Is Wood Pressed Oil Better for Your Health Than Store-Bought Oil?

Here’s what you do. Step into the kitchen without waiting. Grab the shiny bag of processed oil from where it sits. Let some of it slip onto your fingertips slowly.

Smell it. No scent at all. Taste it. Just emptiness there.

Imagine that for a moment. Supposedly, it was made from peanuts, maybe mustard seeds, perhaps even sunflower seeds. Try squashing some roasted peanuts tightly. The scent hits right away - rich, bold, impossible to ignore. Your fingers come away coated in something heavy, pungent, clinging.

What in the world happens when a gritty brown bean enters a plant - yet flows out as something see-through, flat, nearly invisible in a glass?

They used chemicals. Extreme heat. And bleach.

If you are reading this, you are probably starting to realize that the "heart-healthy" refined oils we were sold on TV for the last 30 years were a massive lie. You want to make a switch. But the internet is full of confusing terms. Cold-pressed. Wood-pressed. Virgin.

Let's clear the air. No corporate marketing talk. I am going to tell you exactly how oil is made, what happens inside those factories, and the brutal reality of what you are feeding your family.

By the end of this, you will know the exact answer to the big question: Is wood pressed oil better for your health? And more importantly, you'll know how to stop getting scammed by fake health labels.

Is wood pressed oil really healthier than refined oil?

To answer this, I have to tell you how refined oil is made. It is not a pretty story.

When a massive commercial brand wants to extract oil from a seed, they don't just crush it. That leaves too much oil behind. Instead, they wash the seeds in a chemical solvent called Hexane. Hexane is literally a petroleum byproduct. It pulls every single drop of fat out of the seed.

But now the oil smells like petroleum and looks muddy. So, they boil it. They heat it to over 200°C. Then they use chemical bleaches to strip the dark color. Then they deodorize it to kill the chemical smell.

By the time it goes into that plastic pouch, the oil is dead. Every vitamin, every antioxidant, every natural enzyme is gone. What you get is an industrial fat that causes inflammation in your body.

Now, let's look at wood pressed oil. At FreshInTheBox, we use a traditional Lakdi Ghani (wooden mortar and pestle). We put premium, sun-dried seeds into the wooden basin. A heavy wooden pestle slowly rotates, crushing the seeds. The friction squeezes the oil out.

That is the entire process. We filter it through a simple cotton cloth and put it in a bottle.

Is it healthier? It is completely different food. It retains 100% of its Vitamin E. It keeps the natural plant sterols that help manage your cholesterol. It is raw, living food. There is no hexane. There is no bleach.

Also Read: Benefits of Wood Pressed Oil |That Make It Worth Switching To

Wood-pressed oil vs cold-pressed oil which is better?

This is the biggest marketing trick in the supermarket today.

You see bottles labeled "Cold Pressed" everywhere. You think you are buying traditional Ghani oil. But you usually aren't.

Here is the legal loophole. "Cold pressed" just means the factory didn't apply external heat underneath the machine. But most cold-pressed oils are made in massive steel machines called metal expellers.

Picture high school science class. Steel rollers pressing together, grinding tough seeds - heat builds fast when metal drags on metal. That heat doesn’t stay low; it climbs quickly inside the machine. Temperatures rise until they hit 60°C, sometimes even 70°C. Once things get that hot, the good stuff in oils - the sensitive fats and nutrients - begins to fall apart.

Heat stays put because of the material. That stuff soaks up warmth instead of moving it along. The reason sits right there in what it’s made of.

Oil made by pounding groundnuts or sesame seeds inside a wooden Ghani doesn’t heat beyond thirty-five to forty degrees. Room temp holds steady throughout.

Here’s how it breaks down - cold pressed versus wood pressed oil for cooking. One step up, wood pressed stands out as top-tier among cold extracted oils. Only this method keeps the fat’s makeup fully intact, avoiding any heat harm during pressing.

Does wood pressed oil taste different than regular oil?

Yes. And it should.

We have been brainwashed to think that cooking oil shouldn't have a taste. That is unnatural.

Starts with a warm toast of scent when morning dosa hits wood pressed sesame oil. Clears your head in seconds once fish curry simmers in wood pressed mustard oil. Bhindi fried in the same brings heat, not subtle, more like a shout than a whisper.

Wood pressed oil is thick. It is viscous. When you pour it into a hot pan, it expands beautifully. You will actually find yourself using about 20% less oil than you normally do because it coats the food so much better.

Can we use wood pressed oil for deep frying?

This is a massive myth. "Health experts" tell you to use refined sunflower oil for deep frying pooris or pakoras because it has a "high smoke point."

It really paints a false picture.

When heated for frying samosas, refined oils may handle high temperatures well. Yet their resistance to oxidation is shockingly poor. Having lost natural antioxidants during processing, they degrade fast under heat. This breakdown unleashes harmful substances known as aldehydes. The body responds with intense inflammation, particularly in the heart and digestive system.

