Olive City

Corning California is known as the ‘Olive City’. The surrounding countryside is full of olive orchards and thousands of gallons of olive oil are pressed there every year. Today we visited the Corning Olive Oil Company and took a tour. It was awesome. We didn’t get to see the olives being pressed but we got to walk thru the entire facility and have the whole process explained to us. We know how the olives are pressed, how they separate the water from the oil & strain out the pulp. We know what they do with the water (filter & reclaim it) what they do with the pulp (use it as fertilizer) how long it takes to go from olive to bottle (6 weeks) & so many other fascinating facts. We learned the process for making seasoned dipping oils & the kids each got to run the machine to fill the bottles. They got to cap the bottles & run them thru the shrink wrap machine. We got to tastes various oils from the huge 300 gallon totes where the oil was ‘racked’. We also bought 4 gallons (yes, gallons) of their house blend & a bottle of dipping oil, lime infused oil & a pomegranate vinegar. Filling the dipping oil bottles with Josephina. Capping the bottles Learning how they crush the olives with Luis. The centrifuge where they separate the oil & water The filtration vat and the final product: Jim next to a BIG box of olive oil So, if you are ever in Corning, stop by the Corning Olive Oil Company & take a tour with Jim, Josephina & Luis. They were great. And taste some of their cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil. So good & so good for you. Getcha some. Blessings.