Extracting oils from olives using a press is one of the oldest ways to make olive oil, dating back over hundreds of years to the ancient Greeks. A simple process that is undergone using an olive press. But before the press is used there are certain processes that must be undergone first. Once pressed the liquid is put into a decanter so that the liquids can be separated. Let us take a closer look at the complete process:
First of all the olives must be ground into paste by using millstones, ancient, heavy rocks, they can also be called ground stones. To make sure that the olives are fully ground into a paste, that the fruit enzymes gather enough flavors and aromas and to make sure that the olive drops form into larger drops, the olives must remain under the millstones or approximately forty minutes.
Once this process is over and the olives are converted into a paste, the past is spread onto fiber disks. Once fully and evenly spread onto the disks the paste is placed into the press machine. The press will then apply the necessary pressure needed to compact the past and percolate the oil forms and the water in the paste. Water is placed in the sides of the press to simplify the process of percolation.
After the pressing process is over the liquids are removed from the presser and taken to a separate machine called a decanter. The decanter is used to remove the excess water from the olive oil, leaving a pure olive oil. There is another process that can be used to separate the water from the oils, it is called vertical centrifuge and is normally a lot faster than using a decanter.
After the olive oil has been made and before restarting the process to make more, the materials used must be cleaned expertly to avoid any contamination to future oils caused by fermented paste from the olives that can get stuck on the disks and ground stones. Once cleaned the disk and ground stones undergo another examination to make sure that all excess pastes and oils have been removed.
There are both advantages and disadvantages when using this method of extraction to make olive oil. The advantages are that there is a better grinding of the olives and due to less water usage; the oil is pomaced a lot easier. The difficult cleaning process, a wider time between the harvest and the pressing of the olives and the amount of manual labor are some of the disadvantages.