[Sca-cooks] oil & vinegar dressings

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Heleen Greenwald:
>Thanks to everyone who answered my oil and vinegar dressing question.  I
>shall continue to keep my salad dressings in the frige.
>
>What does racid oil smell & taste like?

Mildly rancid oil begins to taste and smell like when peanuts get old 
without refrigeration (which isn't surprising since the unpleasant 
flavor of stale peanuts is due to rancid oils). In extreme cases it 
almost smells like plastic (again, because that's sort of the 
chemical process it is undergoing).

In general, rancid oil is thick, sticky, 
bitter-musky-tasting-and-smelling. As has been said, you'll know it 
when you smell it, at least in a severe case.

Adamantius