Many people out there will someday soon press their own cooking oil. Cooking oil presses are becoming less expensive all the time. Rape is used to feed livestock in many locations and grown as a cover crop. In the USA the rape products we grow are outlawed all throughout the European union because they have been genetically modified so our oils cannot be sold there. This link How British Farmers Are Making Rapeseed (Canola) Posh And Flavorful : The Salt : NPR is a fascinating story of how rape became known as a desirable product called canola in Canada and was later genetically modified here in the USA. The British are making canola oil the right way and reaping the profits!
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Another high priced product for the growing foodie market. I want to see the results of blind taste tests of a variety of hot and cold pressed oils.
Meanwhile, we can try to keep an open mind. For high heat cooking, I just want an oil that doesn’t break down in intense heat. Industrial, GMO canola fills the bill at a nice price.
For lower heat cooking or uncooked, I like the flavor of olive oil above all other I’ve tried (in its price range), and I’ve tried several others that are cold pressed, including the disturbingly named rape seed.
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Alan,
Lots of Canola aka rape is grown here in Kansas and its very good as forage as well “A study conducted in Kansas found winter rapeseed forage to have crude protein of 21-33%, compared to 24% for winter wheat foliage.” Canola (Rapeseed) . There are thousands of acres of this stuff growing now in Kansas since the Canadians figured out how to isolate the good from the bad types "The name “canola” was registered in 1979 by the Western Canadian Oilseed Crushers Association to describe “double-low” varieties. Double low indicates that the processed oil contains less than 2% erucic acid and the meal less than 3 mg/g of glucosinolates. Erucic acid is a fatty acid that has been related to heart disease. Glucosinolates have breakdown products that are toxic to animals. Both characteristics make rapeseed products poor candidates for animal consumption.
In the early 1960s, Canadian plant breeders isolated single lines free of erucic acid and began programs to develop double low varieties.
Today annual worldwide production of canola is approximately 7.5 million tons on 4 million acres. Canada accounts for 15% of the world production and the European Economic Community for nearly 17%. The United States produces less than 1% of the world production. Minnesota and North Dakota are the major U.S. production states with about 20,000 acres. Canola ranks 5th in production among the world’s oilseed crops following soybeans, sunflowers, peanuts and cottonseed."
In Kansas i see the majority of this seed raised around a small town called Iola. The town is known for raising honey as well in part due to the many canola flowers.
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Well, you have to admit that a field of sunflowers has more eye appeal than a field of rape seed flowers.
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@alan
These are the type of oil presses Im saying will be in every consumers hands who wants one pretty soon https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Commercial-Automatic-Stainless-Extractor/dp/B01M745W6D/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=oil+press&qid=1550493204&s=gateway&sr=8-4. For the average consumer in 3 years or so it would be paid for and the quality of the oil much better! Once people can make their own flax seed oil, canola, sunflower etc. The demand for different seeds will go up. It may be a few years but this group will exploid with people growing more flax, soybeans, rape, and sunflowers once they make their own custom oils for cooking. The oils will be infused with all types of herbs again someday and the stuff on the shelves will sit there. Its not unusual for people to ask me now if ive ever tried chia seed which would not have happened even 5 years ago. In Kansas some people are adding chia in oatmeal etc. So its a small jump to making oils. There are lots of gardeners who can feed the rape plants to pigs and chickens etc. let alone till it in the soil as organic matter. Amaranth is another grown for seed and as a green spinach like vegetables but i have no idea the oil content of the seed.
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Maybe your career should be in capital investment instead of farming. You are sounding quite visionary in that realm.
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all vegetable foods are toxic to some extent (fruits being an exception as a class), but canola, being a seed and counting erucic acid among its toxins, is more toxic than average, GMO or not. But there are high oleic safflower and sunflowers out there, and their fat spectrum should be similar to olive oil, so healthwise that is the way to go. But unrefined sunflower oil looks very black/dirty, so it takes some getting used to.
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People don’t mill their own flour or grind, let alone roast their own coffee. Even juicing fruit isn’t the norm. I’d think all of these things would have more appeal to the masses than pressing their own oil.
I’d be more interested in growing olives if turning it to oil was super easy. But I have a hard time finding the time and energy to manage my fruit harvest as a hobby.
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I like that this machine can process nuts into oil, we have an abundance of black walnut around here. Im growing hazels too and I would think they’d make a lovely oil. Ive looked into buying one of these, hope to make the jump as my hazels mature.
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I saw a movie called Lorenzo’s Oil about a boy,who had a debilitating brain disease and Rapeseed oil was one of things used to slow the illness and it helped a lot of others.Only males are affected and I think it comes from the mother.
Erucic acid may have been the derivative.bb
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This is very interesting. I’m in the process of growing crops I can use for supplementing my income when I retire in 3 years. I am currently looking at Sorghum, Amaranth, Qinuoa and sunflowers. The Mammoth sunflower seed are quite large and I can do several acres if i wanted to. TY for posting this. I’m going to do more research on the right seeds that I can grow here and still get oil worth selling. Very cool. Thanks again CL… I am curious though? It says good for up to 3-5 hours of pressing? I guess maybe it heats up? I’ll look up the company and see…
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I love the rape. But I GUESS in Kansas the sunflower is still king. If they quit spraying the rape with pesticides, the honeybees could do a lot better.
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@dutch-s
You seem like you might like distillation of oils as well Distilling Mint Oils. Heat is always an issue with this type of device.
Why do they seem like the same thing to me? Am I missing something or is it one is personal and one kind of commercial? I was looking at the 1800 Watt. Most expensive one but seems up to a good workout…
One thread is a several years ago older model and the Essential Oil Steam Distillation Apparatus Kit is a seperate device.
Personally I have my eye on the Happybuy 400S.
Now that is a real haymaker.
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Got ya…I really like the Happybuy one. I couldn’t find a website of the business that makes it though. Just places to buy it. I’m interested in much more about the machine. I’ve got a nice bonus coming and this would be a perfect addition the the Freeze Dryer I’m getting…I’m really trying to go completely self sufficient. Was thinking of making up some food survival kits with freeze dried foods…? I don’t know. Seems like I could do it…I’m the entrepreneurial type:grin:
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Where can you find that?
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Funny you should mention that. I actually talked over the internet to this guy and seems their stuff is very high quality…
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