Olive Oil Press

A small olive oil press would be of interest to a hobbyist to process small amounts of olives,Backyard hobby types could process about 20 to 30 lbs per hour.The presses today cost about $3,000 with shipping from a reputable dealer. In addition to the press, the hobbyist would need pressing mats and buckets, and a plan on how to store the oil in an appropriate container.An olive press works by applying pressure to olive paste to separate the oil and water from the solid material,leaving behind the pomace.

Olive presses have been around for thousands of years I have seen the old stone mill stones and they create a very rustic vision of how olive milling used to be.Today the more modern method for processing larger amounts of olives is by centrifuge method.

A commercial centrifugal 2 phase olive processing machine can get 40 gallons from 2000 pounds of olives,this process takes advantage of the different densities of solids,oil and water.Briefly crushing the olive into paste and separating the oil and water with a centrifuge,most important is that this process does not utilize heat which has been proven to lower the quality of the oil.

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