Producing large quantities of olive oil for commercial use requires heavy equipment and a lot of effort, but you can make olive oil for personal use with kitchen tools. The process is quite lengthy and requires extra effort, but it can produce clean, pure, and high-quality olive oil.
Ingredients
To make 500 ml of olive oil
- 2.5 kg of fresh olives
- 1/2 to 1 cup (125-250 ml) hot water (sterilized/filtered before use)
Step
Method 1 of 4: Preparing the Olives
Step 1. Choose olives that are still raw or ripe
You can use raw green olives or ripe black olives for this process. Either way, you should use freshly harvested olives, not those sold in cans.
Oils made from ripe olives provide better health benefits than oils from raw olives. However, in terms of taste and boiling point the two are not much different. Also, note that unripe olives will produce a greenish-colored oil, while ripe olives will produce a golden-colored oil
Step 2. Wash thoroughly
Place the olives in a colander, then wash them under cold running water. Use your fingers to gently rub the fruit until it's clean.
- During this process, you should inspect the olives used to remove any mixed leaves, twigs, stones, or dust. These things can damage the quality of the oil and the tools used to produce it.
- After washing the olives, discard any remaining water and pat the fruit dry with a clean tissue paper. Olives don't need to be completely dry, as the water will eventually separate from the oil, but you should try to get rid of any remaining water, especially if you're working the fruit right away.
Step 3. Use the fruit as soon as possible
Ideally, you should grind the olives the same day the fruit is picked. You can wait up to two or three days, if necessary, but this can reduce the flavor quality of the oil produced.
- If you can't process the fruit right away, transfer the olives to a plastic or glass container and place them in the refrigerator.
- You must sort the stored olives before processing. Discard fruit that looks rotten, shriveled, or too soft.
Method 2 of 4: Grinding and Pressing Olives
Step 1. Work in multiple sessions, if necessary
Even if you are making relatively small amounts of oil – only 500 ml – you may need to separate the olives used into three or four containers, depending on the size of the equipment used.
Step 2. Put the olives in a shallow bowl
Place the clean olives in a large shallow bowl. Ideally, olives should not overlap one another.
For making oil in your own kitchen, it's best to use a bowl or other container that is concave, not flat. Even if the first grind doesn't produce a lot of oil, using a bowl will make you more prepared to collect the liquid that comes out of the fruit than using a flat container
Step 3. Mash the olives until they become a paste
Use a clean pestle to crush the olives into lumps of thick paste.
- A standard meat hammer can also be used. We recommend using metal or plastic because wooden hammers can absorb oil. You can use any hammer head to crush the olives.
- Consider removing the olive seeds before this process. Since the seeds are very fragile, you can crush them along with the pulp. This doesn't affect the quality of the olive oil produced, but the seed flakes can damage the electronics you use. So, it's best to remove the seeds first.
- When done, the olives will crumble completely and the pasta lumps will appear a little runny. This liquid is the oil. The crushing process is able to separate the pulp and oil so that the olive oil can be extracted.
Step 4. Transfer the pasta to a tall glass
Pour the pasta into a tall glass or similar container. Olive paste should only fill 1/3 of the glass or container.
- Even if you can use the bowl you used earlier, the subsequent process can create a mess in the kitchen. Therefore, use a tall glass or container to reduce the splash of crushed fruit.
- Alternatively, you can put the paste in a high-powered blender. Make sure the olive paste doesn't exceed 1/3 of the blender.
Step 5. Mix olive paste with water
Pour about 2 to 3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) of hot water for every 250 ml of olive paste. Stir the mixture so that the water spreads and gets to the bottom of the glass or container used.
- Water is only needed to aid the squeeze process; Don't add so much water that the olives are submerged.
- The water should be hot, but not boiling; The heat from the water helps to release the oil from the olive paste. Ideally, water should be filtered or purified before use as tap water can cause a decrease in the quality of the final product.
- Note that the added water will separate from the oil later.
Step 6. Use a hand blender
Grind the olive paste in a hand blender until the oil starts to surface.
- Continue this process for at least 5 minutes. While squeezing the oil out of the pasta at longer intervals can produce more oil, it will also increase the amount of oxidation so the oil will expire faster.
