Instructions

Step 1: Place your sunflower oilseeds into a food processor and blend until the seeds begin to stick to the sides. 

Step 2: Transfer your meal into a bowl and add a few teaspoons of water and massage until you can feel it coming together into what could almost be described as an oily pattie. 

Step 3: Now comes the exciting part – extracting the oil. There are different methods to do this, but the one that worked for me was to place the pattie/cake of ground seeds into a strainer over a bowl, and set a weight over the top. The weight I used was 1.5 kg.

Step 4: Leave it overnight. Slowly, the oil will move down to the bottom and into the bowl. 

Step 5: Remove the cake from the strainer and physically squeeze any remaining oil out with your hands. 

Step 6: Optional – roast the ground seeds. Spread the paste on a roasting pan and roast in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring every five minutes for about 20 minutes. This process helps to release the oil from the sunflower seeds. Then repeat the pressing process.

Step 7. Strain the extracted oil through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean glass jar. You may need to strain the oil several times to remove all the solid particles.

Step 8: Store your homemade sunflower oil in a cool, dark place. It should last for a couple of months in the right conditions. Remember to check the oil regularly for any signs of rancidity.