Avocado oil contains a high level of essential fats which are very beneficial for nutrition and hydration of the skin. Its regenerative and protective properties make it an ideal vegetable oil for treating dry skin and chapped hands. Besides its aesthetic benefits, we can also highlight its antioxidant properties. It is high in vitamins E and A, fatty acids and proteins among others. While these can be great for your health, it might not be as helpful for your weekly budget as avocado oil is expensive. It's also not readily available everywhere, certainly not as much as regular avocados. This is why oneHOWTO shows you how to make your own avocado oil at home easily so that you can get these benefits and save at the same time.
- Two avocados
Avocado oil can be extracted by cold pressing avocado, which is why we classify it as a vegetable oil and not an essential oil. Essential oils are distilled (like whisky) which is a much more involved process than this easy method. Although we are classifying avocado oil as a vegetable oil, the avocado fruit is technically a berry.
The first thing we will do is cut the fruit in half, extract the pulp and throwing away the stone. This is unless you want to attempt to plant the stone for a potential avocado plant. With the help of a mortar, pulp two avocados in a bowl or container for approximately two or three minutes. If you hold on to the avocado skins, then we will show how to extract every last drop of avocado oil when you read on to the end of this article.
If you have the aid of an electronic kitchen appliance such as a food processor or electric hand mixer, then we advise using these instead. The difference between beating manually or using a processor is that, with the processor, the final result will have a finer texture. This will make the oil extraction easier, but honestly not significantly. Two avocados get about 25 ml of oil so if you want more quantity, simply increase the amount of avocados. This is the only ingredient in the avocado oil making process, so the more the merrier.
Now take a baking tray or any large flat surface suitable for the oven and spread out the mashed avocado. You must create a thin layer by stretching the pulped fruit as much possible. We do this to facilitate the drying of the avocado and then the extraction of its oil. The thinner the layer, the faster it will dry. You will probably need another tray because one will not be enough for all the mash (depending on how many avocados you have used).
The next step for making homemade avocado oil is split into three options:
- If you live in a warm enough country, you are able to put the mashed avocado oil out into the sun. This will slowly dry out the avocado, leaving you with an oily pulp from which you can extract the oil. However, you will need perfectly dry conditions and it can take one or two days depending on how hot it is. Chances of rain can make this process difficult.
- The second option for extracting the oil is to dry it out in an oven. This accelerates the process and is much less hassle as you don't have to worry about the elements. Heat your oven to 122 ºF/50 ºC and place the tray in the top center so that air can circulate. The reason for the low temperature is so that the avocado dries out, but does not bake. A similar process is used for making homemade jerky. Leave it in the oven for about 5 hours.
- The last way to make avocado oil from the pulp is to put it into a saucepan and place it on a very low heat. During this time, you want to evaporate the moisture away similar to how you would do in the sun or an oven. It might be the quickest way to do it, but it is also the most labor intensive as you need to keep stirring continuously to ensure it doesn't burn on the bottom. Even on the lowest heat, the avocado can burn. Once the avocado pulp has dried and turned dark brown, turn off the heat and let cool.
Whether drying in the sun or oven, you should be able to see the difference drastically in the mashed pulp. It should be a dark brown color, but not black. If the avocado is black, it is possible the oven was too high and you burned it. Make sure to keep and eye on it during the drying process. Remove it from the oven and with the help of a spatula scrape away the dried avocado.
When you have all of the dried avocado, take it and put into a clean cloth for pressing. This cloth can be made of muslin, white gauze or something similar. Ideally you should hold it over a just which can hold the cloth over it without falling in. If not, you can use a bowl and just make sure you hold it well. Twist the cloth at the open end and squeeze so that the oil drips into your container. Making the most of what you have means wringing every last drop. Extracting the oil this way can be a little tedious, but it is effective.
When you have thoroughly strained the dry avocado your homemade avocado oil will be ready. The result is a vegetable oil with a greenish yellow colour which is very nutritious and good for the skin. You shouldn't have any bits of avocado pulp if using the correct muslin or cheese cloth. Strain again if you do.
The final way to extract every last drop of avocado oil is to use the skins you left aside from earlier. You will need some sort of a press, which can be difficult to find. This makes this the least feasible option for many, but it's great if you have something suitable. Simply put the skins (ideally with a little flesh still in them) into the press, turn and twist the press until the oil comes out. Put with the rest of the oil and use as you wish.
If you like natural cosmetics, we recommend you visit our articles on making your own orange essential oil, homemade lavender oil, coconut oil or lemon essential oil.
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