how is avocado oil made?
We’ll hear things like “how is avocado oil made?” or “how can I get some?” There are lots of recipes online for making avocado oil at home, so we’ll sometimes get “can I make avocado oil at home?” usually followed by “what’s the difference between the recipes I see online and the avocado oil I see in stores?”
After meeting the da Silva family who grows avocados in San Diego and also makes Bellavado Avocado Oil with the avocados they grow, I thought it would be informative to ask them these questions and share the answers with you. As the only producer of avocado oil in California that we know of that only uses California grown avocados, I’m happy to share the Q&A session I had with Charissa da Silva below. Enjoy!
Is the avocado oil you can make at home with coconut cream or other additives the same as store bought avocado oil?
We don’t know much about this process, since we have never tried it. One of the biggest differences I see from store bought avocado oil is Bella Vado Avocado Oil is pure, unrefined and no extracts like coconut oil are used to separate the oil. The avocado oil recipes you find online are more of a cream than oil since the oil doesn’t appear to be completely separated from the pulp. We extract the oil from the pulp and separate the water of the fruit. This would be difficult using an at home method.
How is professionally made avocado oil produced?
There are many different ways to produce avocado oil. We believe that the purest way to make avocado oil starts from California Avocados. That is key when making raw avocado oil, as with life itself, what you put into something is what you get out of it. We naturally ripen California grown avocados once picked from our avocado grove in San Diego. When the fruit is perfectly ripe the avocados are pushed through the press. We ensure that only quality fruit is used and we do this by inspecting each piece of fruit by hand before it’s processed and after it’s washed.
washing avocados
After the avocados have been washed they are de-pitted and de-skinned since we are only pressing the pulp. The pressed avocados makes for a beautiful vat of green “guac.” Afterwards we separate the pulp from the oil in a centrifuge process. It’s a drum that spins at high speeds, which forces both oil and water out of the pulp. Because the resulting oil is less dense than the water, it rests on the water and flows out through strategic holes in the drum. What comes out is slightly thick and green. As unrefined avocado oil should be.
What other uses are there for avocado oil?
Avocado oil has many uses. Some have only been realized in the last year or two. Examples of uses besides cooking or salad dressings are: cuticle treatment, skin lotions, skin & hair treatments, wood treatment (avocado oil actually gives wood a nice deep beautiful color by enhancing the natural oils in the wood) or adding it to baby formula. Avocado oil is also a great creamy, buttery alternative to coconut oil, olive oil or butter. Or a great addition!