Wood pressed oils like Groundnut (Peanut) Oil and Mustard Oil are perfect for deep frying. They have a smoke point of around 160°C to 180°C. The ideal frying temperature for Indian snacks is 170°C.

More importantly, wood pressed oils are packed with natural Vitamin E. This vitamin acts as an internal shield. It protects the fat from oxidizing and breaking down when it gets hot.

Pro Kitchen Tip: When you heat real wood pressed oil, you might see a little bit of foam form on the top. Don't panic. Refined oils don't foam because factories add anti-foaming chemicals to them. That foam is just proof that your oil is raw and natural.

Which wood pressed oil is best for daily cooking?

You shouldn't use just one oil for everything. That is a modern, lazy habit. Indian cooking is built on regional oils. Here is how you should stock your kitchen:

• Wood Pressed Groundnut Oil: From wooden presses comes groundnut oil - smooth, slightly sweet. That gentle taste? Fits just right in everyday cooking. Try it when you heat spices at the start of a meal. Works well while browning veggies too. Even holds up under high heat for frying things like pakoras.
• Wood Pressed Mustard Oil: That sharp-smelling oil? A staple up north. Cooks there swear by it. Smoke rising means it is ready - wait for that pale curl before adding anything else. Heat strips away the harsh edge. What remains works well in thick sauces, even better in tangy preserves. Germs do not stand a chance near this stuff.
• Wood Pressed Sesame Oil (Gingelly): From the core of southern kitchens comes sesame oil, cold pressed. Strong support for bones lives here. High heat ruins its balance. Try warming it gently instead. Drizzle on idli mixed with spice powder. Or blend into tangy rice dishes. Its depth grows when used wisely.
• Wood Pressed Coconut Oil: Start strong with lauric acid - yes, that powerful compound also in breast milk. This oil comes slow-squeezed from coconut flesh, keeping goodness intact. Great warmth seeps into Kerala-style simmer pots. Try it cold on foods where rich depth matters. Baking? It holds up nicely without stealing flavor. Every drop works quiet magic, never loud.

Why is wood pressed oil so expensive compared to store-bought?

Let's do the raw math.

Every single liter of clear, wood-pressed peanut oil takes close to three and a half kilos of top-grade peanuts meant for shipping overseas. When quality nuts run at one hundred rupees per kilogram, just the beans eat up three hundred fifty rupees. Factor in the steady handwork behind the wooden ghani press, then slip in glass bottles by hand, carry them across distances.

That label says "Pure Peanut Oil," costs one hundred eighty rupees for a litre - wonder what happened to all the peanuts inside. Seems odd, right.

They aren't using peanuts. They are using cheap palm oil and adding artificial peanut flavoring. Or they are using the hexane chemical method to squeeze oil out of rotten, rejected seeds.

You pay more for wood pressed oil because you are buying real, unadulterated food.

Does wood pressed oil go bad quickly?

Yes and no.

Refined oil can sit on a shelf for three years because it is dead. Bacteria can't even survive in it.

Most times, wood pressed oil stays good for about half a year once opened. Since nothing artificial keeps it stable, time affects its quality naturally. Stored right - away from heat and light - it holds up well. A scent like stale crayons or dried varnish means it is spoiled now. Cool storage helps, especially if kept far from cooking areas. When that off-smell hits, toss it out without delay.

Should I store wood pressed oil in plastic bottles?

Absolutely not.

Most oils dissolve certain materials over time. When stored in low-cost PET containers, raw oil begins softening the plastic bit by bit. Tiny bits of plastic slip into the liquid, along with hormone-interfering substances. These contaminants mix fully with the oil meant for cooking.

This is why at FreshInTheBox, we go through the massive headache and expense of shipping our oils in heavy, food-grade packaging, prioritizing glass or high-grade tin wherever possible. Keep your oil out of cheap plastic.

Also read: How to Use Wood Pressed Oil in Everyday Cooking

Where to buy cheap wood pressed oil online?

I’ll be blunt. You can't.

If you find a website selling "cheap" wood pressed oil, you are getting scammed. You are buying oil that was run through a metal expeller and falsely labeled, or you are buying oil cut with 50% cheap palmoline.

Don't negotiate with your heart health. Buy from a source that is transparent about their Lakdi Ghani process. At FreshInTheBox: Wood-Pressed Oil, we don't try to be the cheapest. We just promise to be the purest.

The Verdict

Look, switching your cooking oil is the single biggest change you can make for your family’s health today. You cook with it two to three times a day. It coats every vegetable, every dal, and every piece of meat you eat.

If you are using industrial, bleached liquid to save ₹100 a month, you will end up paying that money to a cardiologist in ten years.

Go back to the basics. Go back to the Ghani. Treat your oil like medicine.

Stop eating factory chemicals. Upgrade your kitchen with pure, authentic FreshInTheBox Wood Pressed Oils right here.