Flaxseed oil comes from the seeds of the flax plant, and many people believe that it has a range of health benefits. The oil is a source of omega-3 and other essential fatty acids. You can make flaxseed oil by following some simple steps. Different methods and types of equipment may improve the yield of oil from flax seeds, but the same basic process applies in every situation.
Instructions
1. Grow flax plants to get flax seeds or simply purchase a quantity of flax seeds. Growing and harvesting the seeds yourself may be more satisfying, but simply buying the seeds may be the better choice if you have more money than time.
2. Get a press for squeezing the oil from the seeds. If you're doing large scale production, you need bigger (and more expensive) equipment than if you're simply making enough flaxseed oil for yourself.
3. Decide if you want quantity or quality with regard to the oil. If you want to get the most oil out of the seeds, adding heat and sometimes a solvent can increase the amount of oil extracted from the seeds. If you want pure oil that's unaltered by heat or contaminated by solvents, avoid using heat or chemicals.
4. Place the flax seeds in the press and crush the seeds to extract the oil. This process produces some amount of heat, so if you're doing this on a large scale and you only want "cold-pressed" oil, make sure that the temperature of the flax seeds doesn't get too high.
5. Filter the flaxseed oil, if necessary, to remove any small bits of seed material that may be floating in it. This step is a matter of personal preference.
Tags: flax seeds, from seeds, large scale