Stony Brook WholeHeartedFoods creates unrefined vegetable oils made from roasted squash seeds. The flavors and colors of each oil varies greatly depending on the variety of squash. Some oils are a deep green color, and others are a deep golden color. Currently Stony Brook is roasting and pressing the seeds of acorn, delicata, butternut, and buttercup squash.

The oils are expeller pressed, which means that the oil is mechanically pressed from the squash seed without added heat or chemicals. Unlike most other commercially available cooking oils (like canola and grapeseed), Stony Brook does not chemically alter the oil as part of the production process. No other oils are added or blended in--each bottle is 100% pure varietal seed oil.

Seeds are roasted, pressed, lightly filtered, and the oil goes right into the bottle--simple as that. The seeds yield relatively little oil (compared to olive or grapeseed) so the seeds of many squash are needed to produce a single bottle.

As a plant-derived oil, Stony Brook Butternut Squash Seed Oil is high in unsaturated fat, particularly unrefined omega 6 fatty acid (linoleic acid) and a moderate amount of monounsaturated fat (oleic acid). It has slightly more saturated fat than other seed oils, approximately the same amount as peanut oil—or one-third the saturated fat of butter. The oil is shelf-stable and suitable for cooking at high heat (it has a smoke point of approximately 410 F). Also unique to this oil is the high amount of vitamins A and E relative to other vegetable oils.