There are a lot of olive oils on the market. Flavors and quality vary widely. It’s important to know where your olive oil is from and how it is made, because some of the cheaper oils are actually cut with less expensive vegetable oils, like canola or soybean. This is a problem, not just because of taste and cooking performance, but it’s a real health issue because canola and soybean (and other processed vegetable oils) are highly refined, rancid, and full of trans and damaged fats. Plus canola, soybean and cottonseed oils are almost certainly full of genetically modified ingredients, which carry heavy health and environmental consequences. So, it’s important to us to source out high quality olive oils from responsible artisan producers.
Some of the best olive oils we’ve had the pleasure to try come from Chaffin Family Orchards based in California. The farm is family owned and operated and the land is farmed without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. These superior olive oils are produced in a traditional manner that protects the healthy benefits of the olives.
What I love best about Chaffin’s olive oils are their light, pleasing flavor. Some olive oils are overpowering and lack finesse. It’s these lighter, more mild and buttery olive oils that really shine in salad dressings and homemade condiments like mayonnaise. Chaffin offers a late harvest, mid harvest and mandarin infused olive oil, (made with their very own mandarins!). All the olive oils are made from Mission olives, many grown on trees over 100 years old, that are hand harvested at just the right time, unfiltered for maximum antioxidant benefit and stored properly to prevent degradation.
The late harvest has a rich, mild and buttery flavor that is well developed and is my favorite for making homemade mayonnaise and creamy salad dressings. The mid harvest is mild with just a bit of a bite and is great over salads, in vinaigrettes or drizzled over an entrée just before serving. The mandarin infused olive oil is incredibly unique; there is the glorious taste of olive oil layered with an amazing citrus, floral aroma, sourced from the mandarins grown right on Chaffin’s property. We made a beautiful dressing with the mandarin infused olive oil, fresh herbs from the garden, a touch of champagne vinegar and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. It was perfect over fresh baby arugula as the citrus complemented the spiciness of the greens.
We love supporting family-owned and operated businesses like Chaffin Family Orchards. It’s people like this who are changing the face of agriculture and directly influencing the quality of our foods. It’s important that we vote with our dollars and choose producers and products that support and further the real food movement. If you are lucky enough to live near their farm in California, you can take advantage of these olive oils, along with a wide array of citrus and stonefruits, avocados, figs, pastured meats and other goodies. For those of us a bit farther away, we are lucky that select products- like olive oils and some citrus- are easily shipped! So, next time you are looking for olive oil, please check out the Chaffin Family Orchards line– you are sure to enjoy it!
Disclosure: cmp.ly/3
They are north of us. I keep intending to check them out. I’ve heard great things out their oil.
Amanda
They are north of us. I keep intending to check them out. I’ve heard great things out their oil.
Amanda
Hey, Amanda! Oh, I’m jealous!! I’d love to check out their other products- meats, eggs, fruits- that can’t be shipped. They are amazing stewards of their land and an inspiration for other farms, for sure! 🙂 Hope you get to check it out and enjoy some for the rest of us!
Hey, Amanda! Oh, I’m jealous!! I’d love to check out their other products- meats, eggs, fruits- that can’t be shipped. They are amazing stewards of their land and an inspiration for other farms, for sure! 🙂 Hope you get to check it out and enjoy some for the rest of us!
I feel so lucky in that I live about 20 minutes away from Chaffin Fmaily Orchards and am able to purchase their products on a weekly basis at the local market – have their olive oil in my cupboard, their eggs in my fridge and some peaches on my counter as I type 🙂 🙂 Thanks for sharing a great post about a wonderful place!!
You are lucky, Jesse!! 🙂 That sounds fantastic!
I feel so lucky in that I live about 20 minutes away from Chaffin Fmaily Orchards and am able to purchase their products on a weekly basis at the local market – have their olive oil in my cupboard, their eggs in my fridge and some peaches on my counter as I type 🙂 🙂 Thanks for sharing a great post about a wonderful place!!
You are lucky, Jesse!! 🙂 That sounds fantastic!
Wow my ears were burning I had to come check out all the great things you folks were saying about Chaffin. Here’s a video tour of the farm if anyone wants to check out our operation in more detail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA4QysDaLxU
Olives are a once a crop year which means that the olives get pressed and made into oil only during the winter season. All good oils should keep for at least a year without going rancid, really good oils have been shown to keep for as longs as a couople years, but storage is key. Heat, light, and oxygen are the enemies of storing of most healthy raw foods. Storing in the fridge is ideal as it protects from both heat and light, but really if you’re going to use the oil within 6-8 months the pantry is usually fine. I also usually just suggest people pour out of the gallons if using within that time frame, but the best thing do would be to store the oil in smaller opaque glass containers (fyi 5 well cleaned wine bottles will hold a gallon). I also believe that cooking with oil does destroy some of the nutrients but from everything I’ve looked at heating the oil and then consuming it doesn’t become unhealthy until it reaches it’s smoke point when it becomes carcinogenic. Good oil usually has a smoke point somewhere between 375 and 425. So you can still rub down a chicken or roast with herbs and olive oil and not worry and sauté eggs and things like that. Sure you won’t be getting the entire nutrient profile like you would when eating it raw, but you’re still consuming a really healthy nourishing fat.
Oh and for smaller size bottles you can order our oil through Amos Miller if you are a part of one of his buying clubs or through US Wellness Meats.
Hey Chris! Thanks for the comment! Great info!! Hopefully we’ll get out your way sometime next year and get to tour the farm for ourselves (and load up on goodies!) 🙂
Wow my ears were burning I had to come check out all the great things you folks were saying about Chaffin. Here’s a video tour of the farm if anyone wants to check out our operation in more detail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA4QysDaLxU
Olives are a once a crop year which means that the olives get pressed and made into oil only during the winter season. All good oils should keep for at least a year without going rancid, really good oils have been shown to keep for as longs as a couople years, but storage is key. Heat, light, and oxygen are the enemies of storing of most healthy raw foods. Storing in the fridge is ideal as it protects from both heat and light, but really if you’re going to use the oil within 6-8 months the pantry is usually fine. I also usually just suggest people pour out of the gallons if using within that time frame, but the best thing do would be to store the oil in smaller opaque glass containers (fyi 5 well cleaned wine bottles will hold a gallon). I also believe that cooking with oil does destroy some of the nutrients but from everything I’ve looked at heating the oil and then consuming it doesn’t become unhealthy until it reaches it’s smoke point when it becomes carcinogenic. Good oil usually has a smoke point somewhere between 375 and 425. So you can still rub down a chicken or roast with herbs and olive oil and not worry and sauté eggs and things like that. Sure you won’t be getting the entire nutrient profile like you would when eating it raw, but you’re still consuming a really healthy nourishing fat.
Oh and for smaller size bottles you can order our oil through Amos Miller if you are a part of one of his buying clubs or through US Wellness Meats.
Hey Chris! Thanks for the comment! Great info!! Hopefully we’ll get out your way sometime next year and get to tour the farm for ourselves (and load up on goodies!) 🙂