I constantly use coconut oil as an ingredient in soaps and creams. Usually they order it online, but recently I decided to try making the butter myself.
Purchasing a coconut
A lot is now being written about the benefits of coconut oil, but I don’t want to repeat myself.
We bought coconuts at Lenta, one piece cost 74 rubles, the next day we saw a coconut at Magnit, 20 rubles cheaper...
Following the recommendations from the Internet, when purchasing I chose dark coconuts (there were no others), the gurgling sound should be clearly audible. The nuts were approximately the same size.
How I opened a coconut
There are plenty of ways to open a coconut, I watched several master classes, most of them are very boring and overloaded with unnecessary information, but there were also some funny ones. I chose a method where you first need to pierce these very “eyes”.
I have prepared an awl, you can use a nail, only then you will need a hammer. I decided to cut it with a hacksaw so that the cut would be even, then I could make a cool souvenir from the shell!
I stocked up on newspapers and the nuts turned out to be quite “hairy”. A couple of bowls, a mixer, gauze or a sieve (fine), and a glass into which you will pour the milk will also come in handy.
I took an awl and started poking at the “eyes”, only one gave way, and I broke the tip of the awl - it just bent and fell off (on the floor, not inside). Using an already broken awl, I picked out the hole so that it would be wider, it was not difficult. The contents of the nut poured out quite easily through one hole, but through two it would have been even faster.
The water in the glass contained coconut fragments, it must be strained before further use.
I didn’t like the taste of coconut milk, it’s difficult to describe it, better try it yourself...
“Saw, Shura, saw”...
Then I took a hacksaw and started sawing approximately in the middle. It gave way quite easily, there are enough scraps, but they don’t fly in the air, everything falls off. It took me a few minutes, taking into account the fact that I often adjusted the hacksaw to get an even cut.
Having opened the nut, I saw that the pulp was dirty, which was to be expected. I cleaned off the brown dust with a knife, it cleaned up well. The coconut aroma was fabulous, I liked it.
Pulp processing
The longest task was to get the pulp and peel the skin off it. The entire process of preparing the oil took about an hour.
The peeled pulp was sent to a blender and crushed. If you wish, you can stop here, add the pulp to baked goods or eat it straight away. I really liked the taste, it looks like you are eating a nut and a fruit at the same time.
One of the ways to obtain oil
The pulp was soaked in warm water and left for a while. Some people boil it, but I didn’t. Then I squeezed it through cheesecloth and put the bowl with the resulting liquid in the refrigerator.
The remaining pulp (although it is quite hard, it is still a nut) must be dried and can be used in baking. I made cookies - they turned out very tasty!
That's all, in a day you can get the treasured bowl. White dense oil will float on the surface; it must be caught and stored in some container.
Bottom line. To be honest, there was so little butter that you need to make about a dozen nuts at a time to get a noticeable amount. It might be worth trying other methods. I didn’t throw away the water that settled, I use it as a hair mask and body milk, it nourishes just fine.
Whether or not you decide to make coconut oil at home is up to you, but I was interested in trying it, maybe I’ll do it again someday!
