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<pre>I have found this online. I haven't tried it and would not recommend
it to anyone. Good olive oil is now readily available everywhere.
Jamal
---------------------------

Homemade Olive Oil
Recipe by the late W.V. Cruess, Professor of Food Technology at the
College of Agriculture, University of California, Berkeley, CA.

This process only gives about two-thirds as much oil as from a
commercial press. Not bad for homemade. Commercial pressing yields an
average of 1 litre of oil per 5 kilos of olives.

Grate/Simmer/Skim/Extraction. Ordinary lye will be needed. Make up a
solution of 1/2 lb lye per 1 gal. water, using an agate-ware or iron
pot (not aluminum!) A small basket of wire screen such as is used for
making french-fried potatoes will be needed, or a piece of
cheesecloth can be used. Heat the lye solution to boiling and while
it is boiling, dip the olives in it for about 20 seconds. The time
needed will vary with the toughness of the skins. Leave the olives in
the lye until the skins are softened - that is, practically
dissolved. Then plunge them into cold water for a few seconds to stop
the action of the lye. Place the lye-treated olives on a piece of fly
screen tacked to a frame over a large dishpan. Rub them on the screen
until the flesh has seperated from the pits and dropped through the
screen into the pan. A heavy pair of rubber gloves is necessary in
this process to prevent your hands from becoming badly stained and
roughened by the lye and olive juice.

Place the pulp, which should now be of a pasty or mushy consistency,
into a pot with about 2 or 3 times its own volume of water. Heat to
simmering, stirring constantly, for about 1/2 hour. Set it aside for
several days to permit the oil to rise to the surface. Usually a fair
yield of oil can be obtained by skimming it from the surface of the
pulp. The pulp may then be boiled a few minutes with more water and
allowed to stand again. The process should be repeated several
times. The secrets of success are to rub the olive flesh to a fine-
grained pulp and always use a large excess of water with the pulp.
The yield of oil is also sometimes increased by adding about 1/4 lb.
salt per gallon of water used with the pulp. The oil you obtain will
be bitter and unclear.

Clearing the oil. Strain the oil through several layers of
cheesecloth into glass containers. Let it settle a couple weeks. Then
siphon the oil off the top, stopping before you get near the
sediment. (Plastic tubing works well). Strain again, settle again,
siphon again. Five such cycles will give you quality oil. Now pour
into sterile jars. (don't heat), and add lids or cork to seal.
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<pre>The late Professor Cruess did a tremendous amount of excellent research into
both green and black table olive processing during the early part of last
century. In fact, the U.S. (and South African!) table olive industry of the
1920's to 1940's was substantially based on much of his research.

He certainly did not gain fame with his homemade olive oil recipes.

Guido
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<pre>From: "jamalsadoun" <jamalsadoun@...>
Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2002 22:08:15 -0000

I have found this online. I haven't tried it and would not recommend
it to anyone. Good olive oil is now readily available everywhere.
[...]

Grate/Simmer/Skim/Extraction. Ordinary lye will be needed. Make up a
solution of 1/2 lb lye per 1 gal. water, using an agate-ware or iron pot
(not aluminum!) A small basket of wire screen such as is used for making
french-fried potatoes will be needed, or a piece of cheesecloth can be
used. Heat the lye solution to boiling and while it is boiling, dip the
olives in it for about 20 seconds. The time needed will vary with the
toughness of the skins. Leave the olives in the lye until the skins are
softened - that is, practically dissolved. Then plunge them into cold
water for a few seconds to stop the action of the lye. Place the
lye-treated olives on a piece of fly screen tacked to a frame over a
large dishpan. Rub them on the screen until the flesh has seperated from
the pits and dropped through the screen into the pan. A heavy pair of
rubber gloves is necessary in this process to prevent your hands from
becoming badly stained and roughened by the lye and olive juice.

I don't recommend this either. It's dangerous!

8 oz lye per 128 oz water is about 1/4 the strength of the lye I mix to
make soap. My mixture boils (or close) all by itself. The lower strength
one would get pretty hot but not boiling.

I don't know what agate-ware is but it does not sound lye-proof. The only
appropirate container to use is stainless steel. Iron is okay for making
soap (and traditional) but for boiling lye solution? Wire screen, unless
stainless steel, will start to dissolve. Cheesecloth will fall apart and
"flavor" your oil.

You could not pay me enough money to boil a pot of lye solution on the
stove. I would rather do it outside starting with warm water (generally
something to avoid).

The worst part of this recipe is that not once does it talk about the
dangers to skin from splashes (your hands aren't your only skin) but most
of all, there is not a hint of eye protection. The solution is strong
enough to dissolve the skin of an olive, you do not want it in your eyes!
Heck, you wouldn't even want hot water in your eyes and I'd wear protection
just for that. But trust me, the damage from this moderate-strength lye
solution could still make you blind with a single splash.

Old time methods used wood ash for lye. It can be dangerous too but often
isn't as strong as the modern commercial lye. Even so, blindness from a
lye splash (even wood ash lye) was/is not uncommon among people who made
soap or other products. Old time lye use was also done outdoors. The
fumes from the lye can burn your lungs.

If you're going to work with lye, do it outdoors if possible, have a source
of cold water (a hose) available, and wear lye-proof gloves, goggles, and
something around your nose and mouth to keep out the fumes. If you splash
your skin, rinse well with cold water. If you splash your eyes, rinse with
cold water continuously for half an hour and then go to the hospital.

Be very careful with the lye water after you are done with it. Neutralize
it with vinegar (do not use vinegar on your body after a lye splash! it
produces tons of heat) and discard. Rinse all equipment and your body. Do
not let children or animals near you during the process.

People use lye casually all the time (like in drains) and most of the time
they're okay. But when a splash or accident occurs and you're not
protected, the damage could be severe. A single drop of lye water used to
make soap will make a hole in clothing. Imagine what it does to your skin
or eyes.

Cyndi

--
__________________________________________________ ________________________
Cyndi Norman cyndi@...
Owner of the Immune Website & Lists http://www.immuneweb.org/
Tikvah -- Organic and Natural Products http://www.tikvah.com/
Handcrafted organic soaps & cosmetics, organic bedding, safety equipment
__________________________________________________ ________________________
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<pre>Dear All,
If I am correct, "Agate-Ware" is or are items made from
agate, which is a form of quartz. Quartz is not affected by Lye (Caustic
Soda) unless the concentration of Lye is something in excess of 120 grams
per litre, otherwise known as 3M Caustic Soda. Concentrated Sulphuric acid,
when cold, will not affect agate ware or quartz either.

Richard Irving
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