Imagine you’re at the grocery store trying to grab a few things before having a few friends over for dinner. You’re making a dish that requires cold-pressed olive oil – okay, no problem.
You walk your cart over to the baking aisle and find yourself confused when you see a handful of different choices with the words “cold-pressed” and “expeller-pressed” on the packaging. You know that you need cold-pressed, but, is that the same as expeller-pressed?
Expeller-pressed and cold-pressed oils have handfuls of great health benefits, but there are a few differences in the oil extraction process that makes them unique – keep reading to discover those differences!
Expeller-Pressed Oils
An expeller press or “screw press,” is a machine that presses seeds and nuts through a cavity and uses intense friction and pressure to extract oil. During this process, there isn’t any added heat but since the seeds are pressed using friction, heat is created (around 140-210˚ F). Once the seeds are pressed, the oil is removed. Commonly, the seeds remain in the press to form a hard “brick” which can later be used as animal feed.
When expeller pressing, it takes a large number of nuts or seeds to create a high yield – which means more money. This is one of the biggest reasons why oil manufacturers aren’t keen on using this method of extraction and instead use methods that include chemicals and high heat.
Cold-Pressed Oils
When pressing seeds or other ingredients to create cold-pressed oils using an oilseed press, less heat is used. The seeds or ingredients are placed in the press and then are crushed by the machine to obtain the oil. Typically, when these ingredients are pressed, they are at a much lower temperature (122˚ F) compared to an expeller press.
Note: Unlike oilseed presses, absolutely no heat is used when making cold-pressed oils with one of Goodnature’s cold-press machines.
Since these oils are pressed at a lower temperature, they retain their unrefined healthy antioxidants that would otherwise be destroyed when using high-heat methods. Antioxidants can help your body fight against free radicals which can cause cancer and other diseases. Cold-pressed oils are also typically packed with Vitamin E which has healing properties.
The moment when high heat is introduced into the process, this is when the oil loses all of its antioxidants and vitamins. This is commonly seen in “refined” oils which are made by using high temperatures and chemicals such as hexane to extract a high yield in a short period of time.
Join Our Mailing List
Get juice business insights and educational materials sent directly to your inbox.
Choosing Between Expeller-Pressed and Cold-Pressed Oil
It is important to remember that cold-pressed oils should be used in lower temperatures, for example, salad dressings, dips, and more. If cold-pressed oils are exposed to high amounts of heat, it’s possible that they will lose their high-quality nutrients. When searching for the best cooking oils to be used at higher temperatures, expeller-pressed oil will be your best option.
Although these techniques are very similar, they are both better than consuming refined oils that undergo processes that include high temperatures, chemicals, high-pressure, and deodorization. Since cold-pressed oils retain high amounts of their original antioxidants, this oil is ideally the most suitable for you to consume.
When purchasing oil, please be aware that just because an oil is at a higher price-point does not mean it’s better quality or a healthier oil. When purchasing oils at the store, we recommend looking at the ingredients to ensure that the oil hasn’t been combined with refined oils in the process!
Always search for a label that says “unrefined oil,” or search for either “expeller-pressed” or “cold-pressed” to understand the pressing process and extraction method. If you’re interested in making your own Cold-Pressed Nut Oil, try our recipe created by our Goodnature Chef and consultant, Ari!
If you’re interested in creating your own cold-pressed oils, learn more about our industry-leading commercial cold-press machines now!
Comments
Great blog post! The distinction between expeller-pressed and cold-pressed oils is enlightening. It's fascinating to learn how the extraction methods impact the nutritional value and flavor. As someone who enjoys healthy cooking, this information will definitely influence their choice.
Intrested in oil pressing
Thank you. Excellent & very important article.
Ok...can I consume expeller pressed internally? You never say for sure if expeller pressed can ..and the bottle I have says not to be taken internally. Would a cold pressed bottle say the same thing? Or would it say its consumable. Can you clear this up please.
Hi Jo, I would not ingest anything that says not to on the label. That being said, there are both expeller pressed oils and cold pressed oils that are made for human consumption, just be sure to check the label first.
If I use the cold press method to make castor oil then I can label it hexane free yes?
Hexane is a potentially dangerous substance (similar to gasoline) that is sometimes used in the extraction process to make oils. We do not recommend using any types of processing agents such as hexane with our cold press systems. If you do not use hexane, I would imagine you could label your product as such.
What format of oil, cold pressed or expeller, is better for castor oil to be used for stomach packs?
Hi Maham, from what I have read it seems that for castor oil packs, either cold-pressed or expeller-pressed work well for this purpose. https://integrative.ca/uploads/Resources-PDF/18-05-03-Integrative-Handout-Castor-Oil.pdf
Can I use the X-1 to create almond oils
Hi Amy! Yes, you can use the X-1 to make almond oils. Just follow the same steps that are in this article.
