes or is chemically refined.
What is ‘refined’ oil?
A. Olive oil that is not suitable for human consumption is refined by a heat and chemical process.
Chemically refined oil is totally insipid (0% acidity) which means it is flavorless and no quality
standards stated or implied. Refined oil is mixed with virgin for color and flavor.
What is ‘pomace’ oil?
A. Pomace is produced by a heat and chemical process from the waste of the 'virgin' olive oil after the
virgin olive oil is extracted. It is also insipid (0% acidity) with no flavor and no quality standards
stated or implied. Pomace is used as a cheap alternative to ‘refined’ oil in order to lower the product
cost of the packers who mix it with virgin and refined oils.
What is ‘pure’ olive oil? What is ‘light’ olive oil? What are ‘olive oil blends’?
A. 'Pure', 'Light', 'Extra Light', etc. are not olive oil classifications. They are mixes of refined and/or
pomace with virgin oil. Mixes (or blends as packers like to call them) are generally 90-95%
pomace/refined with 5–10% virgin oil. Some packers mix in seed, soybean, hazelnut or other oils.
Is there a difference between extra virgin olive oil and the refined oil mixes?
A. Yes. They are two entirely different products. Refined mixes are cheap to produce. Because they
are sold at a premium price the mixes benefit the seller more than the consumer.
Extra virgin olive oil is an entirely natural product and is more expensive to produce. Extra virgin
olive oil is much better tasting than the refined mixes and provides all of the health benefits that are
associated with olive oil.

Answer 2

Regular Olive Oil

Answer 3

"Extra virgin" olive oil is from the first pressing of the olives. In the better brands, it is cold pressed, using no heat, and it is usually darker, with a much more distinctive taste than other olive oils. You COULD substitute regular olive oil for the extra-virgin in that recipe, but you're going to sacrifice a lot of taste if you do.

Answer 4

Extra virgin = 1st press with less than 0.8% acidity and no refined or heat processed oil combined with it.

regular olive oil is from a combination of regular virgin olive oil and subsequent presses. Many of these are chemically refined and heat treated so the flavor is flat and less complex. Heat changes the composition of olive oil at the molecular level.

However, the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Olive Oil Council, so these terms can mean anything the retailers and manufacturers want them to mean. See the article in Wikipedia for details.

Answer 5

The number of times the olives have been pressed. Extra virgin is the second pressing, just olive oil is the third pressing. I can't remember the names of the first and fourth pressings.

Answer 6

Hi - extra virgin olive oil is the FIRST press.

when it says simply olive oil, its after the olives have been pressed more than once. There is a taste difference - i never knew that till i actually sampled at a gourmet store. WOW what a difference in taste.

Answer 7

extra virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing. it is usually more flavorful, and more expensive.

Answer 8

extra virgin olive oil tastes richer, stronger, smokier. I buy the best evoo because I usually eat it straight on my noodles or bread. If your just gonna use it for cooking, please by the cheaper brand, or buy canola oil, it is good for too. I love the taste of evoo, so much, but that's me.

Answer 9

When olivs are pressed for oil, EVOO is what they take from the first press and ONLY from the first press. VOO is from the second press.

Answer 10

I think it may be similar to that of a re-distillation process which is used to get better quality. In the case of olive oil, I think it is re-processed again to be more pure.