Use the links above to see more photos.

Here are the steps:

  • Picking the olives (with yours truly).
  • At the frantoio granite wheels grind them into a paste.
  • The paste is slathered onto nylon mats which are piled one atop another to form a cylinder.
  • The cylinder is placed under an hydraulic press at 400 atmospheres pressure (≈ 6,000 pounds per square inch).
  • The resulting liquid is run through a centrifuge to separate the water from the oil.
  • The oil is then poured into my stainless steel container which I pray to God does not leak on the way home.