What is the difference between virgin coconut oil and 100% certified organic and cold pressed coconut oil?
Im dont really know what the difference is structurally, but virgin keeps its coconut aroma and flavor. Ive been cooking with it for the last couple of weeks. Good stuff…
olive oil aint so nice for massages.
[quote]AlanR wrote:
What is the difference between virgin coconut oil and 100% certified organic and cold pressed coconut oil?[/quote]
Can you not find organic virgin coconut oil? LOL
Virgin is what you want as otherwise the oil could be hydrogenated which is what you want to avoid if you’re concerned with your long term health.
There is no standard for cold pressed as far as I am aware and it is just a marketing term.
During cold pressing even though external heat isn’t applied high temperatures can still be reached. To be honest with coconut oil being mainly saturated fat I wouldn’t be too concerned though.
If the second oil doesn’t state virgin on the label I would avoid it. They may hydrogenate it once it has been pressed you see.
Boxer - the container specifically states that this organic coconut oil is non-hydrogenated. However, it is expeller pressed. Is this a good thing??
The expellar pressing is fine. According to Udo Erasmus the oils normally reach temperatures between 85C and 95C using this method.
Polyunsaturated oils would have to be protected from air and light during this process which some manufactures wouldn’t do.
With coconut oil being mainly saturated fats which are a lot more stable I am going to say that it will be fine anyway.
If the coconut oil says only it’s unhydrogenated and doesn’t state that it’s a virgin oil then avoid it in future.
It still may go through other processing other than hydrogenation you see.
Virgin is a term that means the oil will be unprocessed just like the term extra virgin with regards to olive oil.
You could take any of the geuss work out and buy fresh coconuts.
A friend brought me a couple bottles of virgin coconut oil from the Philippines. When he delivered them to me the liquid had turned to a solid white mass.
Anyone know why this happened and how one gets it back to a liquid form?
It’s because it contains mainly saturated fats which tend to be solid at room temperature ( look at butter, lard etc ).
So if you warm it gently it will become a liquid again.
[quote]gonta wrote:
A friend brought me a couple bottles of virgin coconut oil from the Philippines. When he delivered them to me the liquid had turned to a solid white mass.
Anyone know why this happened and how one gets it back to a liquid form?[/quote]
Heat it to 76 degrees or higher.
As Boxer said, saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature… Coconut oil is a weird one to handle because it’s melting point is right around room temperature, so depending on the weather or A/C setting you’ll find it in either state… or if your house is right around 76 you may find it with pockets of liquid and solid.
It was probably liquid in the Philippines because asia and the pacific islands are so damn hot and humid.
Nick
[quote]The_Incubator wrote:
gonta wrote:
A friend brought me a couple bottles of virgin coconut oil from the Philippines. When he delivered them to me the liquid had turned to a solid white mass.
Anyone know why this happened and how one gets it back to a liquid form?
Heat it to 76 degrees or higher.
As Boxer said, saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature… Coconut oil is a weird one to handle because it’s melting point is right around room temperature, so depending on the weather or A/C setting you’ll find it in either state… or if your house is right around 76 you may find it with pockets of liquid and solid.
It was probably liquid in the Philippines because asia and the pacific islands are so damn hot and humid.
Nick[/quote]
thanks - I’ll try warming them.
[quote]gonta wrote:
A friend brought me a couple bottles of virgin coconut oil from the Philippines. When he delivered them to me the liquid had turned to a solid white mass.
Anyone know why this happened and how one gets it back to a liquid form?[/quote]
Heat up some water in a sauce pan, put jar of oil in water, wait 5 minutes.
[quote]Boxer wrote:
Virgin is what you want as otherwise the oil could be hydrogenated which is what you want to avoid if you’re concerned with your long term health.[/quote]
The term virgin applies to the first run of processing of the coconut meat, hydrogenation would depend on how they achieve that first processing. But seeing as Coconut oil is ~87% saturated, the overall risk of anything being hydrogenated with in the remaining 13% of mono/poly unsaturates is rather low.
also it is important to note that hydrogenation does not mean instant trans-fat. Hydrogenation is a process of hydrating unsaturated fats with hydrogen, resulting in increased levels of saturates (fully hydrogenated), and in some cases, trans.
Good points as usual Cycomiko. I enjoy reading your posts.
I will point out though that according to Udo Erasmus there is fatty acids that are produced during hydrogenation that are more dangerous to health than trans fats are. He says that trans fats are just the most studied that’s all.
There will also be trace amounts of the catalysts used during the hydrogenation process found in the product.
Hydrogenated coconut oil also raises serum cholesterol.