A study was performed to determine the effectiveness of extracting short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from noncatalytically cracked canola oil using neutral and basic aqueous solutions. A detailed quantitative analysis was performed to determine the composition of the cracking reactor organic liquid product (OLP) before and after extraction. We have demonstrated that water alone can be used to completely extract C-2 and C-3 monocarboxylic acids, while partially extracting acids up to C-6. The degree of extraction can be slightly increased by increasing temperature and, for some acids, by using multiple extraction stages. A basic solution (1M NaOH) was found to extract a wider range of acids-up to C-8- and this was independent of the temperature or number of stages. While this method was not capable of reducing the acid number of the OLP to within the specifications for fuel, it could be used to extract a narrow range (C-2 to C-5) of biobased carboxylic acids. As such, this method could serve as one step in a process to produce biobased carboxylic acids, replacing acids currently produced from non-renewable sources.