If you want to have a sustainable oil source (that’s not from animal fats), then consider growing and pressing your own seed and nut oils at home.
In this post, my guest Bevin Cohen and I are breaking down everything you need to know about pressing your own seed and nut oils.
We’re clarifying the misinformation that all seed oils are unhealthy, as well as discussing the supplies needed to press your own oil and the sustainability of pressing enough oil for your family each year.
Do Seed Oils Go Rancid Quickly
We do know that seed oils tend to go rancid quickly, and rancid oils are carcinogenic. So how do we know how long our seed oils are safe to consume?
Bevin mentions that in his book, they go into great depth of proper storage temperatures, how to store the seeds, how long the seeds can be stored, etc.
But the beauty of having your own seed and nut press is that we’re never storing the oil, we’re storing the seeds. The seeds will have a much longer shelf-life than the oil. It’s similar to flour vs wheat berries. The wheat berries can be stored almost indefinitely, whereas once ground into flour, the flour will go rancid much more quickly.
Bevin recommends pressing a week’s worth of oil at a time. Then you’ll always have the freshest and healthiest oil at all times. There’s no need to sit down and press a year’s worth of oil at once and when you only press a week’s worth it takes just a few minutes.
How to Store Oil
The great news is that the seeds used for producing seed oils usually store really well, still in their husks or shells, at cool room temperature until you are ready to press them into oil.
How you store your oil depends on the oil you’re pressing. If you’re pressing hemp, flax, pumpkin, and sesame seed oils, you’ll want to store them in the refrigerator to extend the shelf-life beyond the one-week recommendation.
Sunflower and peanut oil can be stored at room temperature. However, Bevin never recommends storing it above your stove. That’s the hottest place in the house and the worst place for your oil. Store these oils in a cool dark location.
How to make Sunflower oil at home
Can You Make your own sunflower oil?
You don’t need fancy equipment, or a fancy kitchen, to make your own sunflower oil. Just a few gadgets, and you can get on with producing your own cooking oil. Place your sunflower seeds into a blender, and whizz until the seeds are the consistency of fine meal. Add a little water to the paste, to stop it from binding to the sides of the blender.
Why is sunflower oil good for your skin?
Sunflower oil is good for your skin because it is packed with vitamins and antioxidants. These nutrients help to protect your skin from damage, keep it hydrated, and promote healing. Sunflower oil is also non-irritating, making it a good choice for people with sensitive skin. Additionally, sunflower oil is a natural anti-inflammatory, so it can help to reduce redness and swelling.
How do you make sunflower oil from sunflower seeds?
1 cup of sunflower oilseeds (should make at least 3 tablespoons of oil) Step 1: Place your sunflower seeds into a food processor and blend until the seeds begin to stick to the sides.
Can you press sunflower oil yourself?
So, let’s jump into what to do (and what not to do) to press sunflower oil yourself at home! As it turns out, there’s more than one kind of sunflower seed. There are the regular ones that you can snack on and use to make sunflower seed butter, and then there are those that are grown specifically for oil.