Homemade Coconut Oil

Remove the outer husk of the Dried Whole Coconuts (12) then crack it in half and remove the meat from the hard outer shell.

Grate on a box or homemade grate.

With all the coconuts grated it’s now time to separate the milk from the grated coconut. Place the grated coconut in a large bucket and pour in Water (8 cups). Massage with your hands. Then grab a handful and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Place the grated coconut that you’ve already squeezed out in another bucket, repeat the same process again.

After you’ve squeezed out all the liquid, strain and set aside. Add back Water (5 cups) to the grated coconut for a second round of separation. Then strain again and mix with the first batch of coconut milk.

Place the bowls with the coconut milk in the fridge for a couple of hours as it speeds up the process. Basically the ‘fat’ will rise to the top and be easy to separate from the water.

After a couple hours in the fridge, it’s now time to skim off the coconut fat or cream. The time in the fridge means the liquid would have settled and the fat would have come to the surface. Using a large spoon, remove the thick top layer and place in a heavy pot. You can then discard that water/liquid that’s left back.

Put the pot with the coconut fat/cream on a medium-high flame and all we have to do now is burn off all the liquid/water until we start seeing the oil.

It will take between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, depending on the yield of fat you got and amount of water you used. Keep the heat at about medium-high and stir often. The goal is to remove all the water or the finished coconut oil will go rancid fast. You will end up with a bit of residue.

To ensure you get all the water out, remove the oil from the residue and place it in another pot on a medium flame for about 10 minutes. The longer you cook it the darker the oil can potentially go.

All you have to do now is allow the oil to cool for a couple hours, then strain into sterilized bottles.