If you go to the market searching for coconut oil, you will get different kinds of coconut oils. Each one of them claiming to be a "virgin"! But how will you differentiate between normal coconut oil and "virgin" coconut oil?
The difference between normal coconut oil and virgin coconut oil is how it's made. Virgin coconut oil is made directly from the raw milk of the coconut. On the other hand, the normal coconut oil is made from pressing the copra (coconut's dried kernel). After the oil is obtained from the kernel, then it's bleached, fragrances and preservatives are added.
But most 'pure' coconut oil's that you find in the market is mixed with preservatives or chemicals. So, what if you wanted an unadulterated virgin coconut oil? It would be a bit hard to find. There is one way you could get the purest form of virgin coconut oil by making it at home. Yes, making virgin coconut oil is damn easy. But you must be wondering how to make coconut oil at home. All you need to do is obey the steps, and your virgin coconut oil will be ready in no time.
There are mainly three processes by which one can make virgin coconut oil:
Hot Process
Cold Process
Wet Milling
Things that you will need:
Nine to ten matured coconuts
7 cups of water (filtered)
Now, let’s start looking at the different types of processes!
Hot Process
Break the coconuts and store/throw out the water.
In this step, you will need to take out the white flesh/pulp of the coconut. You can use a knife to scrape it out or put them in the oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. The latter process will make it quite easier to scrape them.
Next, you have to transfer the scrapped-out flesh into the blender to squeeze out the milk. After blending for about 2 minutes, you can add a little bit of water and continue blending. After some time, you will get a dense white mixture. This is the milk of the coconut.
After that, you have to place a muslin or fine clean cotton cloth over a large bowl. Once the setup is ready, you can pour the coconut milk through it. The cloth will act as a sieve, thus allowing only the milk to contain in the bowl. You can also squeeze the cloth lightly to extract the last bits of milk.
Now you'll have to transfer the milk into a pan and turn the gas knob at a low temperature. From this step, till you get the virgin coconut oil, the entire process will be done at low temperatures. If you want to speed up the time by increasing the flame, there's a high possibility that your oil gets ruined.
While you keep thawing the coconut milk at a low temperature, after some time, you'll notice that the water is evaporating. Once the water is gone, you can see the remains of coconut solidify. Only then you will be able to see the oil. Once the coconut remains have turned a little brownish, you can now turn off the gas.
Lastly, you have to strain the contents of the pan into an air-tight jar. Keep aside the burnt coconut bits and transfer the virgin oil to the jar. You can keep the jar in the fridge for further use. It will solidify when kept at cold temperatures and will be normal once you thaw it. Hence, your virgin coconut oil is ready.
Cold Process
In this method of extracting virgin coconut oil, you will need dehydrated coconuts. You can buy dehydrated coconut flakes (unsweetened) from the supermarket. Or, if you have coconut at home, you can dry it out using a dehydrator. Once done, cut them into small pieces.
Add the dehydrated coconuts to a juicer in small portions. Once these are out in the juicer, you'll get the combination of cream and oil devoid of the fiber. You will need to run the juicer again to extract the remaining part of the cream and oil combo. Keep running the juicer till the last batch and the last drop of cream and oil combo is collected.
Now, you have to transfer the entire oil and cream combo to an air-tight container. Keep the jar away from sunlight in some warm space for 24 hours. It will take a whole day for the oil to rise above and the crème to settle down.
Finally, you can scoop out the entire oil from the container and store it somewhere else for further use.
Wet Milling
This process is somewhat similar to the hot process of extracting virgin coconut oil. Except there will be no use of stove or oven.
Break the coconuts and scrape out their white meat/flesh. Then cut them into small pieces so that you can easily add them to the blender.
Put the pieces of coconut in the mixer, add some water and mix it well. After 2-3 minutes, you will get the frothy white milk of the coconut.
Use a strainer or a muslin cloth to pour down the contents in a bowl. Squeeze the coconut remains in the strainer to get the last drop of the milk. Now transfer it into an air-tight container.
Store the container in a cool place and do not disturb it for the next 24 hours. After 24 hours, you'll notice that the crème has gone down, and the oil is floating above. You can now transfer the oil to an air tight container for future use.
Thus, these are the three common ways to make extra virgin coconut oil at home. Tedious, isn't it? If yes, try our Extra Virgin Coconut Oil which is bottled at source & has the same quality as the one made at your home, treat yourself to a Coconutty today.