Coffee beans contain natural oils which are activated by heat application. Often referred to as "essence" or chemically known as "caffeol," this oil in pure form is in high demand. Used in many things including biodiesel, cosmetics, health supplements and fragrance oil, the extraction occurs by use of expensive commercial machinery. With a little work, a home method of extraction with olive oil additive can be done for pennies on the dollar.
Empty six oz. raw green or roasted coffee beans into a small to medium Crock Pot. Cover thoroughly with six cups of extra virgin olive oil. Stir once with a wooden spoon, ensuring everything is coated evenly.
Optional: You may choose to fresh grind your coffee beans for this method. If so, grind the coffee beans medium to coarse, and measure ten oz. of grounds using a measuring cup.
Power on the Crock Pot. Low heat should be used for roasted coffee beans, medium to high heat for unroasted coffee beans or ground coffee beans. Cover and wait.
Use the wooden spoon to stir the mixture every hour on the hour. Higher heat settings for the unroasted coffee beans should be checked more frequently so as not to burn the olive oil. The higher heat may be turned down once the coffee beans appear to turn darker in color.
Depending on your Crock Pot, this process may take anywhere from eight to ten hours, though you can safely leave it for twelve hours for a stronger mixture. The longer the mixture is cooked, the stronger the finished product.
Prepare your thirty-two oz. mason jar. Remove the two part lid and stretch the cheesecloth over the opening of the jar. The cheesecloth should appear to hang inwards into the jar. Tighten the ring back onto the jar. This will hold the cheesecloth for easy straining.
Strain your mixture with a two part straining process when cook time is finished. Hold a small handheld strainer directly above the cheesecloth on the jar. Use a ladle with the opposite hand to scoop your mixture from the Crock Pot, gently pouring above the handheld strainer. The beans will be trapped into the handheld strainer, allowing the remaining mixture to seep though into the cheesecloth. The cheesecloth will act as a further refining net, catching any additional impurities. The refined mixture will drip into the jar. Continue until you cannot ladle any more. You must pour the remaining mixture from the Crock Pot directly into the cheesecloth. Use a teaspoon to scoop any impurities or leftover coffee beans from the top of the cheesecloth and discard them.
Evaluate your mixture. If the cheesecloth has allowed some impurities to seep through, you may wish to pour the mixture into another receptacle, using another cheesecloth to refine the mixture again. Otherwise, your homemade coffee oil is now ready for use or storage. It will have a shelf life like that of regular olive oil.
Tip
Extracting 'pure' oil from coffee beans (no additives) is possible with commercial mechanical equipment, such as the LYZX18 Cold Press, or the M-70 AG Oil Press. Seed oil extractors are available in health food stores and advances in this technology may give way to eventually offering models that may be used on coffee beans sometime in the future for home oil extraction.
This same recipe can be used replacing the coffee beans/grounds with 16 oz. used coffee grounds.
Warning
There are also scientific methods of extraction of coffee oil from beans or grounds using chemicals such as hexane, but should only be done by a professional .
References
Writer Bio
Ira Mency, nom de plume of Cindy Fahnestock-Schafer, has been writing for more than 25 years and is a published fiction novelist. Her work encompasses ghostwriting, e-book publishing, press releases and Web design. She is also editor of the blogs Retro Chalet, Vintage Chalet and Etsy Recyclers Guild. Mency received a Certificate of Study in Marketing from Mid-State University in Augusta, Maine.