Greetings to all, dear readers. Today I wanted to share a very simple but important recipe that is useful for obtaining an essential oil for cooking, cosmetics and natural medicine, such as HOMEMADE COCONUT OIL.
It is no secret to anyone that in my country, Venezuela, there has been a process of hyperinflation for several years now (do not believe the propaganda paid by the government, according to which my country has recovered economically, that is a total fallacy). As there is hyperinflation, the majority of the population subsists on the basics, since you can only buy what you are going to eat, and obviously there is no possibility of acquiring healthy, organic, natural products, whether for diet or cosmetics. On the other hand, the only positive aspect that I see in the Venezuelan crisis is the recovery by the population, of ancient and traditional knowledge, such as those related to natural medicine. In this way, many people have opted for the use of plants and substances obtained from nature to treat health problems. And within this group of substances is Coconut oil.
I will be frank, I am not familiar with the coconut, for me it is a rare fruit, because where I live these plants are not abundant, they are difficult to obtain and they are generally sold at a high price; however, in recent months the supply of coconuts in the local market has increased, which has allowed me to buy them and learn how to process them. I have already made one or two recipes with this fruit as the main ingredient, which makes me very happy because I really like the texture and flavor it has; and I decided to learn for myself to make the most of it and to obtain all its derivatives, oil being one of these.
Coconut oil where I live has always been expensive and generally not of good quality. Ideally, it should be obtained by a cold pressing process, but the one that is generally marketed here is obtained by heating (they boil the fruit and extract the oil that is released from it), which implies that it is a product denatured, that is, it lacks its basic components, such as vitamins, microelements, among others. On the other hand, they sell a product that is an oil, (I presume of mineral origin), with coconut extract. Here I give you a sample of it: This small bottle of 100 cc, has a cost of 2.5 $ and is a different oil from the original. On the other hand, when inquiring in other cities about the offers of cold-pressed coconut oil, the costs are high, since the liter ranges between $20 and $25, not including shipping costs that can reach an additional $10.
This substance offers many benefits for human health, and although I will not go into deep analysis, I will point out some of its benefits, some of them widely proven and others dismissed by official science, let's remember that economic interests skew or restrict the truth, and pharmaceutical companies, (which are an economic power), do not want it to be known that, most of the time, natural medicine far exceeds allopathic medicine:
Promotes dental health due to its bactericidal power.
Strengthens the immune system.
Protects the cardiovascular system.
Balances the functioning of the thyroid, helping in the treatment of hypo and hyperthyroidism.
Prevents Alzheimer's and improves memory.
Provides amino acids and saturated fats for the skin, making it an excellent moisturizer, anti-aging, and protector for all skin types, but especially for mature or dry skin.
Promotes hair growth while protecting it, among other benefits.
Although I have summarized and pointed out some of its benefits, there are still others to discover; however, it is necessary to indicate that its consumption should not be excessive, remember that everything in excess is bad, and coconut oil has the particularity of having high levels of saturated fat. With that said, here is how to get homemade coconut oil. It should be noted that while the coconut is drier, it will have a greater amount of oil, and the younger it is, this amount is reduced. The coconut that I used this time was relatively young. If you look at the color of the rind, you will see that it is brown, but a light brown, which indicates to me that it is a not-so-dry fruit, which I verified by extracting the water, since I obtained approximately 200 cc of water, which is quite. Below I describe by day, the process of obtaining coconut oil.
DAY 1
I proceeded to remove the outer fiber from the coconut, to then open a hole and extract the water, which as I indicated gave a total of 200 ml. I reserved this water.
Next I took it to the stove in the kitchen, where I exposed it to the heat evenly, until it cracked, which happened very quickly because it was a young coconut, I think 5 minutes had elapsed. Next I extracted its pulp and removed the brown rind that was attached to it, to then chop it into small pieces (I don't have photos of this part of the process).
I placed the finely chopped pulp in the blender. It is important to indicate that if the coconut were drier, it is necessary to grate it, because it could damage the blender when trying to blend it. I added the reserved coconut water and 100 ml of hot water. I proceeded to blend the first time, then strain.
I put the remains that remained in the strainer into the blender, add 100 cc more of hot water, and blend again to proceed to strain again. The liquid obtained is coconut milk, which will give rise to the oil. The remaining fiber is dried in the oven at minimum temperature for approximately one hour, obtaining a kind of flour, but with little smell and flavor, which is used in confectionery.
I strain once more, to eliminate any solid residue from the liquid, and I proceed to bottle previously sterilized glass jars, which I take to the fridge, where they will rest for 3 more days.
DAY 2
I carefully check the jars and see that the various components of coconut milk are already separating: The bottom is solid waste, in the middle is water, and on the top is coconut oil or cream.
DAY 3
On the third day the oil from the coconut milk has not yet completely separated, it is a slow process, and it is also difficult to handle, so I decided to put the jars in the freezer and leave them there overnight.
DAY 4
On the fourth day I take them out of the freezer early, so they can thaw. Later I proceed to separate the upper layer of coconut milk, which is oil. I also strain the rest of the liquid to extract any fat particles. I serve all this in a container and take it for about 1 minute in a bain-marie. The remaining liquid is a diluted coconut water, which I will use later in a recipe, so I am saving that as well.
Once I remove the oil from the bain-marie, I proceed to strain it once more and place it in a very clean plastic container. I take this content to the fridge so that the fat is separated from the liquid that it may still have. The result is coconut oil, and on this occasion I obtained approximately 70 ml of coconut oil, which will be used for cosmetic use. Later I will bring you more preparations with this wonderful ingredient.
Here I end my post today, with some information that I hope will be useful to you, so that you can prepare 100% natural coconut oil at home, through a simple process and with some patience. Greetings.
Todas las fotos de este post son de mi autor铆a y fueron tomadas con mi tel茅fono Xiomi REDMI 8 A // These photos are my own, and were taken with a Xiomi REDMI 8 A phone
Los divisores son cortes铆a de @eve66 quien comparte bellos dise帽os que embellecen el maquetado de nuestras publicaciones. // The dividers used are courtesy of @eve66 who shares beautiful designs that embellish the layout of our post.
En caso de que se requiera utilizar el contenido o las im谩genes de este post y de mis otras publicaciones, agradecer铆a que se hiciera referencia a mi autor铆a (Fabiola Mart铆nez) y se citara el enlace correspondiente. Gracias. // In case it is required to use the content or images of this post and of my other publications, I would appreciate if you could refer to my authorship (Fabiola Mart铆nez) and cite the corresponding link. Thanks.
