Cooking oils have come under the scanner in recent years with many families switching to oils manufactured in a more natural manner than those subjected to a high level of refining. This is what led Hariharan Ramaswamy to launch an oil maker suitable for home use. He has teamed up with Sri Raam Bio Tech managed by Siddharth Kalingarayar to market the machine under the brand name seeds2oil. He also offers demonstrations of how to use it. A group of us made an appointment for the live demo, which we were told would take a couple of hours depending on the variety and quantity of seeds used. The machine isn’t very big and takes up as only much counter space as a mixer-blender. The demo began with about 300 gm of copra bits. The staff pointed out that it is essential to use smaller pieces as that would not only facilitate uniformity in operation but also speed up the process. In just a few minutes, the unmistakable fragrance of fresh coconut oil permeated the air. We were told that it would take up to an hour to produce two litres of oil and the electricity consumed by running the machine for three hours would be just one unit. The machine comes with instructions printed on the side to let the user know which temperature setting is best for which seed. The setting varies from 60°C to 210°C. This was a cause of concern because an oil is termed cold pressed only when it is under 60-70°C. Siddharth, who has been using this machine at home for several months, assures us that the heat is required to separate the dry pulp from the oil. We also observed that, as the oil dripped into the waiting container, it did not in any way come into direct contact with a heat source nor was it subjected to constant heat even for a few minutes. The oil feels warm to the touch because the stainless steel body tends to disperse heat as the oil passes through the shaft. We continued to experiment with peanut, black sesame and mustard seeds. The mechanism that crushes the seeds is designed to be self-cleaning and, if necessary a thin bamboo stick, is used to remove any residue. What added to our fascination was that the by-product came out looking like thin curly pencil shavings and tasted deliciously crunchy. Tossed with a bit of jaggery, the peanut and coconut bits made for tasty nibbles! We even managed to try our hand at extracting walnut oil, much to the delight of the marketing team as that made another item to add to their list. The oil maker is easy to use, no spills to clean up and the results are evident. With such fresh oils to cook with, it reduces daily oil consumption. That’s something worth thinking about. Benefits of cold-pressed oils Oils that are pressed from seed and used directly without refining are full of antioxidants and nutrients Due to the concentration of flavour in each oil, it needs to be used sparingly. This helps cut down overall consumption The machine need not be used everyday. It takes only two days to extract about 4 to 5 litres of oil Sesame oil (nallenai) must be allowed to settle for an hour or two after pressing before consumption Quick facts The seeds2oil maker has been used by over 50 consumers over the past four months The company has appointed distributors across the country to talk about the benefits of making oil at home For information on price and group demos, call +919447745124

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