OLIVE OIL MILLING

Once harvested, our olives are quickly brought to our on-site mill for processing. Fruit that sits too long in a large bin prior to processing can begin to break down and compromise oil quality. We take this seriously and mill our olives within hours of harvest. The first part of our mill washes and removes leaves and twigs from the fruit. From here olives are crushed (pit and all!) by our automated hammermill which works to combine the pit and flesh into a uniform mixture. In order to release as much oil as possible, the olive paste enters a machine known as a malaxer, which gently warms and churns the mixture, acting similar to a kitchen stand mixer. The slivers of pit act like tiny knives and over time release oil from the material. As the paste enters the malaxer, it often resembles a dry mealy mixture, but in time it becomes more viscous with oil pooling on top of the paste. From here the mixture enters two centrifuges designed to extract oil from the water and flesh of the olive. This method yields a first cold processed oil, meaning no excessive heat or chemical solvents are added to increase oil extraction.