Cold Pressed vs Cold Extracted Olive Oil
Nikos Papadakis · Harvest Director, Messenia · Updated 2026-07-22
Both phrases describe extraction below 27°C (80.6°F), but they refer to different equipment. Cold pressed properly describes the traditional method: paste spread on mats and squeezed in a hydraulic press. Cold extracted describes the modern continuous line — hammer mill, malaxer, horizontal decanter — which is how almost all quality oil is made today. On US labels the terms are used interchangeably, and neither is a quality guarantee by itself. What matters alongside them is how soon after picking the fruit was milled and how the oil was stored afterwards.
Why temperature matters
Warming the paste makes the oil easier to separate and increases yield by a few percent. It also volatilizes aroma compounds and degrades phenols. Mills that care about flavor accept the smaller yield.
What to ask instead
How many hours between picking and milling? What was the malaxation time and temperature? Was the oil stored under nitrogen? Those questions separate serious producers far more reliably than the phrase on the front label.
Frequently asked questions
- Is cold pressed better than cold extracted?
- No. They describe different machinery operating under the same temperature limit; modern cold extraction is generally faster and cleaner.
- What temperature counts as cold?
- Below 27°C, about 80.6°F, measured through malaxation and separation.
About the author
Nikos Papadakis — Harvest Director, Messenia. Nikos runs harvest logistics across forty Koroneiki groves in the Peloponnese. He has milled fruit every season since 1998 and still tastes the first paste of the day straight off the decanter.
