Re: Re: Cooking with VIRGIN coconut oil

[Guest guest]

Joy,

The FATS in coconut oil are more stable than olive oil, but any unrefined oil

has heat-sensitive elements aside from the fat. If the oil is smoking, some

non-fat element is burning. Butter is mostly saturated, but the milk solids

can burn easily. Just keep an eye for smoking. If there is no smoke, it

should be fine; and if neither smokes, the CO should be more stable than the

olive oil, though olive oil is considerably more stable than PUFA oils--

except sesame because the sesamin in it gives it heat-resistance.

Chris

In a message dated 1/9/03 7:08:51 PM Eastern Standard Time,

joyjoybinks@... writes:

> In NT, Sally says it's okay to use coconut oil, but

> not for high heat cooking, but she also says to use

> olive oil in most of her recipes (many of which are

> for high heat cooking). It seems to me that the olive

> oil would break down before the coconut oil. Does

> anyone have information that shows that olive oil is

> more stable than coconut oil, or that it can withstand

> high heat?

____

" What can one say of a soul, of a heart, filled with compassion? It is a

heart which burns with love for every creature: for human beings, birds, and

animals, for serpents and for demons. The thought of them and the sight of

them make the tears of the saint flow. And this immense and intense

compassion, which flows from the heart of the saints, makes them unable to

bear the sight of the smallest, most insignificant wound in any creature.

Thus they pray ceaselessly, with tears, even for animals, for enemies of the

truth, and for those who do them wrong. "

--Saint Isaac the Syrian

[Guest guest]

Joy-

>Also, the only refining that Omega Nutrition does to

>their oil is to deodorize it. This would be desirable

>for use in cooking where you don't want a coconut

>taste. I have ordered theirs, but have not received

>it yet to comment on the quality.

There's one other factor to keep in mind when considering deodorization,

though, and that's the source of the oil. Tropical Traditions and Coconut

Oil Supreme oils are from fresh coconut. Therefore their only odors and

flavors are pleasant and reminiscent of coconut. (The chief difference

between the two is probably due to the fact that TT ferments their

coconuts; personally, I like the flavor of COS much better. But both are

high-quality products, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.) Omega

and other oils generally come from copra, which is dried coconut

meat. Copra tends to rot during the drying, and thus takes on all sorts of

noxious odors which must be removed from the final odor if it's to be at

all palatable. I don't know how that deodorization is actually

accomplished, but I can't help but wonder whether it's at least a little

unhealthy.

Anyway, why not just use whatever (healthy) oil is appropriate for the dish

you're making? There butter, lard, tallow, virgin olive oil, virgin

coconut oil, and maybe others I'm forgetting to choose from, and they all

have different flavors and different strengths and weaknesses. Sally

Fallon's recipe for coriander shrimp in NT, for example, just wouldn't be

the same without lard. (In fact, when cooked with lard it's one of the

most amazingly delicious dishes ever devised; I can't recommend it highly

enough.) Other foods just wouldn't work without butter, or olive oil, and

for others tallow is best. Coconut oil can work in a lot of dishes, but it

tends to fit best in Asian and Indian cooking.

-

[Guest guest]

Judy-

>I like to use some coconut oil in my homemade mayonnaise. There's not

>enough to flavor, but it's a good way to get in a bit of the raw oil.

I remembered another oil: palm oil. It's somewhat more saturated than

olive oil, so maybe it's somewhat like lard, except that I'd expect its

fatty acids are shorter, but it's very rich in carotenes and vitamin E. I

wouldn't cook with it for that reason, but if you don't mind a deep orange

mayonnaise, it works better than coconut oil for that since it's less

saturated. (The mayo is still too hard, and I still haven't managed to

make a healthy but also tasty mayonnaise since I don't like an olive oil

flavor in mine, but maybe a bunch of egg whites would do the trick with

palm oil.) Tropical Traditions has something they call " Natural " palm oil,

which is refined but supposedly only minimally. Maybe at some point

they'll come out with a completely virgin palm oil.

-

[Guest guest]

The problem, as I see it, is that good quality lard and tallow are VERY hard to

come by (impossible for me at present). I do all high heat cooking in olive oil

or coconut oil, though I know it is far from ideal in all recipes from a

nutrition and taste standpoint.

Anyway, why not just use whatever (healthy) oil is appropriate for the dish

you're making? There butter, lard, tallow, virgin olive oil, virgin

coconut oil, and maybe others I'm forgetting to choose from, and they all

have different flavors and different strengths and weaknesses. Sally

Fallon's recipe for coriander shrimp in NT, for example, just wouldn't be

the same without lard. (In fact, when cooked with lard it's one of the

most amazingly delicious dishes ever devised; I can't recommend it highly

enough.) Other foods just wouldn't work without butter, or olive oil, and

for others tallow is best. Coconut oil can work in a lot of dishes, but it

tends to fit best in Asian and Indian cooking.

-

[Guest guest]

-

>The problem, as I see it, is that good quality lard and tallow are VERY

>hard to come by (impossible for me at present). I do all high heat

>cooking in olive oil or coconut oil, though I know it is far from ideal in

>all recipes from a nutrition and taste standpoint.

You won't be able to find them in stores, but you can get them. I got some

buffalo suet from Smoky Hills Bison, but I'd imagine you can get it from

many farms. I'm not yet prepared to say the buffalo suet I rendered tastes

good, as my first pemmican experiment was a horrible failure, but there are

other suppliers, and probably most farms you can order grass-fed beef from

can also sell you cow suet.

As to lard, that's a little harder, but I found a farm that raises its pigs

pretty well, and I'm getting a large order -- including pig fat, some of

which I'll render into lard -- at the end of the month. They're called

West Wind Farms, and they're at http://www.grassorganic.com/

-

[Guest guest]

YOU WROTE: > The problem, as I see it, is that good quality lard and tallow

are VERY hard to come by (impossible for me at present).

Go to any butcher and ask to buy suet. Most butchers will either sell it

for around 50 cent a pound or just give it to you as they usually throw it

away.

Cook the suet at med/low heat for a couple of hours, stirring from time to

time. Strain and store.

Hope this helps,

Kat

http://www.katking.com