Content

• Steps
• Advice
• What you need

Coconut oil has many health benefits that can be used in cooking or in skin and hair care. Virgin coconut oil is considered to be of the best quality, made from handmade methods and free of harmful chemicals. Let's learn how to make virgin coconut oil at home by the following 3 methods: wet grinding method, cold pressing method and distillation method.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Use the Wet Blending Method

1. 

   Use a knife to separate the coconut. Use old coconut instead of young coconut.

2. 

   
   
   Get copra. Use a specialized coconut scraper, knife or a metal spoon to remove copra. Getting copra is a little tricky. You should use a butter knife instead of a shade knife. You should squeeze the knife between the shell and the copra to separate each piece of copra, avoid slipping and cutting into your hand.

3. 

   
   
   Cut the copra into small pieces or scrape the coconut into small pieces.

4. 

   Put the chopped copra into the blender.

5. 

   
   
   Turn the blender on medium mode and grind until the copra is very small. You can add a little more water if needed to make it easier to blend.

6. 

   Filter coconut milk. Place a coffee filter or a thin cloth (towel cloth) over the mouth of a wide mouth glass jar. Pour a small amount of ground copra on top. Grab the ends of the towels and squeeze the coconut milk into the jar.
   • Squeeze hard to get all the coconut milk.
   • Do the same with the rest of the copra.

7. 

   Leave the coconut milk in a cool place for at least 24 hours. At that time, the coconut milk and coconut oil will separate. The coconut milk will coagulate and float to the top of the jar.
   • You can place the jar in the refrigerator so that the coconut milk hardens more quickly.
   • If not, just put the bottle of coconut milk in a cool place.

8. 

   Remove the coconut milk with a spoon. The rest in the jar is pure coconut oil. advertisement

Method 2 of 3: Use the Cold Press Method

1. 

   Use dried copra. You can buy unsweetened dried copra at supermarkets or grocery stores, but make sure it's 100% copra, free of any other ingredients. If you want to use fresh copra, shred it and dry in a specialized food dryer for 24 hours.
   • You can also dry copra by putting it in the oven, turning on the lowest setting. Before that, cut the copra, place it on top of a baking sheet. Roast the copra for 8 hours until the copra is completely dry.
   • If you use the copra purchased from the supermarket, use the copra shredded into thin pieces instead of shredded coconuts because shredded coconuts can clog the press.

2. 

   Put the coconut in the press. Note, divide the copra into small batches to avoid clogging the press. The press will squeeze the coconut oil and coconut milk. Gradually squeeze all of the prepared copra.

3. 

   Continue to put the coconut pulp in the press again to be able to get all the coconut milk.

4. 

   Put the coconut milk in a glass jar and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. The coconut milk will settle to the bottom of the jar while the coconut oil will float on top.

5. 

   Put the coconut milk in another jar. Once the coconut oil has completely floated on top and hardened, scoop the oil into another jar. Now your coconut oil is ready for use. advertisement

Method 3 of 3: Coconut Oil Distillation

1. 

   Heat 4 cups of water. Fill a small saucepan with water and place it on the stove. Turn the stove on on medium heat until the water starts to evaporate.

2. 

   Shave the pulp of 2 coconuts. Choose old coconuts instead of young coconuts. Split the coconut in half, scrape off the pulp with a spoon and place in a bowl.

3. 

   Grind the copra and water. Put copra and hot water in a blender. Close the lid and hold it tightly. Blend until mixture of copra and water is smooth.
   • Do not fill the jar with copra and water more than half. If you are using a small blender, grind in small batches because if overfilled, water and coconut milk may splash out when you grind.
   • Note: Be sure to keep the lid on the jar tightly during the grinding process to prevent it from coming out.

4. 

   Filter coconut milk. Use a thin cloth (a few towels) or a small eye-strainer on a bowl. Pour the mixture of water and crushed copra on top so that the coconut milk drops into the bowl. Use a spoon to evenly spread and squeeze the coconut pulp.
   • Easier way, you can grab the ends of the cloth and squeeze to squeeze the coconut milk.
   • To get more coconut milk, add hot water to the coconut pulp after the first squeeze, squeeze it again.

5. 

   Boil the coconut milk. Put the coconut milk in a pan and set it on the stove. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Turn to low heat and continue to heat. While cooking, stirring with a spoon until the water has evaporated, the coconut milk separates from the coconut oil and turns brown.
   • The whole process of cooking coconut milk as above takes about an hour. Be patient and stir continuously while cooking.
   • If you don't want to boil it, you can let the coconut milk and coconut oil separate. Put the mixture of water and ground copra in a bowl and cover. Leave the bowl at room temperature for 24 hours, then refrigerate to allow the coconut oil to harden and float on top. At this point, you can easily separate the coconut oil.
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Advice

• You can use virgin coconut oil for cooking in delicious, light, muffins such as scones (a popular British snack) or crust. Coconut oil creates a mild vanilla scent and is healthier than traditional fats like lard or butter.
• Previously, coconut oil was considered a taboo, mostly due to the fact that it contains up to 90% saturated fat. Recently, however, coconut oil has regained its place in a world where health is more concerned. Unlike hydrogenated oils, coconut oil is unprocessed, not chemically treated; thus, it retains all of the plant-derived nutrients. If used in moderation, coconut oil does even better than olive oil.
• You can spot an old coconut by its hard, dark brown crust. Younger coconuts will have a lighter brown rind. Young coconuts are usually small and still green. Old coconuts will give more oil than young coconuts.
• Making coconut oil by cold pressing does not use heat. Therefore, the oil will retain more nutrients, antioxidants, and healthy vitamins.
• Freezing and then thawing the copra pieces before placing them in a blender or press will make the copra softer and more oil separate.
• Virgin coconut oil is believed to provide more than 200 surprising health benefits. Eating one teaspoon of coconut oil per day will help strengthen the immune system, reduce blood pressure, reduce joint pain and support cancer treatment. You can also apply coconut oil to your hair and skin to increase moisture and restore damaged cells / follicles. Some examples of cell / follicle damage are: diaper rash, dry skin, insect bites. Other benefits include boosting the circulatory system, normalizing thyroid function, boosting metabolism, and weight loss.

What you need

Wet Milling method

• An old dried coconut
• Big knife
• Small pointed knife
• Grinder
• Filter coffee or cloth bucket
• Wide mouth glass jar
• Spoon

Cold Pressing Method

• Food dryer
• Fruit presses

Method of Distillation

• Blender
• Small eye filter