Olive Oil Cold-Press Extraction Process

Santomeri Oil is organic, 100% extra-virgin and cold-pressed. Our sizes come in 500 ml,1.75 ml or 17 liters.

The word “virgin” refers to how the olives have been pressed when extracting the oil, meaning that there were no heat or chemicals used in the process. To get the best health benefits it is better to buy 100% extra-virgin olive oil as they contain the highest levels of polyphenols antioxidants. Cold pressed means that the oil was not heated above 27 °C (80 °F), which allows the oil to retain more nutrients. 

THE OLIVE OIL EXTRACTION PROCESS:
  1. Harvesting of olives. Because Santomeri region is a mountainous region, we use harvestors with gliders to reach the highest placed olive trees. This is hard work. 
  2. Because Santomeri Oil is cold-pressed, we press the olives in steel drums which is the modern method. The olives are crushed into a paste by the steel drums.
  3. The olive paste is churned for 30 to 60 minutes to allow olive drips to accumulate.
  4. The next step is to pump the paste into an industrial decanter where oil, solids and vegetation water will be seperated. Because this process is cold-pressed, there is no heat added. 
  5. The resulting oil is then passed once through a filter to seperate the organic material. Again this is done without heat as this is a cold-pressed method.
You can read further amout the olive oil extraction process here.
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Santomeri Extraction Process

1. First the olives are brought in and laid out, usually in an outdoor receiving area where they can be checked for condition and sorted according to their maturation, which will influence the acidity level of the ensuing oil.
2. As olives must be processed very soon after delivery to the mill, before fermentation sets in, milling is often started only a few hours later, and certainly within two or three days: this short delay is thought to assist oil extraction by conditioning the olives.
3-4.Next, the olives are washed in cold water, then drained, before being crushed to break up the tissues and release the oil. This can be done by traditional methods, with mechanical rollers, or in modern, stainless steel crushers which work by simultaneously cutting, shearing and rubbing. 
Then they are ground into a smooth paste, stones (pits) and all, the purpose of which is to concentrate the small droplets released on crushing into larger drops of oil, while generating heat to encourage the oil to flow freely.
4.1Traditionally, the paste is now spread out on to natural fibre mats which will be stacked layer upon layer in a vertical press to extract, with relatively little pressure, what is known as the first cold pressing of oil. Alternatively the oil can be extracted in a continuous centrifuge.
5. If a modern centrifuge is used for oil extraction, the paste produced by milling and crushing is fed into the machine, which spins at high velocity to separate the oil from the pulp. The oil emerging from press or centrifuge is actually a reddish mixture of oil, veget­able matter and water. This can be decanted manually or put into another centrifuge to separate the oil from the water.
6. Either way, this is ‘virgin’ olive oil. ‘Pure’ olive oil is made by blending oil of originally high acidity, from second or subsequent pressings which are then sub­jected to a process of refinement, with first-pressed, virgin oils. To be labelled ‘extra virgin, oil must have an acidity of 0.2-1 per cent. ‘Olive oil’ should not exceed 1.5 per cent of acidity. (The higher the acidity, the poorer the quality, leading eventually to a certain toxicity.)
Virgin Olive Oil —
More than 0.5 to less than 3% acidity
​Virgin Olive Oil —
A combination of virgin Olive Oil and Refined Oil. Less than 1.5% acidity

Location

Santomeri is a village in the municipal unit of Olenia, Achaea, Greece. It is located on the northern end of Mount Skollis, 5 km north of Portes, 18 km south of Kato Achaia and 32 km southwest of Patras. In 2001 Santomeri had a population of 306 for the village and 477 for the community, which includes the villages Ampelakia and Polylofo.