How do you store cooking oils?

This is an odd topic, but someone told me today that he always refridgerates all of his cooking oils (canola, olive, sunflower, peanut, corn, etc.) that he buys.


In addition, he was going on about how oils can easily become rancid from any exposure to high temperatures, oxygen, or light (oxidation/free radicals) and that you cannot use any oil after six months from when it was opened.


I basically told him he was exaggerating, but I also wonder if oils are as fragile as he claims.

How do you store oils in your home? I would have guessed that most people put them in a cupboard or something in the kitchen, stored at room temperature and used until it's gone. That seems normal to me, as opposed to neurotic.

You guessed right. Heh. That's how I store my oils. I think the cupboard is pretty cool. I had no idea that we're supposed to toss out our oils after six months, if indeed we have to.

I just keep olive oil in a cool, dark location (like on top of the cupboard). And I have this bottle for way over 6 months, and it tastes perfectly fine. I use olive oil to make salad dressing, so if the taste is off I'd notice right away.