THE ARTISAN PROCESS

 

Traditional olive oil production has become a treasured heritage and a time-honored custom whose essence has remained almost unchanged over the decades. Although modern technology have enhanced the oil extraction process, methods that are quite similar to the traditional mode of operation are still utilized. Let's examine what this consists of.

First, after the olives arrive to the mill, they are cleaned, categorized, and stored. After completing these stages, the genuine olive oil is ready. The process of producing olive oil is separated into three steps plus one.

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1. Grind

Traditionally, stone mills were used for the grinding phase (the process of crushing olives). It was also usual to grind olives using animal-powered or manual machines. This technique produces an olive paste, which is then pressed.



2. Pressing.

The resultant paste is put onto fibrous esparto straw disks, which are then piled to a specific height, making a pile. The liquid is discharged, leaving the remaining substance saturated on the disks. Interestingly, the pressing procedure does not always generate the same amount of olive oil, as it is determined by the amount of paste and its consistency.

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3. Decantation.

The greasy fluid is put into a bottle or container. Because of density discrepancies within the watery liquid substance's composition, the oil floats to the top while the water (and other residues) sinks to the bottom of the container.



4. Storage

Although the oil extraction process stops here, a number of 18th-century literature refer to oil storage as the last phase. This settling phase removes some of the oil's harsh scents while providing sweet and pleasant feelings, as well as specific subtleties.

 

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