Which is best for Castro Oil?
Hi Elizabeth, cold pressed oils typically provide more health benefits because there is less heat involved in the process, resulting in an oil with more nutrients and antioxidants.
kindly clarify between cold press and expeller press.
Hi! Expeller generates much higher heat during the process. Whereas cold-press doesn't get above 122.
I am interested in press that will do oregano and get the oil out will that work or suggest another type of press thank you
We are interested only in COLD PRESS MACHINE to process PEANUT SEEDS for edible oil for commercial production so , kindly advise your best suitable model with full technical details particularly production capacity of peanut oil per hour. Please note and advise , can we process Peanut seeds on your machines for commercial purpose OR not ?, if yes , temperature of Peanut Oil comes out from the Machine should not be more than 45 / 47 Degree Centigrade ? , please check with your Technical Expert and advise us . Trust you will do the need full in the matter and oblige us . Awaiting your reply at earliest to proceed further in the matter . Thanks & Best Regards Goodwill Consumer Products / Vithal Zalavadia .
Hi Vithal, One of our team members will email shortly, thanks!
I'm interested in purchasing a cold press machine. Will you please provide the prices for the cold press machines. Best regards, SherryJA
Hi Sherry,
You can find our press compare chart here: https://goodnature.com/compare
Someone from our team will email you shortly to help answer any questions you might have!
Hi, I am interesting in buying a cold pressed oil machine. Please provide price and detailed technical information about your product. Best Regards,
All cold pressed or Expeller pressed Olive oils can only be safely used as a topping onto heated or cooked foods, never heated in any way if not wanting to ingest a trans-fat that indeed is a carcinogen for the body. Also important, should always be stored and purchased in a dark container at all times since this oil is the most fragile of all oils / fats since it changes it's chemical properties when exposed to light and when heated. Topping cooked foods is safe right before ingesting only.
Hi, I'm the site Manager of Plenty foods edible oils in Kingaroy Queensland Australia. We have recently purchased a few KEK oil press expellers for cold pressing macadamia oil, however we struck a problem when filtering the expelled oil from the press. We don't condition the macadamia with water and steam with this particular KEK expeller and it's like the macadamia oil has a protein that's not separated that would normally come out with the cake (coagulation) so when we filter the small protein in the oil blinds our screen even with the use of 503 filter earth. I suppose the question I'm asking is do you condition the raw macadamia product with steam and water before you put through the nut press (expeller)? what would you recommend? And how do you do cold pressing without adding heat. We use to condition our product and never had this problem, these new KEK presses we have are not designed to take conditioned nuts. Regards, Andrew Spence
Hi Andrew, We are not familiar enough with the oil press expeller technology to be able to advise on the issue you are having, maybe the manufacturer of your machine will be able to help. As far as cold pressing oils, check out our article on that here: https://www.goodnature.com/blog/make-cold-pressed-almond-oil-walnut-oil/ Good luck 😄
I have seen the term "pressed oil" without the modifier "cold". Is cold to be presumed?
Hi Paul, Oil is either cold pressed or hot pressed, so if the label merely says "pressed" I would assume it is hot pressed (as cold pressed is more desired, and they would label as such if it was)
This article was relevant, concise and helpful. I understand, now, what to look for when shopping for oils.
Cold pressed is better because it is thought that the heat in expeller pressed reduces nutritional value.
Hi, I am interested in Cold Press Venture and wish to understand the project cost and margins in Cold Pressed business.
Someone from our team will email you shortly!
I want to know more about price and costing of this business
Hi Rinkesh, One of our team members will reach out shortly, thanks!
I’m planning to start a small business in Africa using cold pressed methods to extract from sunflower seeds in particular and other later years.
Hello. I am interested in doing this as a small business.do you have small scale pressing machines that can even be used in a home set up. After pressing the oil how do I keep it to last longer. Thank you
Hi Verda, One of our team members will email you shortly, thanks!
interested in starting the cold pressed oils for industrial prurpose requirement per day 500 tones
Hi Munwar, One of our team members will email you shortly, thanks!
I am interested in buying cold press oil machine kindly reffer to the type of machines and the price range you have TKS
Hi Shah, One of our team members will reach out shortly, thanks!
Does cold pressed oils need to be filtered to remove the sediments or it just need to be left 24hours to settle and then filled in bottles? Would filtering cold pressed oil reduce any essential properties?
Hi Milton, When making cold pressed oils using our equipment, the oil is filtered though a press bags during the extraction process. Hope this helps!
Would like to know delivery time and demo any place in Mumbai Thane
Hi Sanjiv, One of our team members will reach out to you shortly, thanks!
I have a niece in East Africa who has graduated as a chemical and process Engineer and would like to start her business of processing edible oil can she get internship with you to acquire the necessary skills?
