Can we talk about coconut oil?

[Dicentra]

Your best bet - if you have a thermometer that's capable of registering those kinds of accurate degree measurements, slowly melt your coconut oil and keep a recording of the temps.  If it isn't completely liquid by, at the outermost, 80F, it's been hydrogenated.

 

I know - I'm quoting myself. :)  I thought of a few things that will help to get accurate results if anyone is going to try this.

1.  Heat a small sample of the oil, not a lot of it.  It's too difficult to get uniform, constant temperature throughout a large sample.

2.  I would heat the oil over a water bath, not directly on the stove top.  Again, it's too hard to get uniform, constant temperature throughout the whole sample directly on a stove top - you'd always get hot spots.  I would also think it would be too hard to heat it really, really slowly directly on the stove top.

3.  Stir the sample the entire time you're heating and recording your temperatures.  This will, again, make sure that the entire sample is as close to uniform temperature as possible.

 

I also realized I should have said a "record of the temps", not a recording.  Sigh.  I think I need more caffeine. ;)

[Entropymama]

For the "pants falling off" part, fraidycat, I'm right there with you. :)  That's why I say that I think the simplistic view of calories in/calories out is more complicated than previously thought.  I've VERY big on science (can you tell? ;)) but when I followed the Atkins plan for 2 months and did nothing else differently, I lost 25 pounds.  It, sadly, has not stayed off but there has to have been something to it.

 

If the fat or oil seems to stay in that in-between, not quite liquid/not quite solid stage for a fairly wide temperature span, then based on the chemistry, my best guess would be that it's probably a mixture of non-hydrogenated coconut oil and some hydrogenated oil.  I'm sorry if this is upsetting for folks - all I'm trying to do is present the chemistry. :)  If anyone is concerned that the oil they have isn't what it's labelled as, then they should look into it more deeply.  Pure, non-hydrogenated coconut oil should have a melting point of 76F.  That means that, chemically, all of the sample should be a liquid at a few degrees above that temp.  If your oil is not completely liquid by 80F, it can't be pure, non-hydrogenated oil.  It could be partly pure and non-hydrogenated but there is something else in it (a small amount of hydrogenated or some other impurity) that's causing the melting point to differ.

 

Mine is solid right now - my house is about 70. In the summer it's a pure liquid, when the house is about 78. So mine seems to be legit and I get the stuff at Costco. Hope that helps someone!

[LibraryLover]

Even extra virgin olive oil can turn rather solid when it's cold. That doesn't make olive oil a hydrogenated fat. 

 

 

[Dicentra]

Even extra virgin olive oil can turn rather solid when it's cold. That doesn't make olive oil a hydrogenated fat. 

 

:)  That is true but it's not exactly the same thing.  What we need to look at is the melting point of each specific kind of oil.  Olive oil has a melting point (or freezing point) of around 21F - about the temp inside your fridge.  That means that at temperatures above 21F, I'd expect olive oil to be liquid and at temps below 21F I'd expect it to be solid.  You'll notice, though, that 21F is quite a bit lower than 76F.  The general rule of thumb is that the higher the percentage of saturated fats in a particular type of oil, the higher it's melting point.  And the higher the level of hydrogenation in a particular type of oil, the higher it's melting point.  There are variations, of course, and mixtures of fats will have broader melting point ranges than the individual components.

 

Since the melting point of virgin, non-hydrogenated coconut oil is 76F, then chemistry tells us that it should be a liquid above that point.  Since olive oil has a melting point of 21F, chemistry tells us it should be a liquid above that point.  You can't really compare the two in the way that you mean to - it doesn't make sense from a chemistry standpoint. :)