How Do I Express Coconut Oil?

Coconut oil is a delicious fat with a low melting temperature and high burning temperature, which makes it ideal for cooking. It is the main dietary fat for people living in the tropics, as it is easy to obtain and resists rancidity so that it lasts longer. Because coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides it has some of the benefits of vegetable oils, which have short chain triglycerides, without all the drawbacks of animal fat that has long chain triglycerides.

Virgin Coconut Oil Preparation

Virgin coconut oil is extracted from coconut meat using the wet process, which can be easily done at home. To make your own virgin coconut oil, obtain one or two coconuts about 9 months old. Put them in a baking dish and bake for half an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow the coconuts to cool and then crack the shells with a hammer. Peel off the shell and then use a knife or vegetable peeler to remove the brown skin on the coconut meat. You want to end up with only the white coconut meat.

Virgin Coconut Oil Extraction

Cut the coconut meat into chunks and place it in a blender. Add enough boiling water to just cover the coconut chunks. Blend until you have a smooth puree. Pour the puree into several layers of damp cheesecloth arranged in a strainer, over a large bowl. Press as much liquid out of the puree as you can with a spoon. Then gather up the ends of the cheesecloth and twist to squeeze out every bit of moisture in the coconut puree. You can discard the coconut solids or put them in your compost pile. Pour the coconut milk thus obtained into a glass jar and refrigerate. The coconut cream or oil will separate and rise to the top. You can scoop it off the top with a spoon and put in another jar. Use the remaining coconut milk in recipes or drink it. Use the coconut fat within a few days as it still has some liquid in it and will eventually ferment.

Copra Oil

Copra oil is coconut oil extracted by the dry method. After peeling the coconut meat, it is allowed to partially dry to reduce the amount of moisture. Then it is ground into shreds and pressed in a mechanical press to extract the oil. This is a successful small business for property owners in the tropics who have enough coconut trees to make the purchase of the equipment worthwhile. They are able to sell the oil they produce locally and to use it themselves in place of expensive imported oil. It is healthier than animal fat, and helps the local economy as well.

Expert Insight

An article in the February 2010 journal "Pharmaceutical Biology" reports that virgin coconut oil has significant antioxidant benefits. The "Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology," in the August 2009 issue, reports a study by Dr. Nevin and others that demonstrated that polyphenols from virgin coconut oil showed significant radical-scavenging activity compared with those from copra oil.

Weight Loss

In the journal "Lipids," Dr. Assunção and others reported that virgin coconut oil seems to help reduce abdominal fat in women that also followed a low-calorie diet and walked 50 minutes a day. This suggests that if you are dieting and exercising to reduce abdominal fat, coconut oil supplementation might give you an edge over diet and exercise alone.