Hi Hilda, We manufacture cold press juicing equipment, we are , I would suggest she look into getting an internship from an oil processing facility to learn the necessary skills 😄
Res. sir, i am very much thankful you differentiated cold pressed & expellor pressed oil ,more awareness is required about expellor oil that it is the best oil for cooking purpose.
I a looking forward the Cold Pressed Oil Machine of capacity 20Kg seed crushing. Do You have that machine? If Yes, Can you send us the Quotation for the same. S.S. Enterprise, Faridabad
Hi Jyoti, One of our team members will reach out to you shortly, thanks!
I'm interested in making my own cold pressed nut and seed oil, I’m looking for a machine to do this. Can you help me?
Hi Meghan, One of our team members will reach out to you via email, thanks!
I want to start cold pressed oil business, pls guide me which machine should I buy
Hi Nilesh, One of our team members will reach out to you via email, thanks!
I’m interested in creating my own hair oils but I’m trying to figure out the best way to start.
Hi Jalen, We don't have any experience in the hair oils business, but if you find yourself needing information on a cold press juicer, we are more than happy to answer your questions!
When oils are labelled as "first cold-pressed" does that mean they are further refined afterwards? Many olive oils are now labelled as "first cold-pressed". Thank you.
Hi Dorothy, When oils are labelled "first cold pressed", they are referring to the fact that the oil is extracted from the first pressing (meaning not from the second or third pressing of the olive or whatever). You can learn more about it here: https://californiaoliveranch.com/blogs/content/what-does-first-cold-pressed-olive-olive-oil-really-mean
Plz guidance to start small scale edible oil industrial plans.
One of our team members will reach out, thank you!
Am interested in doing cold pressed edible oil projects Kindly send your views and opinions and machinery price.
Hi Viviek, One of our team members will reach out shortly, thank you!
Kindly quote for your largest cold press to extract chia and sesame oil. Please provide info on residual oil content
One of our team members will reach out shortly, thank you!
I'm wondering if expeller pressed safflower oil is as healthy as cold pressed. Is the expeller bad for our bodies? Thank you
Hi Iris, The main (health) benefit of the final product between the two extraction techniques is that cold pressed oils are made without using heat so they retain their unrefined healthy antioxidants that would otherwise be destroyed when using high-heat methods. In my opinion, cold pressed is healthier than expeller pressed. I don't know that I would go as far as to say expeller pressed products are bad, they just probably are not as nutrient dense.
We are in cold pressed edible oil manufacturing business,we are using man operated wooden churner to extract oil,now we are searching automatic cold pressed edible oil manufacturing machine,will you help us?
Hi Santosh, One of our team members will email you to help answer your questions, thank you!
I need address for someone doing this business close by. I’m in dlf Gurugram
Hi Pooja, You may want to ask someone locally or do a web search, we are not sure of anyone who manufactures cold pressed oils in your area, good luck to you!
Hi, I am Abadin from Bangladesh. I would like to set-up a small scale (Below 100ltr/hr) cold pressed oil processing line. Please send me the details machinery requirements and specification, if possible. With Regards Abadin
Hi Abadin, One of our team members will reach out to you via email to help answer your questions, thank you!
Interested in starting the cold pressed oils. Would like to know the cost of machinery and guidance
Hi Harsha, One of our team members will reach out to you via email shortly, thanks!
I am interested in cold pressed oil . Please send me info on what you think about this and info on your equipment and pricing. Thank you, Richard Berent
Hi Richard, One of our team members will email you shortly, thanks!
I am interested in both technologies. I would like to have more information with regards cost, timings and volume. Thanks and regards. Luis C
Hi Luis, One of our team members will reach out to you via email to help answer the questions you have!
Hello, I wanted to know if expeller pressed oil is edible right after extraction?
From what we understand about expeller pressed oil, it is edible after extraction, and would be considered "unrefined" pressed oil.
I want to know more details about cold pressed oil machine like capacity per hour, maximum temperature and price. Can you please provide the details and demo video of the machine?
Hi Sri, One of our team members will reach out to you via email, thanks!
Hello, I am processing coconut oil through the expeller process, the temperature is kept at or below 120 degrees Fahrenheit during processing, Can i call this product Extra Virgin Coconut oil? Thanks and Regards Ganesh
Hi Gyaneshwar, Here in the US, "virgin" coconut oil typically means that the oil is unrefined and usually cold-pressed. The term "extra virgin" isn't actually a recognized as a grade of virgin coconut oil by our governing body, the USDA. Some businesses choose to market their oil as "extra virgin", mainly due to the popularity of the term and that it helps to convey the idea that their oil is of the highest grade available. You can read more about it here: http://www.centrafoods.com/blog/virgin-vs-extra-virgin-coconut-oil-whats-the-difference
Hi I m Manish, Can you me point wise the benefits and advantages of cold press oil as well as expelled oil......as we are planning to buy seeds2oil machine for domestic purpose.
