One of the most important aspects when obtaining a good olive juice is the downtime which the olive has to pass through from its harvesting until it enters the mill, which must be as short as possible.
This is the main reason for the mill being located on one of the farms, the urgency of the transport, since the longest distance between the mill and the furthest point from it is 5 km.
The fruit is harvested very early, always depending on an optimum ripeness, (When does this aforementioned state of ripeness occur?), between the end of October and the beginning of November, when the olive has some specific pigmentations or a change in colour both of the outside of the olive and of the pulp, which shows the exact moment when the olive is going to give us a true fruit juice with which we will be able to enjoy its richness in both olfactory and taste where we will find as an experience in the oil until recently unknown, aromas such as: tomato, apple, banana, green almond, fig, green wheat, recently mown grass, …… in short a world of sensations for our senses.
This harvest is, in turn, performed over a very short period of time, since as the harvest day progresses, the olive continues to ripen at a very fast rate.
The harvest is semi-manual, since the olives are made to fall using a specific machine consisting of making the trunk vibrate so that the fruit falls quickly and in greater quantity, with traditional hand beating helping in this task, this being followed by an extensive amount of manpower to collect the fruit in bales and then load it on trailers that will quickly transport the olives to the oil mill.
Just 2 hours from the start of the working day, the first batches of olives arrive at the oil mill, where our “factory master” makes a first visual inspection of the condition of the fruit, checking that it is healthy and with a good exterior appearance.
Subsequently it is processed in the cleaning plant, consisting of separating the olive from possible impurities such as leaves and branches, using a cyclone that blows them, and then it is sent for storage in the stainless steel hoppers and for its immediate processing.
The crushing and beating is performed cold, with temperatures below 21ºC, in this way maintaining all the volatile components that cause the fruity aromas and flavours that are transmitted from the fruit to the juice, just the same as if we were talking about oranges.
After the beating process comes the physical centrifugation, which consists of the separation of the liquid part; alpechin or olive juice (vegetation water) and oil, from the solid part: mass (stones, pulp, …) as a result of the different densities forming the olive’s components.
As a final phase for the processing of the oil, it is cleaned in the vertical centrifuge, which as in the horizontal centrifuge, consists of separating the liquid (oil) – liquid (alpechin), using its different densities. At the exit from this vertical centrifuge the master makes his classification of the oil that will go to different tanks, depending on the tasting.
Once classified in its corresponding tanks, the oil is left to decant naturally for around 15 days, after which we will filter all the oil, in order to prevent the tanks being drained, as they are not perfect and in this way prevent the possible decanted dampness and impurities from causing a negative effect in the oil’s development during the rest of the year. They are immediately decanted and stored in tanks that have been rendered inert using nitrogen, at a controlled temperature in the cellar itself between 18º - 20º, ready for immediate bottling, in order that their qualities, both chemical and above all organoleptic, remain unaltered during an entire year.
To the press compartment of Aceites Oro Bailén Galgon 99 S.L.
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