- Use a high-powered blender if you don't remove the olives before crushing them; otherwise, the seed flakes can damage the blades of the blender. Once you've removed the seeds, use a regular blender.
- You can also use a juice blender to complete this process, but you'll need to stop every now and then to check.
- Professionally, this extraction process is known as “malaxing” where the oil droplets gather into one large pool.
Method 3 of 4: Extracting Oil
Step 1. Stir the olive paste until the oil separates
Quickly stir the olive paste for a few minutes with a mixing spoon. Continue until the oil droplets gather into one large pool.
- Stir in the olive paste in a circular motion. The thrust of each rotation will pull the oil from the crushed fruit.
- This step is also included in the malaxing process. However, instead of using high speed to separate the oil, you use the force generated by the rotation of the spoon to do so.
Step 2. Pause for a moment
Cover the used container with a clean cloth, tissue paper, or the lid of the container. Let stand for 5-10 minutes without being disturbed at all.
At the end of this process, you should be able to see the oil puddle more clearly on the surface of the olive paste
Step 3. Spread cheesecloth over a large sieve
Take a piece of cheesecloth that is almost twice the size of the sieve's mouth and place it right in the middle of the sieve. Place this strainer over a large bowl.
- A mesh filter cloth works best, but even cheesecloth is sufficient to separate the oil from the olive paste. If necessary, you can also use a large plastic filter.
- If you don't have cotton cloth, use a large filter paper or paint filter paper used by the painter (the paper must have never been used).
Step 4. Pour the olive paste onto the cotton cloth
Dispense all of the olive paste, including the liquid and flesh, into the center of the cotton cloth. Wrap the pasta with the edges of the cloth until tightly.
Note that the cloth should cover all of the olive paste. If it's not big enough, you'll need to divide the pasta into smaller portions
Step 5. Place a weight on top of the package containing the pasta
Place a block of wood or other weight on top of the packet of pasta. The weight should be enough to squeeze the paste.
- If you're concerned about the cleanliness of the weights you're using, cover them with plastic before placing them on top of the packet of olive paste.
- Alternatively, you can place the smaller bowl in the strainer and over the packet of olive paste. Fill this bowl with dry beans or heavy material to apply pressure.
Step 6. Let the liquid inside come out
Allow the olive oil, fruit juices, and water to escape through the cloth and fitted filter for at least 30 minutes. The bowl placed underneath will hold the liquid.
- Press the pack every 5-10 minutes by hand to aid in the extraction process.
- When you're done, the bowl will be full of liquid and the olive paste on top of the strainer will appear dry. You can discard the remaining paste after the extraction process is complete.
Step 7. Suck up the oil
Place the tip of the dropper or syringe on the surface of the collected liquid. Carefully vacuum the top and leave the layer underneath intact. Transfer this liquid to another container.
- Due to the difference in density, the oil will naturally separate from the other substances and form a different layer on the top of the bowl.
- You may be training to be able to move the oil without sucking up water or other liquids. Check the injector used to suck up the oil immediately after taking it; if there is a different coating on the injector tube, drain the water and leave only the oil.
Method 4 of 4: Saving Oil
Step 1. Pour the olive oil into a clean bottle
Attach the funnel to the mouth of a clean glass bottle and pour the collected oil into it.
- Glass bottles are the most ideal. Frosted glass bottles are best as they protect the oil from exposure to strong rays. If you have to, you can also use a plastic container.
- Remember that bottles used should be thoroughly cleaned with hot water and dish soap, rinsed, and dried before using to collect oil.
Step 2. Close the bottle with a stopper
Remove the funnel from the mouth of the bottle before closing it with a stopper, bottle cap, or any other suitable cap.
- The material used to cover the bottle is not important as long as you can close it tightly.
- Wipe off any excess oil that is in the mouth of the bottle or on the sides. Use dry tissue paper to wipe off any oil droplets. Large oil stains can be cleaned with soapy water, then wiped with a clean cloth. Finally, wipe the bottle with a dry towel.
Step 3. Store the oil in a cool and dry place
The olive oil is finished and ready to use. Store the bottle on the kitchen shelf (or another dry, dark, cool place) until you're ready to use it.
