The olive mill of Benagalbón, Oleoturismo in the Axarquia

Hojiblanca olive in full ripening. Courtesy of Jesus Porras Ruiz

HA year ago my son told me that they had gone to a oil press to see how the "olive juice" was made. It was about the Almazara de Benagalbon. A first step to perform Oleotourism

This mill is a purely family business run for 3 generations by the same family. Under the brand Benaoliva we offer a superior olive juice. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (AEOVE) from the olive trees of the Axarquia region.

Olive trees carefully cared for and free of treatments with fertilizers, phytosanitary products or other chemical products. In other words, totally ecological oil.
This family bases its success on four fundamental points:

1. Exceptional olives of the terrain collected by vareo (from the flight or directly from the tree).
2. Laborious craft process with special respect to temperatures and pressures and absence of these (without pressing).
3. Natural decantation, without centrifugation, filtering, etc.
4. Fresh oil, always from the current campaign.

The oils obtained come from the olives of the land, the verdial variety and lechina, and what is more important, its treatment is handmade and completely ecological since its philosophy is: "a firm commitment to quality and not quantity. We guarantee that the oil produced comes from the current campaign "

Recommended site to visit and contemplate that the tradition that left us more than 500 years ago the Arabs, endures without any change. They can also buy their excellent products at the mill itself.

L The oils obtained come from the olives of the land, the verdial variety and lechina, and what is more important, its treatment is handmade and completely ecological since its philosophy is: "a firm commitment to quality and not quantity. We guarantee that the oil produced comes from the current campaign "

Recommended site to visit and contemplate that the tradition that left us more than 500 years ago the Arabs, endures without any change. They can also buy their excellent products at the mill itself.

The elaboration is based on:

The olives

In full extraction of the oil in the mill Queen of the Axarquia

In the mountainous terrains of Benagalbón and surroundings converge verdial and lechín varieties, grown without the help of fertilizers, phytosanitary or other chemical products (we have available to customers analysis of pesticide residues conducted by independent agri-food laboratory).

Its harvesting is carried out in a traditional way, by means of the technique of the vareo (the olives come directly from the tree or from the flight). This blend of verdiales fruits and lechines gives us an exceptional base to obtain a premium quality oil. Once in the mill, after cleaning and weighing, they are stored for further grinding in a period of time not exceeding 24 hours.

The Grinding

Oil mill

This process consists in crushing the olives. In our case, the milling is carried out as it was centuries ago, using a granite stone mill, the basic principle to obtain a quality oil, since this method offers a better dilaceration of the olive, a lower risk of oxidation (for the lower milling speed, 10-12 rpm) and for not incorporating metal traces with respect to other milling systems.

The shake

Its mission is to homogenize the olive paste from the mill and favor the oil outlet. In this process we take special care of the speed of beat, the time and, above all, the temperature (always below 27 ° C), thus not losing aromatic compounds or accelerating oxidative processes.

Pressing

The separation of solids and liquids is carried out by means of a hydraulic press. In a trolley guided by a central axis the capes are superimposed, between which the olive paste is introduced, forming the so-called cargo. The pressure exerted by the press leads to the exit of liquids (oil and alpechin), while the solids (the so-called pomace) are retained in the mats. This process is carried out at low pressures, giving rise to the known first cold pressure.

Decantation

It consists of the classic separation by density difference: oil (0.915 - 0.916), vegetable water (1.015 - 1.086). For this reason, and with enough time, the alpechin will go to the bottom and the oil will be suspended. All this is done naturally and at the perfect ambient temperature that we have at 20 ºC.

Important note: Our oil is not subjected to centrifugation processes and we lack these elements, as we consider it an attack on quality, due to excessive aeration that causes a rapid oxidation of the oil and a great loss of aromas.

Packing

All our oils are packaged without filtering. In this way, they keep all their aroma and flavor, so that there will be small deposits in the bottom. The containers used are bottles of 2 and 5 liters.
More information: Benaoliva

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