Cathy Isom explains the health benefits, as well as what you need to master making your own olive oil. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
One great raw product you can make yourself is olive oil. The most common type of olive used for cold-pressing is the green olive. But always pick them fresh. Olives that are over-ripened will create an oil that will spoil so never use canned olives.
You’ll need several pieces of equipment to get started, including a grinding mechanism like a millstone, an immersion blender, anything weighty such as heavy wood, cinder blocks, or books. A surface to press and collect pomace upon, holding containers for the separation, dark green bottles and a funnel. Although it may seem like a long list of supplies, many of these will be a once-off purchase which you can use again and again.
Typically, extra virgin olive oil is made at large mills by a method called cold-pressing. Basically, olives are pressed through a machine and oils are collected while the rest of the olive is discarded. Cold-pressing eliminates the use of heat to extract oils, thus, it’s considered an unrefined oil; all the good stuff is left intact.
Speaking of good stuff, the healthful benefits of making your own olive oil. Olives are full of beneficial antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and antimicrobial properties. They also include monounsaturated fats, which are the good fats.
I’m Cathy Isom…