Calculate Your Expected Oil Yield
Pick your seed and pressing method, enter the raw material quantity — get an honest range, not a fantasy number. Ranges come from published agronomy data and typical field practice.
How the estimate works
Oil out = quantity × seed oil content × press recovery × moisture factor. Two things matter more than brand: seed moisture (7–9% is the sweet spot) and proper roasting for hot pressing. The press cake still holds residual oil — 5–8% after a good double press, 10–18% after a single cold pass.
| Seed | Typical oil content |
|---|---|
| Peanut / Groundnut (shelled) | 44–50% |
| Sesame | 48–55% |
| Sunflower (oilseed type) | 38–48% |
| Soybean | 17–20% |
| Rapeseed / Canola | 38–44% |
| Mustard | 33–40% |
| Cottonseed (delinted) | 15–20% |
| Copra (dried coconut) | 60–68% |
Full agronomy ranges are built into the calculator. See also the cold press vs hot press guide and buying guide, or size ya machine with the capacity calculator.
A worked example
Take 100 kg of soybean at ~18% oil content, hot-pressed on a screw press recovering ~72–85% of the oil, at ideal 7–9% moisture. Oil out ≈ 100 × 0.18 × ~0.80 ≈ 14–15 kg of oil, with the rest of the oil (and the protein) staying in the cake or, at scale, recovered by solvent extraction. A high-oil seed tells a different story: 100 kg of sesame at ~50% oil content, well pressed, yields on the order of 35–42 kg. The calculator applies your seed's oil-content range, the recovery of your chosen method, and a moisture factor — which is why it returns a range, not one number.
Reading the range, and its limits
The estimate is deliberately a range because real yield swings with seed variety and condition, moisture, roasting and press setup — the same seed can give quite different results on different days. Two factors move it more than brand: moisture (7–9% is the sweet spot; wetter seed loses yield) and, for hot pressing, proper roasting. Remember the cake still holds residual oil (about 5–8% after a good double press, 10–18% after a single), which is recovered only by pressing harder or extracting. Use the figure for planning, and confirm actual yield on your own seed and line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much oil is in 100 kg of soybeans?
Soybean is a low-oil seed at about 17–20% oil content, so 100 kg holds roughly 17–20 kg of oil. Mechanical pressing recovers only part of it; at scale soybean is solvent-extracted to reach about 1% residual oil in the meal.
Why do I get a range instead of one number?
Because real yield depends on seed variety, moisture, roasting and press condition. Anyone quoting a single exact percentage before testing your seed is guessing. The range covers published agronomy data plus normal press recovery.
What moisture should my seeds be?
7–9% for most oilseeds. Wetter seeds seal oil inside and can drop yield 10%+ — sun-dry first. Bone-dry seeds below 5% can also press poorly.
Why is my actual yield lower than the calculator?
The three usual causes: seed moisture too high, under-roasting (for hot pressing), or a worn pressing worm/bars. The machine brand is rarely the reason.
Can I press the cake a second time?
Yes — single-pass cake often holds 10–18% residual oil. A second pass or a multi-stage press recovers most of it; that is exactly what 4-stage bar-cage presses are designed for.