1)Seed Preparation: After we harvest the oilseed rape crop in late July using a standard combine harvester it is dried to 7% moisture. In a 'normal' Irish summer it is harvest with moisture ranging from 10 to 15%. By reducing the moisture below 9% it ensures that the crop is safe to store over the winter and by reducing it further to 7% means it results in more efficient pressing.
2) Press the seed: The oil press takes in seed and expels oil from the barrel of the press and cake (or meal) from the end. The cake falls into a big bag and is used for animal feed as it is high protein.. The oil passes through a bag filter and is collected into a settling tank below the press From here it is pumped into a settling tank.
3) The oil is allowed to settle: This takes about 5 days. We use 3 settling tanks each with a capacity of 300 litres.
4) Final filtration to give a crystal clear oil. We us a plate filter with replaceable filter cards and food grade mono type pump to pump the oil through 2 micron filters.We use a special olive oil filter for this operation.
5) Storage in a holding tank. This final tank holds the clean oil ready for bottling.
6) Fill bottles (or other container): A volumetric filler is used to fill bottles using a compressed air machine to ensure each bottle is filled with at least the minimum amount of oil.
7) Fit the cap: We use tamper evident aluminium caps with an oil pourer which are applied using a ROPP capping machine.
8) Apply the label: This is done with a semi-automatic machine that can apply front and back labels and a best before date in one operation
9) The Final Product:
The final product is a bottle of Extra Virgin Rapesee Oil which was been grown in Co. Louth, pressed in Co. Louth , filtered in Co. Louth and bottled in Co. Louth. This product is a healthy Irish alternative to olive oil.
