Getting oil from a vegetable ~

[Sugarella]

Recently, I was reminded of a little culinary adventure I had about a deacde ago while staying with a gracious old neighbour for a few weeks while I was between apartments. I'll preface the story by stating I'd already been there a week and had reminded her twice that she was fresh out of vegetable oil; olive, canola, or otherwise. So we've established there's no oil in the house......

While I was very busy doing something else in another area of the house, the smoke detector kept going on and off from her kitchen, which she'd curse and bang with what I presumed was a broomhandle, from the familiar sounding wooden thuds hitting the ceiling and resonating throughout her little house. The house thickly filled with smoke, and I could hear a very distinct loud sizzling going on in there. Knowing she was previously a trained chef I figured she had everything under control. And not being quite the foodie then that I am today, sadly, I paid little attention at the time.

After the smoke cleared, I ventured into the kitchen to inquire about the commotion. I noticed an entire bushel of red bell peppers she'd gathered from her garden, previously on display on the countertop, was now a smallish shrivelled charcoal heap in the wastebasket.

"What were you doing?", I asked.

"Oh...." , and with a nonchalant flip of her hand.... " I made oil."

Did you read that people!?! SHE MADE OIL.

Ok.... now I know how olive oil is made.... a hydraulic press exerts thousands of pounds on helpless ripe olives until their oil squirts out. Big girl that she was, my elderly neighbour could no where near have possessed the physical strength required to get oil out of bell peppers.

So, I ask you.... is it possible.... with very high heat and a bit of elbow grease, to press oil out of a fresh veggie!? Or was she pulling my leg, and simply infused some regular vegetable oil with the peppers by scorching them in already-existing-oil? (The bell pepper oil, by the way, all 3 cups or so of it, was absolutely DELICIOUS!)

Edited March 22, 2006 by Sugarella (log)

[pounce]

It's my understanding that bell peppers contain 0g Fat. No fat, no oil.

[Patrick S]

It's my understanding that bell peppers contain 0g Fat. No fat, no oil.

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Yeah. I checked the USDA nutrient database, and they have a couple of entries giving values of about 0.17-0.30g lipids per 100g of Capsicum annuum, which means they are about 99.83 to 99.7% fat-free. So, they are fat-free for all practical purposes. Olives are like 10-15% lipids.

[Sugarella]

It's my understanding that bell peppers contain 0g Fat. No fat, no oil.

←

Yeah. I checked the USDA nutrient database, and they have a couple of entries giving values of about 0.17-0.30g lipids per 100g of Capsicum annuum, which means they are about 99.83 to 99.7% fat-free. So, they are fat-free for all practical purposes. Olives are like 10-15% lipids.

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Of course peppers have no fat....why ddn't I think of this before posting? Ok....just assume I'm a drunk and go about your business.....

[rooftop1000]

Hmmm bell pepper vodka

[Luckylies]

heh.