Olive oil question

I bought some olive oil at Trader Joe's the other day (I don't remember the brand). It came with a pourer attached, like you see on the top of bottles of booze in a tavern. It is handy for pouring the oil.

Question: will this device somehow cause the oil to go bad/rancid faster? Tis is a big bottle (a quart) and we run through one of these in about three months. Should I keep the cap on until it is time to pour? That seems like a hassle.

I think I've seen the bottle you're referring to - I'm pretty sure the speed pourer that comes with it is just a tube, which means it will expose your olive oil to air, which will allow it to oxidize & go bad faster.

You can find speed pourers that have a couple of small ball bearings in them, which roll up & allow liquid out when tilted for pouring, and roll down to block the pouring tube when the bottle is turned right side up. I bought a couple from Williams-Sonoma for $7 each (though I bet I could've saved a few bucks by getting them at a restaurant supply). However, I found that both olive oil & balsamic vinegar tended to gum up the ball bearings, which meant either they got stuck in no-pour mode (so nothing would come out & I'd just have to yank them out for pouring), or got stuck in the open position (rendering the whole thing moot). I tossed both & went back to capping the bottles between uses.

Edited to add:
After a bit of searching, I found this OXO oil stopper/pourer that looks pretty cool:


It looks like Cuisinart makes, or made at some point, an even simpler one - just a normal pourer with a little plastic lid that goes on top. I can't determine for sure if it's still available, but here's what it looks like:


I'm tempted to pick up that OXO myself.

I use that OXO model on my oil bottles and highly recommend it.

Louisa Chu wrote:I use that OXO model on my oil bottles and highly recommend it.

Louisa, thanks for the endorsement - that's all the convincing I needed

I just ordered one from Amazon.com.

I know I've seen a pour spot with a little flap on the end of the tube. Kind of primitive and probably not a 100% seal, but probably good enough for your everyday oil -- I wouldn't trust a $50 bottle of Tuscan grand cru to that, but I don't buy that stuff either.

We have a spout-shaped tinfoil ball that we put on top of ours. Mostly to keep cat hair off of it (and to keep one cat from licking it). It's a relatively small bottle that we refill once every 6 weeks or so, though, so I'm not too concerned about a little bit of air getting in.