How To Make Your Own Coconut Virgin Oil

by Cecile Cinco

Coconut virgin oil has been popular for quite some time now. If you search through the internet, all of them claim that theirs is the best but one point I’d like to let you know in case you’ve been drawn to believe that their produce is the best: If heat was applied, it’s no longer virgin. Also, avoid any metal to touch the coconut meat apart from the shredder.

It used to be VERY expensive but it has gone cheaper when almost everyone jumped into the bandwagon of producing. Being in the Philippines, and grow the best tree of life (coconut), we are virtually unlimited.

I had some friends abroad who were interested with coconut virgin oil but could not buy because it is very expensive. Now is your chance to make your own. It will be truly virgin and you know how it was done. You no longer have to imagine how it could have been done by other hands. You make it, you drink it.

I haven’t made it in a long time (3 years) but I do remember clearly because I know all the hardships that it entailed. I just wanted to share it to you as I was thinking of what I can blog about at the moment. Being a spontaneous blogger, I think on my butt.

Ok, what you need:

- 3 big mature coconuts (or more if you can; 5 is ideal for one batch or personal production); set aside its juice/water; shred the coconut either by yourself if you have the manual shredder that you sit on or have it electrically shred but don’t have it pressed if ever they offer to do so.

- steeping glass container or plastic container that you can see through (not too wide and not too narrow top; wide enough to be able to spoon or laddle the produce without tipping the jar or the container but not too wide that you spread thinly the meager produce).

- working plastic container where all your shreded coconut can fit in at most 3/4 full; half-full is better.

- 4 pieces of cheesecloth or something you can (1) squeeze the shreded coconut meat in without breaking (an old cotton shirt can also do) and (3) for 3 layers of sifting; iron for sterilization.

- plastic laddle or plastic spoon (the soup spoon the Chinese use is quite perfect because it is deep yet thin enough to get the floating oil without including the subsided water; it can be bought in grocery stores in packs of 20s; very cheap)

- sterilized production bottle to store your coconut virgin oil.

- clean paper to cover the steeping jar/container (preferably manila paper; you can’t cover it sealed as it has to breathe and you need something dark to cover cover also the jar itself and at the same time protecting the content from any infiltrating insect or dirt)

Procedure:

1. In your working container, put all the shreded coconut in and pour all the coconut juice/water in too.

2. With clean hands (avoid touching anything else, like scratching, other than your coconuts) mash the shreded coconut with the juice/water for about 20 minutes. What you want to accomplish is to get the cream from the coconut meat to join the coconut juice/water. Do not put water other than the coconut’s natural water which is the juice.

3. Using your sterilized (ironed) cheesecloth or old cotton shirt, put a handful that you can squeeze the juice out back to the same working container. Soon when you’re almost done you’ll be left with the juice extract with some shreds floating or sinking still.

4. On your steeping jar or container, put the 3 layers of cheesecloth somewhat deep at the center to make your extract sift through without spilling over. The 3 layers should have some space in between for easier flow. Have someone hold on the sides while you pour the extract in and as it sifts through the 3 layers of cloth. When you’re done, get the corners and join them all to squeeze out the remaining juice.

5. Cover the container with manila paper and set aside on a dim corner for about 30 hours. It should not be on a steady/sturdy location that it doesn’t movement of the container is minimized.

During the course of the steeping process, you will notice that 3 separations are forming. The topmost is the cream which will also form some moulds (don’t worry about it; it can actually be cooked separately after your coconut virgin oil is done); the middle part is the oil; and the bottom part is the water which can also be used to make vinegar.

6. When the time has come, carefully scoop out the cream to another container which you can cook with some sugar until it dries on a pan. When it’s brown and dry, you can eat it as is or you can make it as topping to suman or biko. Or, just throw it away or put it on your plants as fertilizer.

7. Next, scoop out the oil, very careful that you scoop nothing else, and put it in your production jar or storage jar. That is your coconut virgin oil at its purest.

The remaining water can be turned into vinegar. I haven’t done that, though. I just watered the plants with it. So, nothing was wasted.

3 coconuts can produce about 300ml of coconut virgin oil. The hardwork is really on the squeezing which can make your palms and fingers stressed but it’s also a good acupressure to your palms, so it’s not bad after all. Just a bit tiring. With mass produced virgin coconut oil, It’s but logical to use mechanical presser. What it’s made of, I don’t know. What I know is, metal should be avoided to touch the coconut, as much as possible.

There you have it. Let me know if you were able to make it, ok?

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4 Comments »

anare kolikat said:

after you extract the vco what do you do inthe next stage,put it inthe sun or filter it ,or what kind of filter do you use to make it 100%vco



admin (author) said:

As procedure #7 says, you scoop out the oil (that’s the vco) and put it in your storage jar. If you are careful, you will only scoop out the oil and NOT include even a tiny droplet of cocowater which is the bottom of the oil. I use a plastic Chinese soup spoon that’s available in the supermarket. It’s thin yet broad and deep.

You can also filter with cheesecloth so in case there are some cream bits (topmost) getting into your spoon, it will be sifted when you have a filter. I used a 3-layered cheesecloth, one on top of the other but with about an inch space in between.

Don’t store in hot places or where direct sunlight hits. A room temperature, cool, dry place is perfect. Put it in the fridge and you get a vco cream.

Being 100% vco means NO heat was applied.



anare kolikata said:

apart from cheesecloth what other filter can i use as we donot have cheese cloth in fiji island



admin (author) said:

Any cloth that does not snag or amass lint. Have it washed and iron for sterilization before using. Try a cotton tshirt.

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