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<pre>> I have not been able to track the official "cold press" temperature
> down but one is certainly allowed to heat the olives. I doubt whether
> extraction at only 3°C would be possible. I have been told that heating up
> to 35°C is still regarded as "cold press".

The IOOC "guidelines" for production of high quality oil say that the
paste should not be heated to more than 25-30C, though slightly more
is permissible "if the paste is unmanageable".

But they're not going to put "luke-warm pressed" on the label, are
they....


--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" (FZ)
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<pre>Cold Pressed.

This creates considerable confusion on labels. You are looking down
the rows of bottles and see hundreds of labels - all extravergine - which
is the best? One of the descriptions says "cold pressed". Does this
indicate a better oil?

Firstly there are many factors between the tree and the bottle that
are important for oil quality - temperature of processing is an important
one but others can have a devestating effect on quality too.

More important is what is "cold"? I tried in a completely
unscientific survey of my friends to see what they thought it meant. There
was no agrrement on temperature and I am sure if I had some Inuit friends
all the temperatures mentioned would have been considered a heat wave.

Further discussion produced the view that "cold pressed" olives
were not artifically heated - that is they were pressed at ambient
temperature. Again we have an enormous range. The olive crop was harvested
in Tunisia in October and day temperatures of 20°C were common. A couple of
Saturdays ago we were trying to pick olives but it kept snowing and when we
finally gave up I saw the temperature outside the kitchen door was 3°C. It
is certainly quite a range for "ambient cold".

I have not been able to track the official "cold press" temperature
down but one is certainly allowed to heat the olives. I doubt whether
extraction at only 3°C would be possible. I have been told that heating up
to 35°C is still regarded as "cold press".

Can anyone confirm this?

Does the International Olive Oil Council set a standard?

If the official limit for "cold press" is that high almost all good quality
extravergine oils would be "cold pressed" and putting it to the label does
not add any unique information to help the consumer to make a choice.

Cheers Brian Chatterton
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