How to Make Coconut Oil

What you need

Coconut

Drill or some way to tap into it

Vise or some way to open it

Knife

Bowl

Jar

Pan

Blender

I just got mine from the Greengrocer

Before you start this project do be warned that it is a lot of effort for very small yield, so you may want to use more than one

A coconut husk is freaking hard so this does require some elbow grease

Alternatively just use a drill like I did to tap into the coconut and decant the water into a bowl

Initially I tried this with a hammer but it was so hard it made no difference (or maybe I am just really weak)

Instead I put it in a vise and slowly wound it up until it cracked the coconut open

Now you can move from the workshop to the kitchen.

Using a knife, carefully cut out the flesh.

It's ok if you get the brown bits in there, they are still edible

Make sure to cut them into small enough pieces that your blender can handle

Add the pieces to your blender.

Mine is pretty small so I to do it in batches.

But before you start blending, boil up some water (hot water helps extract more coconut oil)

Once boiled, add some hot water (enough to cover the pieces) and if you need add a little cool water so that it is not scalding hot.

WARNING - ensure the lid is on properly, being splashed with hot coconut water burns. A lot.

Blend everything together until the coconut pieces resemble desiccated coconut bits

Strain the now blended mixture into a bowl

You can also add the coconut water that you extracted initially if you wish

Once you've strained everything, you can put the bowl in the fridge overnight.

You will clearly begin to see a separation in the liquids.

The top can form a hard layer which is your coconut oil.

The desiccated coconut, you can spread out and dry and use as you wish

For the final step, once you have left the milk overnight, you can take it out and bring it to the stove

Add everything into a pan

Over a medium heat, bring the liquid to a boil

You will begin to see the water boil off and the thicker oil remain behind.

Boil it until it becomes clear and immediately decant into a jar or container

And there you have it - coconut oil!