Re: homemade coconut oil questions

March 12, 2004

There is a complete direction at coconut-info.com's archive on how to extract

the oil in the old traditional way. Where are you? If you are in the tropics

then i can email you how to do it.

homemade coconut oil questions

Hi board. I'm new here, but I'm tinkering with making my own oil.

Now my grandma is much too old, almost 90, to tell me how she used to

make coconut oil, so I'm asking for help.

I know there are several methods, but I definitely don't want to

stand over a hot stove, so fermenting is the way for me.

So what I did with this one coconut, I poured hot water, let it sit

for 1/2 hour and drained it. I have it in a clear container on my

kitchen counter and it will be 24 hours soon. I see the cream,

water, sediment separation. It still smells good, but I don't see

the clear oil only.

1) Am I fermenting this properly? If not, what should I do?

2) Should I expect to see the oil separate from the thick, greyish

white stuff floating on the top? If not, how can I make it become

the clear oil?

3) Do I really need to use the coconut water to extract the milk?

4) Do I really need to boil hot water?

5) How safe is it to leave this stuff on my kitchen counter for so

long?

6) What do I do with the rest of the stuff, if I get oil out of it?

Should I chuck it or is it drinkable? Maybe I can water my plants

with it. I don't know.

I tried to get some of this info, but it's hard to find this on the

net. I found a few ways to make it, but no trouble shooting guides,

what to expect, ect. using the ferementing method. I know when

people make kefir they need to put kefir grains to get the milk to

ferment, but I have nothing to put in the coconut milk.

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.

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March 12, 2004

At 02:15 AM 3/12/2004 +0000, Ann wrote:

>Hi board. I'm new here, but I'm tinkering with making my own oil.

>Now my grandma is much too old, almost 90, to tell me how she used to

>make coconut oil, so I'm asking for help.

This was posted here a couple of weeks ago, reposted from the Philippine

Daily Inquirer. This is a traditional method for " cold-pressed " virgin

coconut oil, doesn't involve heat. Some of the tools used refer to the

Philippine setting and you may not find them in your local store, but you

get the idea. Maybe you can find substitutes.

From

http://www.inq7.net/nat/2003/may/18/nat_15-1.htm

How to make virgin coconut oil

1. Select about 8 mature coconuts. Make sure dehusked shell is intact

and has no breakage and that there is water inside the nut. To test,

shake it.

2. Split the shell into halves, take out the meat from the shell with

a sharp knife, a scraper or shredder (kudkuran). You can have this

done in the neighborhood market.

3. Collect the shredded meat together to be cold-pressed into coconut

milk. Press the bunch of shredded meat with the coconut water by any

means that does not require heat. The first cocomilk called " kakang

gata " comes out. Strain this " first " milk through a cheese cloth

(katsa) to separate the sediments. There are cold-pressing machines

available in the bigger wet markets like Marikina, Sta. Ana, Nepa-Q-

Mart in Cubao, to cold-press your shredded cocomeat.

4. Your 8 nuts will make about 4 glasses of coco milk or half a

liter. Let the filtered coco milk in the pitcher settle overnight.

The coco milk will separate into three parts: 1/3 oil will rise to

the top and the shredded meat will settle at the bottom, with coconut

water in between.

5. To separate the oil, refrigerate until the oil turns into coconut

butter form. Skim the coco butter and separate into another

container. Let it stand at room temperature to become virgin coconut

oil ready to take. Avoid direct sunlight for the oil to stay clear.

Shelf life is good for 90 days.

March 12, 2004

For Jim Ayson: Thanks for the info. I did find that recipe,

eventually.

My original attempt was a bit different in which I added boiling

water to the grated coconut. I only used one coconut to see how it

would turn out. I ended up letting it sit for 36 hours, chilled it,

scooped it out and heated it up so that the oil would separate from

this greyish looking matter that I can't name. I got a bit over an

ounce of oil from that 1 coconut.

Just a few minutes ago, I finally squeezed the last bits of the

remaining two coconuts I had using that recipe. It looks very

different from what I had in the first recipe. It was very white,

creamy and oily. I had to throw away another coconut because the

brown skin was gone. It looked a bit rotted. I only had 1 really

good coconut out of the bunch. Now I know why people say that really

fresh coconuts are hard to find. I need to find a supplier. LOL.

I also had to get some cheesecloth to squeeze as much as I could

since my tiny colander wasn't going to cut it. I do need to find a

better idea to press the oil.

I'm following that recipe to see what will happen, but I won't leave

it to ferment for 24-48 hours as per what Tropical Traditions does to

theirs.

I see that the price they charge for their oil is peanuts in

comparison to the work that goes into it. It is nice to try out my

own. I'm trying to do a cost comparison, but once I add cost of

American labor, I'm just better off buying than making. Another

thought would be to just make the milk and drink it right away and

skip the oil altogether. Make some kind of sweets w/ the remaining

coconut and I'm set.

I think the shredded meat still has enough juice in it to make

macaroons. Now I need another recipe for that.

Thanks again. I hope it comes out better this time around.

March 12, 2004

> There is a complete direction at coconut-info.com's archive on how

to extract the oil in the old traditional way. Where are you? If

you are in the tropics then i can email you how to do it.

>

Hi ,

Thanks for responding. I'll look into their website, but for now I'm

using the method that Jim posted that was on this site.

I just grated 2 coconuts and finished squeezing out the milk about

1/2 an hour ago. It looks better this time around.

I'm in NYC. I wish I were in the tropics as I just realized that

it's hard to get fresh coconuts. One of the four I bought was really

bad, although it had a lot of water in it. But alas, Puerto Rico is

not a state, so I'm here in the mainland.

Thanks again.

Ann

March 12, 2004

Comment: No. 3., When we go to the market, we purchase the coconut milk. It is

squeezed out of the meat without adding the coconut water to it. It is just

pure coco meat pressed by a machine. Therefore you get good quality coco milk.

If you want your oil to last more than 90 days, put oil in a casserole,

uncovered, and heat at lowest setting possible until sour smell is no longer

present. This can take hours, sometimes even up to 8 hours at lowest setting.

Sour smell is from moisture/water left in the oil (from the fermentation). The

quality of the lauric acid in the oil is not damaged by the low heat, as also

indicated in Jim Aysson's latest post. Make sure your oil is not smoking or

turning yellow. Other people put the oil on double boiler, uncovered, to remove

the moisture. If done right, your oil can last more than 2 years.