Product Description

Clearspring Sunflower oil, cold-press, org, 葵花油 Italy (500ml)

• Clearspring Organic Sunflower Oil, with its golden yellow colour and distinct, nutty flavour, is a popular general-purpose oil.
• It is a good source of vitamin E and ideal for using in salads and dressings as well as in baked foods.
• The sunflower with its characteristic large turning flower head is a native American food plant that is also grown extensively as an oil and seed crop in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Choosing a Quality Oil....

Shopping for culinary oils can be confusing because what looks golden and appealing in a clear bottle may turn out to be flavourless and lacking in nutrition.

1. Organically grown and produced
   Make sure that the seeds, nuts or fruits that will be pressed to make your oil are grown without chemicals using agricultural methods that are sustainable and not harmful to the environment.
2. First cold-pressed
   Most conventionally produced oils today are extracted at high temperature using chemical solvents. Cold-pressed oils are oils which are produced using a simple mechanical method without added heat. Heat treatment may increase the yield of the oil, but it also has a negative effect on the flavour and nutritional properties of the oil. Clearspring oils are all first cold pressed.
3. Unrefined
   After pressing, traditional oils undergo simple filtering which removes sediment, they are then bottled. On the other hand, ordinary oils are refined at high temperature using chemical solvents, before undergoing further bleaching, refining and deodorising processes.
4. Dark bottle
   Whereas solvent extracted, refined oils are more stable and can be bottles in clear glass bottle, cold-pressed oils need dark glass (green, brown or dark blue) to protect them from oxidising.
5. Good flavour and aroma
   Good oils should taste fresh and delicious. For some oils like extra virgin olive oil, you should be able to recognise a good one by just smelling it. If you have the chance, try comparing them at markets, or at tastings.
6. Nutritional facts
   The distinct disadvantage of solvent extraction in that all the flavour and most of the nutrition of the original oil seed is removed during the production process.
7. Intended use
   You may manage to choose the best quality oil of all, but not knowing how to use it can spoil all that time and care! Companies that care about the oils indicate the optimum cooking temperature for their product. For example Clearspring Omega Blend is only suitable for salads whereas Clearspring Sunflower frying oil can undergo high temperatures and is ideal for frying purposes. For Clearspring oils cooking instructions, either check the bottle label or click here.