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What is not mentioned in product description: you will also need
Aug 10, 2017
You will need the following items to get this thing to even pretend to 'work'. Two heavy C clamps (Why? Because don't even think about attaching it with the carriage bolts they include, the one is too short and the other two do not have any nuts to attach to the bottom of them, so they would rip out of the wood). Hammer ( you can use the one round headed bolt to knock the concrete-like press cake out using it and the hammer). The strength of Charles Atlas (even though the crank arm is long, it doesn't work right because the spent pressed cake has no place to go, and the wing nut that attaches the handle to the crank always needs to be tightened. There's a slit near the beginning (near the crank handle) but this seems to be mostly for decoration or to help small seeds come out before their pressed, as the spent oil cake does not come out of this, it gets mashed up against the end of the auger). The patience of Buddha (you will have to put in whatever you are (ha ha) trying to press for oil about a spoonful at a time, and then when a drop or two of oil comes out the cake is spent and you may have better luck by reversing the crank to hopefully get the stuff out (no promises). This is actually a perfect gift for someone you hate, say an Uncle you despise, who is a survival type, or an Aunt who always gives you crappy gifts like socks and underwear that don't fit. I would have given this item negative stars if possible (-10), because it is Pure hell to use, it makes a royal mess (don't even try using it with a flammable heat source) and it is WAY WAY overpriced. I don't even know where they get the 8 cups of oil per hour, I think that would be impossible at least with this version. You may be lucky with 1 cup per hour. I've loved everything that I've purchased from Lehman's over the years, but this oil press is very hard to use and has major design flaws to boot. The Swiss should stick to making army knives.
Lehman's says: We're so sorry for your experience and appreciate your honesty. We contacted the manufacturer of this press and have added more information to our website to assist you and others using this press. For successful pressing, the seeds or nuts must have the right moisture content. By what you are describing, the seeds/nuts were too dry. Difficulty cranking, little to no oil production, and press cake blocks happen as a result. The best way to avoid this is checking the moisture content of the seeds or nuts before pressing (see our FAQs above for steps on how to do this). If a cake block occurs during pressing, add 0.5 oz or 15 ml of water (amount depends on how much nuts or seeds you have, see manual). After 2 days, the nuts or seeds can be pressed. If we can assist you further, please give us a call: 1-800-438-5346.
Hand-Cranked Oil Press
Jan 24, 2013
I grew a batch of canola seed and was looking forward to the oil from it using this press. I tried every possible combination of heat, reducer setting, speed of turning the handle, etc and in every case there was almost no oil and the seed caked up so hard it took forever to clean it all out. Can't recommend it for small seed. Haven't tried it with larger seed.
Lehman's says: Thank you for letting us know. It sounds like the seed might have been too dry. This is a common issue and can be corrected by adding water. Before pressing, we highly recommend checking the moisture content. This can be done by the following: Weigh exactly 3.5 oz (100 grams) of the seed or nuts to be pressed. Dry them in an oven at 212-221 degrees Fahrenheit for 1.5 hours. Nuts dry better if they are crushed or ground prior to drying. After drying the seeds or nuts, weigh them again. If the weight is still almost 3.5 oz, there was very little moisture and therefore more water must be added.
Jan 30, 2012
If living off grid and outside the grocery supply line this is a must. You will be using more cooking oil than you will be using flower. You can not meat the freshness of the oil that you are producing. I have used other units but the to replace the forcing reducer with an off the shelf reducer that can be bought at almost any hardware or plumbing store. Fore larger things like sunflower (more tailing to oil and lots of dry output) and others you can just use an open reducer and no plug.
Jan 22, 2011
Easy to use and clean. should have bought one a long time ago.
