How to make olive oil

This post is not going to contain a "How to" video, or even go through the steps one would take to make olive oil. Number one, because I couldn't really tell you all of the steps and number two, most of the people reading this do not have easy access to an olive grove anyway, so it wouldn't be too useful. This post will, however, show you some pictures of a place that does press olive oil and maybe you just might learn a little bit of how it is made.

We are trying to ease in slowly to school, so today we joined a homeschool field trip group touring an olive oil plant. It was very interesting, indeed.

Here are some pics below...

Above: Olives are taken through and the rotten olives are taken out along with any leaves that are still attached.

Below: The olives are washed and ready to be ground.

Below: The olives are ground up, seed and all. The result is a something of an oatmeal consistency. Then the liquid will be extracted.


Below: Here is the olive oil after the water has been separated out. There are still some impurities that froth up to the top.


Below: Paige and Drew in front of some olives that are about to be pressed.


Below: The kids enjoying a game of tag by the olive grove.

At the end of the tour we got a lesson on buying olive oil. I had read recently about how great California olive oil was because of the purity of the product. I learned more about it today. After the liquid is extracted out, the oil and the water are separated and you have olive oil in a very pure form. Italians do the same thing. Only that olive oil stays in their country. The waste that is left over, after the liquid is extracted, is pressed a second time using solvents and sometimes mixed with other oils. This is what is sent to your grocery store. The Italians won't use it. A lot of the nutritional value that olive oil is known for is now gone when this process is done.

It isn't always easy to find California olive oil, but I was happy to find that I can go directly to the grove (just down the road from me) where it is pressed and buy it by the bottle, case or gallon. So if you are looking for good olive oil, come for a visit, and I will hook you up!