Sesame oil is available naturally from sesame seeds. In terms of nutritional values, the oil contains very similar substances to those originally found in its seed form. It has calcium, copper, zinc, iron, magnesium, and more.
Due to being rich in zinc, sesame oil is great for your skin! It helps eliminate different skin conditions, reduces the effects of premature aging, and delays the appearance of age spots. Traditional medicines, it’s used to treat fungal infections on the skin.
It also contains a wide variety of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including two named after sesame – sesamol and sesamin. They help keep your cholesterol low, and your cardiovascular system remains healthy. Basically, it protects you from strokes and heart attacks.
Follow the step-by-step extraction method below to make sesame oil yourself.
Step 1: Get fresh sesame seeds (It’s best to make oil from seeds at their ripest and freshest).
Step 2:Once you have the seeds, you need to toast them first. You can do this on your stove by putting them in a large frying pan or placing them on a baking sheet and toasting them in the oven at 350 degrees. (Either way, you should toast them for around 5 minutes, then remove them, and toast them again for 10 to 20 minutes). When the seed becomes brown and you smell a nutty aroma while they are toasting, that means they are done. Remove them to cool.
Step 3:At this point, mix them with sunflower oil or peanut oil. You should use four cups of sunflower oil for one cup of sesame seeds. Mix them in a pan then put them on the stove for a few more minutes, using medium heat.
Step 4:After this, put the mixture in a blender and blend it until the seeds are crushed into tiny pieces. Remove the mixture from the blender and let it sit for about two hours.
Step 5: Pour the mixture you have into an empty bowl that’s covered with some clean cheesecloth or sterile gauze. With this, you have successfully extracted the oil. Now put it in an airtight container and let it sit in a cold place, possibly the refrigerator, for a few weeks or, if you want to be sure, a month, before using it.
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Note: In case you used peanut oil, the process is a bit different. You should remove the mixture from the blender when it becomes paste-like. There is no need to let it sit for two hours, only around 45 minutes after which the oil will rise to the top. Then you just have to scoop the oil off the top, and you’re done.
Either way, you now have a good batch of sesame oil that you can use for cooking or a wide variety of other uses.
