Cold Pressed Sunflower Oil

Cold Pressed Sunflower Oil — Light, Neutral, Wood Pressed in Nagpur

Sunflower oil is usually chosen for one reason: it doesn't get in the way of a dish's flavour. Refined sunflower oil takes that idea to an extreme — completely stripped of colour, smell and taste. Ours takes a gentler approach. We cold press it in a wooden ghani, so it keeps a touch of sunflower's natural light, faintly nutty character instead of tasting like nothing at all, while still staying mild enough not to compete with your food.

How we press it. Sunflower seeds are cleaned and crushed in our wooden ghani at low speed and low temperature. No hexane extraction, no bleaching, no deodorising — just pressing, filtering and bottling. Because sunflower seed has a relatively high oil content, the ghani extracts it efficiently even without the industrial pressure and heat used in mass refining.

Why this matters for a "neutral" oil specifically. Sunflower oil is naturally rich in vitamin E and largely unsaturated fat — but heavy refining, which is standard for commercial sunflower oil, removes a meaningful share of that vitamin E along with everything else that gives the oil any character. If the appeal of sunflower oil for you is genuinely its neutrality — for dishes, baking, or dressings where you don't want oil flavour intruding — cold-pressed sunflower oil gives you that same light neutrality while keeping more of what the seed naturally contained.

How to use it

Storing it right

Keep the bottle capped and stored in a cool, dark spot away from the stove and direct sunlight. Cold-pressed sunflower oil doesn't need refrigeration, but because it's unrefined it's more sensitive to light and heat exposure than refined oil — for best flavour and nutrient retention, use within 4–6 months of opening.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the sunflower oil sold in supermarkets?
Supermarket sunflower oil is almost always refined — bleached, deodorised and chemically processed to be completely neutral and shelf-stable. Ours is cold pressed, so it keeps a light, faintly nutty character and more of the seed's natural nutrients, at the cost of a shorter shelf life.

Is cold pressed sunflower oil still "neutral" enough for baking and light dishes?
Yes — it's noticeably milder than mustard or sesame oil, and still one of the lighter-tasting oils in our range, even though it's not completely flavourless like heavily refined sunflower oil.

Can I use this for deep frying?
It works for occasional frying with a reasonable smoke point, but like all our cold-pressed oils, we don't recommend reusing it repeatedly — the natural compounds that make it worth choosing over refined oil also break down faster under repeated high heat.

Why does the price vary so much between cold pressed and refined sunflower oil?
Wood pressing extracts less oil per kilogram of seed than industrial refining, and the process is slower — that's reflected in the price, not a markup on an identical product.

Does this oil contain any additives or preservatives?
No — nothing is added at any stage. It's pressed, filtered and bottled, with no chemical solvents, additives or preservatives.

Is this a good everyday cooking oil, or better suited for occasional use?
It works well as an everyday oil, particularly for dishes where you want a lighter, more neutral base than groundnut or mustard oil provides.