Hi Manish, The main (health) benefit of the final product between the two extraction techniques is that cold pressed oils are made without using heat so they retain their unrefined healthy antioxidants that would otherwise be destroyed when using high-heat methods.
Very good information, really appreciate it. We are planning to start wood pressed oil business. Would like to know few details regarding the same. 1. Other than Ground nut, sesame & sun flower , are there any other oils that can be wood pressed. 2. Machinery Details, Like ... as we are start up , we are planning to go with a Medium sized machine than a large one. If you can provide us the details it would be really helpful. Thanks, Raghu
Hi Raghu, One of our team members will reach out to you shortly via email.
Hello I would like to know the operative steps and which type of grinder plate size and pressing bags should be used for Cold pressed sacha inchi oil from its seeds? How many pressed will be needed for oil extraction and grinder speed requirement for this specific product? Do I need to roast the nuts prior to pressing? Do you have any further details on the viability of churning the X1 unit into an effective Cold pressed sacha inchi oil? I have tried R&D on it but it took a long time to pressed out 200ml of oil. Time requirement about 40 minutes. Appreciate if you could advise on this. Thank you.
Hi Sharon, I will forward your questions to our chef and business consultant, Ari, he will be able to help answer your questions, thank you!
Hi I am interested in understanding the health benefits of coldpressed oils Vs. Expeller oils. I have am a high blood pressure patient and am wondering if expeller oils are better for my everyday cooking. Which brands are available in the market for personal use. I have used a few Coldpressed oils but how do I check if they are really coldpressed or they are chemically treated. I have read about the lesser shelf life of coldpressed oils since it gets oxidised. Do you have any studies for the shelf life of coldpressed and expeller oils. Thank you, Dr.Zinal
Hi Dr. Zinal, How you will use the oil will depend on which one you should choose to use. I personally cook with avocado oil because it has a high smoke point (meaning the point in which the nutrients start to degrade), so you can cook with it using low to high heat. You can find a smoke point chart for cooking oils and other information on the refinement processes here: Guide to Cooking Oils and Smoke Points Avacado oil has a lot of great health benefits and has shown in studies to decrease blood pressure. You can find the study in the National Library of Medicine here: Effect of Avocado Oil on Blood Pressure When I cook, I use Whole Foods Market brand, 365 Everyday Value: Avocado Oil or this one from Better Body Foods as it is naturally refined (using activated carbon and clays). We do not have any studies on the shelf life of oils, but I agree with you that cold pressed oils have a shorter shelf life due to the fact that they are raw and therefore not as shelf stable. Hope this information helps and good luck 😄
I am interested in knowing whether you have a high performance (in terms of grams/hour or kg/hour) machine for cold oil production especially that can apply to mostly all the nuts (avocado paste, avocado seed, macadamia, peanut, almond etc). If yes, the quotation of the machine. To make it clear, I am interested in cosmetic grade oil. Thank you
Hi John, One of our team members will reach out to you with the information, thank you!
i would like to get in to the business .
Hi Venkat, One of our team members will be in touch to help answer any questions you have, thanks!
Hi, I am interested in setting up a cold press oil unit. Kindly provide the details. Thanks
Hi Vivek, One of our team members will email you shortly, thanks!
I'd love a resource for how to use our industrial size Good Nature juicer to cold press olives & possibly avocados.
Hi Kristy, I will put you in touch with one of our team members who can provide you with more information! Have a great day 😄
Dear Sir / Madam Send me details of your smallest size cold press oil (for Coconut Oil) machine details with CIF (Cost Insurance & Freight) price port of Colombo Sri Lanka. Kind Regards Marius
Hi Marius, One of our team members will email you with the information, thank you!
Hi , I'm planning to start cold pressed organic oil business. Could you please give me the details.
Hi Sivaganesh, One of our team members will email you to help answer your questions, thank you!
Hi Want to start my own cold press oil set up Please send details Regards Abhishek
Hi Abhishek, One of our team members will email you to help answer your questions, thank you!
i would like to get in to the business .
Hi Gokul, One of our team members will email you to help answer any questions you have, thanks!
intrested in cold press oil.what is the cost and profir and loss of doing this business
Hi Abdur, One of our team members will email you to help answer your questions, thanks!
Am interested in doing cold pressed edible oil projects Kindly send your views and opinions and machinery price.
Hi Meena, Great to hear! One of our team members will reach out to you shortly with the information 😄
Interested in starting the cold pressed oils. Would like to know the cost of machinery n guidance
Hi Kamlesh, That's great 😄 I will send you a direct message and put you in touch with someone from our team who can help guide you!
Comment