How to Make Your Own Sunflower Oil
Making your own sunflower oil can have multiple purposes, whether for cooking or adding to homemade beauty products. If you choose to use the large, confectionary sunflower seeds, you will need additional equipment and a press in order to grade, dehull, and winnow the seeds. The small, black oilseeds also produce almost double the amount of sunflower oil. The amount of seeds you need depends on how much oil you wish to produce. To make approximately 3 gallons of oil, you will need 35 pounds of oilseeds. If you're growing your own sunflowers, that equals about 140 plants. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Sunflower oilseeds
- Roasting pan
- Strainer
- Heat-resistant & freezer-safe container
Instructions
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1
Place sunflower oilseeds ina blender and grind until it's a fine-meal consistency, then place in the roasting pan.
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2
Roast oilseeds in the oven at 300 degrees F, stirring every five minutes for 20 minutes. Let it cool for a brief moment then pour through a strainer into the heat- resistant and freezer-safe container.
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3
Store the containers of oil in the refrigerator. The oil should be used within a month, because it contains no preservatives.
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4
Freeze the leftover cake of mash to reheat at a later time for the remaining oil. This cake of mash can also be used for bird food.
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Tips & Warnings
Reheating the leftover mash to retrieve the remaining oil will not convert it into a saturated fat.
Sunflower oilseeds produce nearly double the amount of oil than the larger, common seeds.
This project is not to be attempted by unsupervised children, as the oil will be extremely hot when removed from the oven.
