Extracting oils from olives using a press is one of the oldest ways to make olive oil, dating back over hundreds of years to the ancient Greeks. A simple process that is undergone using an olive press. But before the press is used there are certain processes that must be undergone first. Once pressed the liquid is put into a decanter so that the liquids can be separated. Let us take a closer look at the complete process:

First of all the olives should be harvested and the bad olives removed from the bunch. The olives are then put under a special stone called millstone or in some areas a ground stone. The olives should stay under the stone for just over a half an hour to turn them into a paste, also to guarantee that the paste collects the right aromas and smell that come from the fruit enzymes and forms into the olive oil drops.

After the necessary time the olive paste is removed from the millstones or ground stones and put onto special disks called fiber disks. The paste must be spread over the disks and completely cover it. They are then placed into the press, piled on top of each other. The machine will then press the paste and begin to compact it so the oils will start to percolate. So the percolation is easier water is poured down the sides of the press.

After the pressing process is over the liquids are removed from the presser and taken to a separate machine called a decanter. The decanter is used to remove the excess water from the olive oil, leaving a pure olive oil. There is another process that can be used to separate the water from the oils, it is called vertical centrifuge and is normally a lot faster than using a decanter.

Every time the process of extracting oil from the olives all of the machines must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. This is because any paste or oils left on the machines can ferment and therefore contaminate any new oils that will be done in the future. After the cleaning is finished, a final inspection will take place to make sure they are fully disinfected.

Using this traditional method of making olive oil has some advantages, these include that the olives are very well ground and easily pomaced. But the complication at the time of cleaning, the hours of extra manual labor and the time it takes to wait after the harvesting to the time of pressing the olives to make the oil can be classed as disadvantages when using this method, and because of this people have invented other methods that save time.