[viciousvoxel]

It's not exactly like gas, but it's not not like gas... there's something distinctly petrochemical-like about it and also garlicky, which makes sense since dithiapentane and allicin (the primary component of garlic aroma) are both organosulfur compounds.

[genocidicbunny]

The petrochemical-like aroma is probably due to the sulfur in the dithiapentane.

I've noticed that if used at room-ish temperature, most decent truffle oils don't have a strong sulfur-based smell, but if cooked, say on a pizza or a french fry where the temperature gets relatively high, I think some of the dithiapentane might degrade into stuff that's more more reminiscent of petroleum products.

[toss1]

>>I think some of the dithiapentane might degrade into stuff that's more more reminiscent of petroleum products.

Seems very likely, considering the process of refining or"cracking" oil into usable products is based on temperature and pressure, and organic compounds in general have different reactivity at different temperatures. In cooking with oils, one of the key properties to consider is their "smoke temperature", above which they will not be cooking your food but smoking and ruining the flavor, so you must select an oil that is good at higher temps than you need to cook the other ingredients. So, it wouldn't be at all surprising if there's a threshold temperature that will break or re-combine the molecules of this artificial "truffle oil" in a way that ruins it.