Anyone Love Olive Oil?
 

I thought yall might like to see how I made olive oil for the first time. I did not use a store bought press but rather my own poor man press. It worked really well and was super easy. Here in Southern California olive trees are like citrus and avocado trees.....they are on every corner. I found a couple dozen trees in a Parkway where no one lives....virtually no man's land. I picked these trees since I did not have to ask permission before harvesting the olives. Now I do not know how to tell the different varieties of olives apart but these particular olives were leaching oil hanging on the tree. The trees were loaded so harvesting get was a breeze. We filled a 5 gallon bucket in around 2 hours. Below are pics and descriptions.

Here we are harvesting the olives. We shook the trees, used a rake, and picked them in order to get them out of the tree. In the second pic my son is doing his best to catch them falling from the tree with a bug net.

When we got home we used our farm style sink to wash the olives. The kids loved getting to swish all of the olives around in the sink. This is where we picked out sticks and leaves.

Here is one part of my press I scored for a few bucks. I drilled holes in the bottom so the oil can collect in the bottom of a bigger stock pot that was used to catch the oil.

First things first I had to blend the olives into a mash pits and all.

Next I put the mash into my wife's kitchen aid mixer for 30 minutes. This causes small droplets of oil to collide with other small droplets. Doing this creates larger droplets that start to pool up on top of the mash. You can really see this in action in the second pic.

To someone from a northern climate that is quite amazing to see olives growing on a residential street in suburbia. I pictured them growing in scenic groves in villages in the hills of Greece.
Helpers is a bonus too!

I dip toast in garlic flavored olive oil from Costco all the time. I scramble eggs in olive oil. My DR says I have enough good cholesterol to sell off some of it. Of course I have plenty of the bad stuff too as I am not perfect when it comes to the drive thru. I also buy olive oil mayonnaise and margarine. I bet fresh is to die for!

- Lisa

I then put the mash mix into cheesecloth. I put the cheesecloth into my drilled stainless steel pot. I put a slightly smaller stainless steel pot on top of the cheesecloth and began to press.

From the stock pot I poured the oil into ball jars for settling. A little olive mash makes it through the cheesecloth so it is necessary to let it settle overnight to allow the oil to rise to the top.

The next day I used a turkey baster to pull the oil off of the top of the jars. I then ran it through a cheese cloth one more time just in case. Here is my setup.

And finally what you have all been waiting for....the finished product. I have had a lot of great olive oil living here in California but nothing that compares to this home pressed oil. It tastes amazing and is way higher quality then I have ever had. We don't even cook with it because we just like dipping bread in it mixed with balsamic vinaigrette. I hope you enjoyed my poor man tutorial.

You probably have the fountain of youth in your mixer. How long does it keep?


- Lisa

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;600713]You probably have the fountain of youth in your mixer. How long does it keep?


- Lisa[/QUOTE]

Not quite sure yet but I would imagine it keeps the same or longer than store bought oil. Mine did not sit in a warehouse, then on a shelf for months before buying it.

Keep shaking those trees. I use about 75 liters a week.
Old chef

It will get better in 3 to 6 months.
I imagine they are mission olives.

Get some more and cure them in salt water enough salt to float a fresh egg.

Worth